30 May 1862: “I sent an officer to them yesterday morning to attempt to give him some instruction. Apparently to little purpose.”

Item description: In this letter, 30 May 1862, General Joseph E. Johnston wrote to another Confederate general (possibly General Stonewall Jackson), regarding the improper behavior of cavalry pickets from the 10th Virginia Cavalry, “Wise’s Legion,” as reported by General Robert E. Rodes. Johnston and Rodes would be wounded the next day, 31 May 1862, at the Battle of Seven Pines.

Item citation: from folder 59 in the Charles William Dabney Papers #1412 in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

Item transcription:

Hd Qr Dept. N. Va

May 30th 1862

General,

I have just received your note accompanying Gen. Rodes’ report of last night containing a complaint of the manner in which the cavalry in his front perform their picket service.

The cavalry on that ride is new to me & perhaps unaccustomed to outpost service. It is that of the “Wise Legion”_ Col. J. L. Davis Comy A.

I sent an officer to them yesterday morning to attempt to give him some instruction. Apparently to little purpose. I will try again.

Most respectfully,

J. E. Johnston


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