War Department
Washington City, D.C.
May 25. 1862 8½ P.M.
Major Gen. McClellan
Your despatch received. Banks was at Strausburg with about
six-thousand men, Shields having been taken from him to swell a column for
McDowell to aid you at Richmond, and the rest of his force scattered at various
places. On the 23rd. a rebel force of seven to ten thousand fell upon one
regiment and two companies guarding the bridge at Front-Royal, destroying it
entirely, crossed the Shenandoah, and on the 24th. (yesterday) pushed to get
North of Banks on the Road to Winchester. Banks ran a race with them, beating
them into Winchester yesterday evening. This morning a battle ensued between
the two forces in which Banks was beaten back into full retreat towards
Martinsburg, and probably is broken up into a total route. Geary, on the
Manassas Gap R.R. just now reports that Jackson is now near Front-Royal with
ten thousand following up & supporting as I understand, the force now
pursuing Banks. Also that another force of ten thousand is near Orleans
following on in the same direction. Stripped bare, as we are here, it will be
all we can do to prevent them crossing the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, or above.
We have about twenty thousand of McDowell's force moving back to the vicinity
of Front Royal; and Gen. Fremont, who was at Franklin, is moving to
Harrisonburg, both these movements intended to get in the enemies rear. One
more of McDowells Brigades is ordered through here to Harper's Ferry. The rest
of his force remains, for the present, at Fredericksburg. We are sending such regiments and dribs from
here and Baltimore, as we can spare, to Harper's Ferry, supplying their places,
in some sort, by calling in Militia from the adjacent States. We also have
eighteen cannon on the road to Harper's Ferry of which arm, there is not a
single one yet at that point. This is now our situation. If
McDowell's force was now beyond our reach, we should be utterly helpless.
Apprehension of something like this, and no unwillingness to sustain you, has
always been my reason for withholding McDowells force from you. Please
understand this, and do the best you can with the force you have.
A. LINCOLN
SOURCES: Roy P. Basler, editor, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln,
Volume 5, p. 236-7;
a copy of this letter can be found in The Abraham Lincoln
Papers at the Library of Congress; Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 264
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