HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
New York, February 22, 1861.
[COL. L. THOMAS, A. A. G. :]
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your confidential letter of the 21st instant, conveying instructions of the General-in-Chief. I have already taken steps towards executing those instructions, by conferring with Captain Ward, of the Navy, and the quartermaster and commissary of subsistence on duty in this city. I shall see Major Thornton to-morrow. Captain Ward will not be able to take any bales of hay for bedding purposes, and at his suggestion I propose to send mattresses to Fort Sumter instead, unless objected to by the General-in Chief. Captain Ward will provide the coal and wood which Lieutenant Hall’s memorandum calls for. In relation to clothing, I am unable to make out what the memorandum requires. Instead, therefore, of writing myself to Philadelphia, I beg that the necessary orders may be given from Washington to the clothing officers in Philadelphia to send to Colonel Tompkins here the clothing required by the memorandum, and the garrison flag and cord for lanyards on this same memorandum. I shall see that everything else on the memorandum is provided here, including such groceries as might be for sale to officers, &c. The clothing should be put up in small bales, so that it may be distributed among the vessels. Colonel Tompkins will attend to its proper marking after its arrival here. Please let me know as soon as you give the order to the clothing-department. I saw Commodore Bruce, who will do all that he can, but hopes to receive instructions.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. L. SCOTT.
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P. S.–I have arranged with Captain Ward to send all the stores, &c., on board the North Carolina, addressed to him. He will attend to their distribution among his vessels.
H. L. S.,
Lieutenant-Colonel.