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Letter from Colonel John S. Ford Transcribed by
Judy C. Ware 2017
Original Letter Headquarters Expeditionary Forces San Antonio
January 29, 1864 Captain: The receipt of your report and some of
the requisitions mentioned is acknowledged.
I have made arrangements to forward ammunition in accordance with
Sergeant Wrather’s report of the orders in your command. Twelve thousand rations of flour will leave
for your command tomorrow. Captain Shive has been assigned to duty
as A.C.S. and A. A. Gen. and furnished funds.
He is on the Guadalupe and anticipates having a supply of cornmeal at
Helena within ten days. He will, within
a few days, thereafter, be on the Nueces.
He has orders to establish depots in that section. The Sagasta will the first point of deposit
beyond the Nueces. The next will be on
the Bluios or at Agua Paquita. You will
aid him in every possible way you can. I wish the men of Captain Maltby’s
company for Christmas’ battery. You will
endeavor to procure as many men for artillery service as you can. They can be detached from their companies and
not permanently transferred unless by consent of parties. The wagons and teams
on the line of the Nueces and adjacent thereto must be second for our use. It is said there is a considerable
quantity of cotton secreted in various places on the Nueces and on this
side. You will take possession of all
government cotton you may find secreted and (when moving) found under
circumstances justifying a reasonable belief that the carrier or person in
charge of the same intends to sell it and defraud the government - you will
seize it and then transfer at once.
Cotton belonging to citizens and
-- in a situation rendering it liable to be captured by the enemy or
moving in such direction or under such circumstances as to give grounds to
suspicion that there is an intention to sell to the Yankees must be seized,
receipted for, and held subject to the orders of the major general
commanding. Cotton coming into your
possession under the above circumstances should be stored at safe points. You will prevent the - - of stock. Men who have been exempted on account of
owning property of this kind must not be allowed to defeat the object of their
exemption by placing their stock beyond the reach of the government, and
distorting its’ policy to subscribe personal
- -. The exemptions were to ensure
to the benefit of the government and not individuals. I would enforce upon you the propriety
of looking well to persons coming into and going out of the country. Suspicious characters must not be suffered to
pass freely. Corporal Mather will
accompany the flour train. Very respectfully your obedient servant, John S. Ford Colonel Commanding To:
Captain J. A. Ware Commanding
Forces on the Nueces San Patricio, Texas |
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