OPERATIONS IN KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE. [Chap.XII.
My company is in a bad fix as to arms or ammunition, not having more than two rounds of ammunition, and some 6 or 8 of my men have no repeaters or sabers. I have only 78 repeaters and 80 sabers. I greatly desire to have my company fully and efficiently armed. I want 86 shot-guns and 6 or 8 more repeaters, or 2 repeaters for each of my men, and 40 more sabers. If I stay here I must have ammunition, say at least 12 rounds. My men have no winter clothing. I need 60 blankets, 100 flannel shirts, 86 coats, and last, but not least, funds to subsist upon. I have not a dollar of State funds. I am supporting my company out of my own funds, which will be exhausted before you get this letter.
Yours,
W. T. GASS.
CAMP BUCKNER, October 14, 1861.
Adjutant-General COOPER:
I have information that General Zeigler has advanced from mouth of Sandy to Louis, Ky., with 1,500 men. Our friends are assembling at Prestonburg - 4,000 or 5,000, with less than 2,000 home guns - needing powder, lead, and buckshot; without organization. A general officer needed. A timely move may save that country.
F. K. ZOLLICOFFER, Brigadier-General.
HEADQUARTERS WESTERN DEPARTMENT, Bowling Green, October 15, 1861.
Brigadier-General HARDEE, Commanding:
General Johnston acquiesces in your proposition, viz, to make a rapid movement upon Greensburg, with a battery, 900 infantry and 300 cavalry, to disperse the insurgent force and return without delay to your present position. Apprise Colonel Hawes of your movement, and request him to watch the movement between Nolin and Greensburg if he can, and certainly at the same time on his front and left flank.
W. W. MACKALL, Assistant Adjutant-General.
HDQRS. FIRST DIVISION, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, Columbus, Ky., October 15, 1861.
HonorableS. R. MALLORY, Secretary of the Navy, Richmond, Va.:
SIR: I am very much in need of additional boats to operate upon the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers. I can purchase one on the Mississippi River, a very fine boat, for $ 20,000; one on the Tennessee River for $ 12,000, and another on the Cumberland River for about the same amount. These can speedily be converted into armed gunboats. They are indispensable to our defenses.
Will you please order their purchase and armament immediately?
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
L. POLK, Major-General, Commanding.
