Major-General Henry W. Halleck to Major-General George B. McClellan, February 7, 1862

SAINT LOUIS, February 7, 1862.

Major-General McCLELLAN:

Fort Henry will be held at all hazards. It is said that the enemy is concentrating troops by railroad to recover his lost advantage. If General Buell cannot either attack or threaten Bowling Green on account of the roads, I think every man not required to defend Green River should be sent to the Tennessee River or Cumberland River. We can hold our ground and advance up these rivers. The enemy must abandon Bowling Green. If he does not, he is completely paralyzed. He will concentrate at Dover, Clarksville, or Paris, or fall back on Nashville. In either case Bowling Green will be of little importance. He ought to concentrate at Dover, and attempt to retake Fort Henry. It is the only way he can restore an equilibrium. We should be prepared for this. If you agree with me, send me everything you can spare from General Buell's command or elsewhere. We must hold our ground and cut the enemy's lines. I am sending everything I can rake and scrape together from Missouri.

H. W. HALLECK,    

Major-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 7 (Serial No. 7), p. 590-1

Howell Cobb To Mary Ann Lamar Cobb, June 4, 1846

Washington City, 4th June, 1846.

My Dear Wife, . . . The prospect of winning much glory in the battle field is growing extremely unpromising. The news from Mexico indicates that the war there is fast drawing to a close, and it is now anticipated with much certainty that in a very short time our peaceful relations will be restored with that ill fated people. With England too the bow of peace spans our horizon. The last accounts from Great Britain have quieted all fears of a rupture with her about Oregon. So much so that in both countries the opinion is generally indulged and freely expressed that the Oregon dispute may be considered as approaching its final and peaceful adjustment. It is reported here that Mr. Pakenham has received instructions from his government to offer a settlement on the basis of 49° and the [mutual?] free navigation of the Columbia river. If this be true, we shall soon see a treaty to that effect made and ratified by the Senate, much to the disappointment of us 54.40 men, though in the end we shall be benefited by the result so far as popularity and public confidence is concerned . . .

SOURCE: Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, Editor, The Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1911, Volume 2: The Correspondence of Robert Toombs, Alexander H. Stephens, and Howell Cobb, p. 79-80