Letter

J. P. Benjamin, March 20, 1862

WAR DEPARTMENT,

; l Richmond, Va., March 20, 1862. GENERAL: The President requests that I should inform you that. unofficial reports have reached him of great destruction of property—burning tents, destruction of ammunition, &oc.—in the division commanded by General Whiting in the recent retrograde movement of the army, and he desires that you will require of General Whiting a detailed report on the subject. : I am,

your obedient servant, à :

J. P. BENJAMIN,
Acting Secretary of War.
I submit, accordingly, the following report upon the subject of these .
unofficial imputations :
The distribution of my division for the defense of the Occoquan and .
support of the Evansport battery (the right of General Johnston's posiME A E ES MERE, Ñ ET AQ RUE d UR Pa oe T P d
x
o Omar XIV] . WITHDRAWAL OF CONFEDERATE FORCES.
Editor's Notes
From: Operations in Maryland, N. Virginia, W. Virginia, 1861–62. Summary: Acting Secretary of War J. P. Benjamin requests a detailed report from General Whiting regarding alleged destruction of property and ammunition during the Confederate army's retrograde movement in 1862.
Sources
The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 5 View original source ↗