CITY POINT, VA, September 12,
1864.
Maj. Gen. W. T.
SHERMAN,
Commanding Military Division of
the Mississippi:
I send Lieutenant-Colonel Porter, of my staff, with this.
Colonel Porter will explain to you the exact condition of affairs here better
than I can do in the limits of a letter. Although I feel myself strong enough
for offensive operations, I am holding on quietly to get advantage of recruits
and convalescents, who are coming forward very rapidly. My lines are
necessarily very long, extending from Deep Bottom, north of the James, across
the peninsula formed by the Appomattox and the James, and south of the
Appomattox to the Weldon road. This line is very strongly fortified and can be
held with comparatively few men, but from its great length takes many in the
aggregate. I propose when I do move to extend my left so as to control what is
known as the South Side or Lynchburg and Petersburg road; then, if possible, to
keep the Danville road cut. At the same time this move is made I want to send a
force of from 6,000 to 10,000 men against Wilmington. The way I propose to do
this is to land the men north of Fort Fisher and hold that point. At the same
time a large naval fleet will be assembled there and the iron-clads will run
the batteries as they did at Mobile. This will give us the same control of the
harbor of Wilmington that we now have of the harbor of Mobile. What you are to
do with the forces at your command I do not see. The difficulties of supplying
your army, except when you are constantly moving beyond where you are, I
plainly see. If it had not been for Price's movements Canby could have sent
12,000 more men to Mobile. From your command on the Mississippi an equal number
could have been taken. With these forces my idea would have been to divide
them, sending one-half to Mobile and the other half to Savannah. You could then
move, as proposed in your telegram, so as to threaten Macon and Augusta
equally. Whichever was abandoned by the enemy you could take and open up a new
base of supplies. My object now in sending a staff officer is not so much to
suggest operations for you as to get your views and have plans matured by the
time everything can be got ready. It will probably be the 5th of October before
any of the plans herein indicated will be executed. If you have any promotions
to recommend send the names forward and I will approve them. In conclusion, it
is hardly necessary for me to say that I feel you have accomplished the most
gigantic undertaking given to any general in this war, and with a skill and
ability that will be acknowledged in history as unsurpassed, if not unequaled.
It gives me as much pleasure to record this in your favor as it would in favor
of any living man, myself included.
U. S. GRANT,
Lieutenant-General.
SOURCE: The
War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 39, Part 2 (Serial No. 78), p. 364-5
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