Sunday, March 9, 2014

Abraham Lincoln to Major General George B. McClellan, June 18, 1862

WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, D.C., June 18, 1862.
Major-General McCLELLAN:

Yours of to-day making it probable that Jackson has been re-enforced by about 10,000 from Richmond is corroborated by a dispatch from General King at Fredericksburg, saying a Frenchman just arrived from Richmond by way of Gordonsville met 10,000 to 15,000 passing through the latter place to join Jackson.

If this is true it is as good as a re-enforcement to you of an equal force. I could better dispose of things if I could know about what day you can attack Richmond, and would be glad to be informed, if you think you can inform me with safety.

A. LINCOLN.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 11, Part 3 (Serial No. 14), p. 232-3

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