SAINT LOUIS, MO., [December 2,] 1861.
Maj. Gen. GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN,
Commander-in- Chief, Washington,
D.C.:
GENERAL: As stated in a former communication, Brig. Gen. W.
T. Sherman, on reporting here for duty, was ordered to inspect troops (three
divisions) at Sedalia and vicinity, and if, in the absence of General Pope, he
deemed there was danger of an immediate attack, he was authorized to assume the
command. He did so, and commenced the movements of the troops in a manner which
I did not approve, and countermanded. I also received information from officers
there that General S[herman] was completely "stampeded" and was
"stampeding" the army. I therefore immediately ordered him to this
place, and yesterday gave him a leave of absence for twenty days to visit his
family in Ohio. I am satisfied that General S[herman's] physical and mental
system is so completely broken by labor and care as to render him for the
present entirely unfit for duty. Perhaps a few weeks' rest may restore him. I
am satisfied that in his present condition it would be dangerous to give him a
command here. Can't you send me a brigadier-general of high rank capable of
commanding a corps d'armée of three or four divisions? Say Heintzelman,
F. J. Porter, Franklin, or McCall. Those of lower grades would be ranked by
others here. Grant cannot be taken from Cairo, nor Curtis from this place at
present. Sigel is sick, and Prentiss operating against insurgents in Northern
Missouri. I dare not intrust the "mustangs" with high commands in the
face of the enemy.
Very respectfully,
your obedient servant,
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
52, Part 1 (Serial No. 109), p. 198
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