Offered here is a historic document written days after General John Bell Hood's disastrous Franklin-Nashville Campaign (September 18 to December 27, 1864), also known Hood's Tennessee Campaign. Written by General P.G.T. Beauregard, this dispatch reports that General Hood's Army of Tennessee recrossed the Tennessee River and will be assembled in a few days in the vicinity of Tupelo, Mississippi, and requires rest, shoes, clothing and forage to render his troops effective for military operations. "[Hood] deems it of vital importance that the Trans Mississippi troops should be furloughed by organizations for one hundred days." The dispatch is dated "Macon, GA. Jan'y 7th 1865" and is signed by Beauregard ("G.T. Beauregard;" he rarely used his first name). The dispatch appears to show a first draft with Beauregard's corrections. A synopsis made from the file at headquarters is on the reverse. Beauregard ordered the first shots of the Civil War on April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter and commanded armies in the Western Theater. The Franklin-Nashville Campaign, which was an invasion of Tennessee, was undertaken by General Hood despite Beauregard's insistence that the campaign was doomed to failed. The campaign was a disaster for the Confederacy and left the Army of Tennessee as an ineffective force. Hood's army retreated to Tupelo, and he resigned his command on January 13, 1865, just days before this dispatch was written. Moreover, while Hood was marching into Tennessee, Beauregard's attention was focused on General Sherman who had began his March to the Sea. Beauregard was ineffective at stopping Sherman's advance and as a result was replaced by General Joseph E. Johnston.

Very fine. The writing, which is in ink, is legible. A rare dispatch from a senior and prominent Confederate general that would add value to any Civil War memorabilia collection.