Beschreibung:

Autograph letter signed by Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert Moxley Sorrel ("G.M. Sorrel"), as Assistant Adjutant General on the staff of Lieutenant General James Longstreet, to Major Goggin, 21 June 1864. 1p., 8vo, 5.25 x 8.25 in. He writes the Field Communication issued under the direction of Lieut. General Longstreet: "Major, I should like very much to receive your tri-monthly report due 29th - I have just received a note from Army H. Qrs. Calling for the return of the Corps. I know the difficulties of your position but I hope you will send it as soon as possible." Verso with address panel in Sorrel's hand addressed to "Major Goggin, AAGNL, Kershaw's Divn." with an ink inscription: “Hd Qrs 1st Corps. June 21, 1864, Calling for Tri-Monthly report of Divn," possibly in the hand of Major Goggin. Gilbert Moxley Sorrel (1838-1901) was a bank clerk in Savannah when the war began. He was commissioned into General James Longstreet's staff, and was present at the First Battle of Bull Run (Masassas). A few days later, he was appointed acting adjutant general of Longstreet’s division. In one incident reported by Confederate Military History from Antietam (Sharpsburg), Longstreet and his staff came upon the Confederate center, which had been left with but a small regiment, the remainder sent to reinforce the left. There were two artillery pieces, but the gunners were dead or wounded. Longstreet held the horses while his staff, primarily Sorrel and Latrobe, manned the guns, holding off the advancing Federal troops until reinforcements arrived, saving Lee’s army (and at least bringing the battle to a draw rather than a Confederate loss). On October 31, 1864, Sorrel was promoted to brigadier general and given command of a brigade in Mahone’s division, A.P. Hill’s Corps. James Monroe Goggin (1820-1889) was Assistant Adjutant General on the Staff of Major General J. B. Kershaw. Goggin joined the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia in April 1862, serving on the staff of Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws as his assistant adjutant general. He served in this capacity during all of the First Corps' engagements, in both the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of Tennessee, until the spring of 1864. When McLaws was replaced with Maj. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw in May 1864, Goggin served as his assistant adjutant general as well. Although he was a staff officer for most of his war service, he commanded a brigade at the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 13, 1864. Goggin, Kershaw, and the rest of the staff were captured on April 6, 1865, at the Battle of Sayler's Creek during the Appomattox Campaign. This original Confederate Army Manuscript Document was in the possession of Major General Kershaw at the time that he was taken prisoner along with Generals Ewell and Custis Lee. Lee was immediately paroled. Inexplicably General Kershaw was held for three months, as was General Ewell. Condition: Old creases.