case it was my intention to march upon this town. By crossing east of the Blue Ridge, both Washington and Baltimore would be threatened, which I believed would insure the withdrawal of the mass of the enemy's troops north of the Potomac. I think this has been accomplished. I had also supposed that as soon as it was known that the army had reached Fredericktown, the enemy's forces in the Valley of Virginia, which had retired to harper's Ferry and Martinsburg, would retreat altogether from the State. In this I was disappointed, and you will perceive from the accompanying order* of the 9th instant that Generals Jackson and McLaws have been detached with a view of capturing their forces at each place should they not have retired.

The army has been received in this region with sympathy and kindness. We have found in this city about 1,500 barrels of flour, and I am led to hope that a supply can be gathered from the mills in the country, though I fear we shall have to haul from the Valley of Virginia. The supply of beef has been very small, and we have been able to procure no bacon. A thousand pairs of shoes and some clothing were obtained in Fredericktown, 250 pairs in Williamsport, and about 400 pairs in this city. They will not be sufficient to cover the bare feet of the army.

Our advance pickets are at Middleburg, on the Pennsylvania line. I await here the result of the movement upon Harper's Ferry and Martinsburg.

I have the honor to inclose to you a copy of a proclamation+ which I issued to the people of maryland. I waited on entering the State for the arrival of ex-Governor Lowe; but finding that he did not come up, and that the citizens were ebb airiest as to the intentions of the army, I determined to delay no longer in making known our purpose.

I have the honor to be, with high resect, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE,

General.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
Hagerstown, Md., September 13, 1862.

His Excellency President DAVIS, Richmond, Va.:

Mr. PRESIDENT: I regret that you should have exposed yourself while indisposed, to the fatigue of travel, though I should have been highly gratified at an opportunity of conferring with you on many highly gratified at an opportunity of conferring with you on many points. You will perceive by the printed address+ to the people of Maryland, which has been sent you, that I have not gone contrary to the views expressed by your on the subject. Should there be anything in it to correct, please let me know.

I have received as yet no official list of the casualties in the late battles, and, from the number of absentees from the army and the vice of straggling, a correct list cannot now be obtained. The army has been so constantly in motion, its attention has been so unremittingly devoted to what was necessary, that little opportunity has been afforded for attention to this subject. I wish

your views of its operations could be realized, but so much depends upon circumstances beyond its control and the aid that we may receive, that it is difficult for me to conjecture the result. To look to the safety of our own frontier and to operate untrammeled in an enemy's territory, you need not be told is very difficult.

---------------

*See Special Orders, Numbers 191, p. 603.

+Dated September 8, 1862, p. 601.

---------------