Beschreibung:

Autograph letter signed "M. Lovell Maj. Genl. C.S.A." to General Albert Sidney Johnston, informing him on his efforts to reinforce Nashville.
"Hd. Qrs. Dept. No. 1" New Orleans: 7 February 1862. 1 p. (280 x 198 mm). Condition: light toning at horizontal folds. lovell offers reinforcement to albert sidney johnston to defend fort donelson and nashville. Lovell writes to Johnston, then preparing to defend Fort Donelson and Nashville against Grant's approaching army: "…Capt. Gibson's battery (21 rifles 6 pdrs. and two 12 pdr. Howitzers) has been detained for want of transportation, but will leave tomorrow morning for Nashville. Capt. Bains has received his battery, and with the exception of a portion of his harness, is ready to proceed to join your command; but as his company is totally uninstructed, I have thought it best to retain them at their encampment in the Jackson Rail Road to drill and be reduced to something like discipline. If however, you desire to have the guns and men, I would prefer to have the men instructed at Nashville. I shall order them there upon the receipt of a telegram to that effect from you…" The previous day to this letter, Grant had forced the surrender of Fort Henry, leaving Johnston to abandon his position in Kentucky and fall back to Tennessee. A week later, on 16 February, Fort Donelson fell and the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers were then exposed as invasion routes setting the stage for Union control of the Mississippi by 1863. [With:] A carte-de-visite photograph of Lovell in Confederate uniform. New York & Washington: Brady's National Photographic Portrait Gallery, [c. 1862]. Condition: small chips at top margin, two minor tears at left margin, ink identification on verso.