June 14, 1862 (Saturday): Davis Sends An Inspector West to Beauregard

Colonel William Preston Johnston

RICHMOND, VA., June 14, 1862.
Col. WM. PRESTON JOHNSTON, Aide-de-Camp:
    COLONEL; You are hereby directed to proceed to the headquarters of the army commanded by General Beauregard for the purpose of inspection and report. You will report to General Beauregard in person; and hand to him this, your letter of authority as well as of special instructions. You will ask of the general, to be communicated to me, the following interrogatories, and having received his reply, will have such conference with him as will enable you thoroughly to inform me as to the several points submitted:
1. I desire to know what were the circumstances and purposes of the retreat from the Charleston and Memphis Railroad to the position now occupied.
2. What is the plan of future operations, and whether an advance of the army is contemplated, and what prospect there is of the recovery of the territory which has been yielded?
3. Why was it not deemed advisable to occupy the hills north and east of Corinth, and could not a stronger line than that around Corinth have been selected?
4. What was the cause of the sickness at Camp Corinth? Would it have been avoided by occupying the higher ground in front? Has it been corrected by retiring to the present position?
5. Was it at no time practicable to cut the enemy's line of communication, so as to compel him to abandon the Tennessee River or to permit us to reoccupy Nashville?
6. What means were employed after the fall of Island No. 10 to prevent the descent of the Mississippi River by the enemy's gunboats? What dispositions were made to defend Memphis, and what was the cause of failure to preserve that most important of our lines of communication?
7. What loss of troops, stores, or arms occurred at the time of the retreat from Corinth?
    Respectfully, your obedient servant,


JEFFERSON DAVIS.

RICHMOND, VA., June 14, 1862.
Col. WM. PRESTON JOHNSTON, Aide-de-Camp,&c.:
    SIR: You are hereby directed, as soon as practicable after your arrival at the headquarters of the army commanded by General Beauregard, to inspect the troops, to make due inquiry into their organization, their supplies of quartermaster's, commissary, and ordnance stores, camp equipage, messing, general administration, including the regularity of issues and the condition of the troops, especially as to their comfort and the measures taken to preserve their health; on all of which points you will prepare to report for my information.
Respectfully,


JEFFERSON DAVIS.

Official Records, Series I., Vol. 10, Part 1, Page 786.

Davis was dissatisfied with Beauregard's performance and reports of poor organization and morale among his troops.  He dispatched Johnston, the son of General Albert Sydney Johnston and Davis' aide-de-camp, to investigate conditions.  The following day Beauregard would inform Richmond he was headed for Mobile to rest and recover his health, placing Bragg in charge of the army.  When Johnston made it west for the inspection trip, he would first meet Beauregard in Mobile.   After the war Johnston would be hired by Robert E. Lee as a professor at Washington College in Lexington.  There he wrote a biography of his father, before moving on to presidencies of LSU and Tulane University.