Davis on the Defense of the Confederacy

150 years ago today, Confederate president Jefferson Davis wrote to Alabama Governor John Gill Shorter in response to a letter requesting more resources to defend Mobile, and in his reply he touched on some of the Confederacy's greatest problems.

My Dear Sir: Your letter of October 22 has been received, and I have given it my earnest consideration. I entirely concur with you as to the immense importance of Mobile and the adjacent county and the unfortunate results that would follow its fall. I have felt long and deeply the hazard of its condition and an anxious desire to secure it, but have vainly looked for an adequate force which could be spared from other localities. The enemy greatly outnumber us and have many advantages in moving their forces, so that we must often be compelled to hold position and fight battles with the chances against us. Our only alternatives are to abandon important points or to use our limited resources as effectively as the circumstances will permit.