WASHINGTON, July 10,
1864 — 2.30 p.m.
Lieutenant-General GRANT:
Your dispatch to General Halleck referring to what I may
think in the present emergency is shown me. General Halleck says we have
absolutely no force here fit to go to the field. He thinks that with the
100-days' men and invalids we have here we can defend Washington, and scarcely
Baltimore. Besides these there are about 8,000, not very reliable, under Howe,
at Harper's Ferry, with Hunter approaching that point very slowly, with what
number I suppose you know better than I. Wallace, with some odds and ends and
part of what came up with Ricketts, was so badly beaten yesterday at Monocacy
that what is left can attempt no more than to defend Baltimore. What we shall
get in from Pennsylvania and New York will scarcely be worth counting, I fear.
Now, what I think is that you should provide to retain your hold where you are,
certainly, and bring the rest with you personally, and make a vigorous effort
to destroy the enemy's force in this vicinity. I think there is really a fair
chance to do this if the movement is prompt. This is what I think, upon your
suggestion, and is not an order.
A. LINCOLN,
President of the
United Slates.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
37, Part 2 (Serial No. 71), p. 155
No comments:
Post a Comment