Civil War Rare Confederate Broadside Requesting Supplies for Army of Northern Virginia, a Last Ditch Effort at War's End"OUR ARMY IS IN WANT—Nothing further need be said to a Virginian."

  This broadside from commissioners in Lynchburg, Virginia, sought foodstuffs for the undersupplied Army of Northern Virginia defending Richmond and Petersburg, one hundred miles to the east. Five weeks later, General Robert E. Lee's desperate attempt to reach these supplies led him to Appomattox Court House and the surrender of his army to General Ulysses S. Grant.
  [CIVIL WAR], "To the Citizens of Lynchburg and Campbell Co." Printed Broadside, February 28, 1865, Lynchburg, Virginia. 1 p., 7.675" x 7.675"
  Excerpts "The undersigned, by authority of the Commissary General, solicits immediate supplies for the army, of BACON, PORK, BEEF, FLOUR, WHEAT, CORN, CORN MEAL, BEANS, PEAS and DRIED FRUIT—either as donations, loans or sales. The department gives assurance that loans will be returned in kind as soon as practicable, and all purchases will be paid for in Government Certificates which, by a recent and special act of Congress, are redeemable in taxes."
  Historical Background By early 1865, the Union blockade of the Confederacy prevented the importation of supplies of all types into the Confederacy. The fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson in the summer of 1863 left the Mississippi River in Union hands and made the transportation of trans-Mississippi supplies to armies in the East difficult if not impossible. The intrusion of Union armies and cavalry raids deep into the South disrupted internal supply lines and destroyed crops and other supplies. The Army of North Virginia remained tenaciously entrenched around Richmond and Petersburg in Virginia, but it relied on supplies from other areas of the Confederacy.
  On February 25, 1865, the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond adopted a resolution appointing Committees of Safety in each county throughout the state. The General Assembly urged the committees to "organize forthwith for the faithful and zealous discharge of their patriotic duties." For Campbell County, it appointed Bowling Clark (1798-1877), a planter who owned thirty-two slaves with his sisters in 1860; Richard Morgan (1801-1877), a planter who owned forty-two slaves in 1860; and John Robin McDaniel (1807-1878), a commission merchant in Lynchburg. Three days later, the three members issued this desperate appeal to raise supplies for the army.
  When General Ulysses S. Grant's forces cut the last supply lines to Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia, on April 1 and 2, 1865, the Confederates abandoned both cities. The Confederate government fled west by train, while Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia marched west. Lee hoped to reach Lynchburg, 100 miles to the west, or Danville, 125 miles to the southwest, where he could resupply his army, then march to North Carolina to unite with Joseph E. Johnston's army.
  Union forces pursued Lee relentlessly.  Major General Philip H. Sheridan commanded Grant's cavalry with the V Corps in support and blocked Lee's opportunity to retreat south toward Danville along the railroad. Sheridan's cavalry traveled parallel and to the south of Lee's forces to try to intercept the Confederates. The Army of the Potomac cut off Lee's escape route to Lynchburg and destroyed more of his meager supplies. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant at Appomattox Court House at 3 p.m. on April 9.
 
 
WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.