Letter

Thomas F. Drayton to J. R. Waddy, March 24, 1862

HEADQUARTERS SIXTH MILITARY DISTRICT,

SIR :

I beg to submit to the consideration of the major-general comranding the accompanying papers in regard to the enemy’s landing in the vicinity of Bluffton on the 20th and 22d instant.

No. 1, report of Major Willcoxon, Phillips Legion, Georgia Volunteers, at Bluffton, of the landing on the 20th instant, together with No. 2, additional report of above, stating loss of 4 pickets; No. 3, copies of dispatches from Major Willeoxon concerning landing on 22d instant; No. 4, report of Major Willeoxon in reference to landing of enemy on 22d instant; No. 5, report of Capt. Carlos Tracy, volunteer aide-de-camp, of the landing, &c., on 22d instant.

The examination of witnesses was made by Captain Tracy in the pres. ence of Major Willeoxon without any contradiction by that officer of the testimony given by the officers and men eye-witnesses of the facts and circumstances stated.

Major Willeoxon no longer occupies a separate command, and I trust that under a new and severer discipline no such confused reports of the position and numbers of the enemy will again be forwarded like those which have so lately ended in harassing marches and disappointment to the troops.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

THOS. F. DRAYTON,
Brigadier-General.
Capt. J. R. WADDY,
Assistant Adjutant-General, Pocotaligo, S. C.
Editor's Notes
From: Operations in Kentucky, Tennessee, N. Alabama, S.W. Virginia, 1861–62. Location: Hardeeville, S. C.. Summary: Thomas F. Drayton reports multiple enemy landings near Bluffton, South Carolina, in March 1862, submitting detailed eyewitness accounts and urging improved military discipline to prevent confused intelligence.
Sources
The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 6 View original source ↗