Series 1, Volume 5, pp. 464-465
WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A.,
Richmond, December 23, 1861.
SIR: The report of the engagement of the 13th instant, in which your gallant command met and repulsed a vastly superior force with a steady valor worthy of the highest admiration, has been communicated by me to the President, and I rejoice to be made the medium of communicating to you and to your officers and men the expression of his thanks and of the great gratification he has experienced at your success.
I am happy to add that the President readily and cheerfully assented to my suggestion that you should be promoted to the rank of brigadier- general, as a mark of his approval of your conduct, and your nomination will accordingly be this day sent in to the Congress, and take date from the day of the battle.
I am, your obedient servant,
J. P. BENJAMIN,
Secretary of War.
Brig. Gen. EDWARD JOHNSON, Camp Alleghany.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: December 1861