Preston, William (1816-1887) to Jefferson Davis
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02616 Author/Creator: Preston, William (1816-1887) Place Written: Chattanooga, Tennessee Type: Letter signed Date: 28 September 1863 Pagination: 3 p. : docket ; 24.8 x 19.7 cm. Order a Copy
Signed by John Gallaher as an official copy (possibly John N. Gallaher, aide and assistant adjutant general to General Simon Bolivar Buckner). Preston writes to Confederate president Davis, recommending the appointment of Colonel Robert C. Trigg from Virginia as Brigadier General. Includes the 30 September 1863 endorsement signed by General Simon Bolivar Buckner, written from the Headquarters of Buckner's command, near Chattanooga. Bucker supports Trigg's promotion, and relates that no brigadier has been assigned to the command Trigg seeks since the resignation of General Davis (possibly William George Mackey Davis, who resigned in May 1863). Says "At a critical moment at the recent battle of Chickamauga... I ordered up Col Trigg's Brigade from another point of the field where it was posted. By the rapidity with which the order was executed it arrived in time and passing forward under his skillful and energetic conduct assailed the enemy, and with [Col. John H.] Kelly's and [General Archibald] Gracie's Brigade drove the enemy from the field..."
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