| General W. W. Loring |
RICHMOND, November 2, 1861.
General W. W. LORING, Hunstersville, Va.:
It is not intended to retain in the mountains from the winter more than the 4,500 men necessary to guard the passes. Instructions will be sent in a day or two for the disposal of the remainder of your forces.*
J. P. BENJAMIN,
Acting Secretary of War.
*See inclosure to Cooper to Floyd, November 5, p. 938.
Official Records, Series I., Vol. 5, Part 1, Page 935
Here is the genesis of the Loring-Jackson controversy. Jackson's command in the Valley was initially of militia only, and Johnston had delayed his departure for a time. Loring was responsible for protection of Western Virginia. He quartered his troops in the agreeable city of Winchester and was under orders from Benjamin (Secretary of War) to protect the mountain passes. When Jackson got to his command he desired to push further west, seeing Romney (and not the passes) as the key to the Confederate prospects in western Virginia. When Loring complained to Richmond in January of 1862 regarding conditions at Romney, he knew he would find a friendly ear in Benjamin, who had assigned him to cover the passes from Winchester in November. In any case it is no doubt Loring, a Floridian by birth, found western Virginia winters inhospitable.
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