MAY 24, 1862 –
(From Washington, 24th.)
I left General McDowell's camp at dark last evening.
Shields' command is there, but it is so worn that he cannot move before Monday
morning, the 26th. We have so thinned our line to get troops for other places
that it was broken yesterday at Front Royal, with a probable loss to us of one
regiment infantry, two companies cavalry, putting General Banks in some peril.
The enemy's forces under General Anderson now opposing
General McDowell's advance have as their line of supply and retreat the road to
Richmond.
If, in conjunction with McDowell's movement against
Anderson, you could send a force from your right to cut off the enemy's
supplies from Richmond, preserve the railroad bridges across the two forks of
the Pamunkey, and intercept the enemy's retreat, you will prevent the army now
opposed to you from receiving an accession of numbers of nearly 15,000 men, and
if you succeed in saving the bridges you will secure a line of railroad for
supplies in addition to the one you now have. Can you not do this almost as
well as not while you are building the Chickahominy bridges? McDowell and
Shields both say they can, and positively will, move Monday morning. I wish you
to move cautiously and safely.
You will have command of McDowell, after he joins you,
precisely as you indicated in your long dispatch to us of the 21st.
A. LINCOLN,
President.
Maj. Gen. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN.
SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
11, Part 1 (Serial No. 12), p. 30
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