Civil War-dated ALS, four pages on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 8, October 30, 1861. Handwritten letter to "Genl. W. T. Sherman," written from Camp Dick Robinson and marked "Private." In part: "My intention was last night to have started this morning in company with Judge Adams for Louisville for the purpose of consulting with you in regard to the future movements of the Troops in this portion of your Dept. But this morning I find that I will be compelled to go to London where a portion of the Regiments are now stationed. My opinion is, that if Zollicoffer could have been followed up at the time of his retreat, he would not have stopped until he reached Knoxville. If the present force can be increased some four or six Regiments, be prepared to take the field at once we can have the E. Tennessee & Va. Rail Road in our possession in less than three weeks with sufficient force to hold it against the whole power of the S. Confederacy which can be brought to bear at this time.
It is not necessary to make any great loss of men at Cumberland Gap. There are other Gaps through which we can pass and turn his rear or cut him off from all supplies. I hope that it will be both convenient and in conformity with your Judgment to send a force sufficient to penetrate E. Tennessee and take possession of the Road at two points. If ten or fifteen thousand men could enter E. Tennessee they could be doubled by recruits from the people in ten day's time. Hence the importance of send[ing] along in the rear of the invading Army some twenty thousand stand of arms to be placed in the hands of the new allies as they come to our standard.
To remain in winter quarters on this side of the mountain or in Ky. will be ruinous to the Union men in the South and especially in Tennessee. The delay has already been so great that [despair?] would now follow. If we invade Tennessee and place Arms in the hands of Union men they will in a very short time take charge of Secession themselves and relieve others from the trouble. I was informed at Cincinnati that there were regiments which could be forwarded. I know of some myself who prefer coming to Ky. & Tenn. Judge Adams will communicate all that I can write and much more intelligibly and will say no more until I see you which will be in a few days." In very good to fine condition, with old tape repairs fold separations.
In this remarkable letter from early in the Civil War, Johnson—then a US Senator from the recently-seceded Tennessee—writes to General William T. Sherman, who had principal military responsibility for Kentucky, a border state in which Confederate troops held Columbus and Bowling Green. Newly minted Confederate general Felix Zollicoffer had occupied the Cumberland Gap, and in mid-October marched 40 miles from Cumberland Gap to London, Kentucky. Just nine days before this letter, at the Battle of Wildcat Mountain on October 21, Zollicoffer's troops were stymied by a prepared Union force fighting on rugged terrain, and he was forced to retreat into rural eastern Tennessee. This was one of the first Union victories of the Civil War.
Here, Johnson ponders strategies for raising more troops—hoping to use the remaining pro-Union sentiment in eastern Tennessee to their advantage—and discusses some tactics for cutting off Zollicoffer's supplies, recognizing the critical importance of railroad infrastructure. Zollicoffer would be killed in action less than three months later, becoming the first Confederate general to die in the Western Theater. As the most prominent Southern Unionist, Johnson would continue to advocate in vain for an operation into Eastern Tennessee. A remarkable piece of wartime correspondence between two of the leading figures of the Civil War era.
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