NEAR VICKSBURG) MISS.,
June 2, 1863.
Brig. Gen. JOSEPH A. MOWER,
Commanding Advance Forces:
Move your brigade, together with all the cavalry assigned to
your command, to Mechanicsburg. Take with you the commissary boat and one other
boat, which the chief quartermaster is directed to send up to you to-day.
Admiral Porter has been requested to send the gunboats now at Haynes' Bluff up
with you. These, with the steamers, will probably be able to carry your
infantry to Satartia; if not, let the transport steamer make additional trips
until your troops are all up. The cavalry, artillery, and such land
transportation as you want with you can be moved up by the bottom road. Keep
the extra steamer with you to use in case of need.
When your troops are posted at Mechanicsburg, keep the
cavalry actively employed in watching the movements of the enemy. Should a
large force get to your rear, move to Satartia, and, with your transports, move
to the west bank of the Yazoo, from which withdraw to Haynes' Bluff by land and
water, as best you can. Whilst stationed in the advance, obstruct all the roads
leading to the Big Black River in every way you can. Destroy or bring in for
your own use all the forage, provisions, and transportation you can reach.
In a few days I will be able to send an entire division, or
move to re-enforce you, when I think you will be able to make excursions up
through the rich Yazoo bottoms, and keep me well informed of all information
collected.
U.S. GRANT.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
24, Part 3 (Serial No. 38), p. 375
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