Thursday, November 4, 2021

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant to Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel J. Nasmith, June 25, 1863

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,        
Near Vicksburg, June 25, 1863.
Lieut. Col. SAMUEL J. NASMITH,
        Comdg. Officer, Expedition against Greenville, Miss.:

SIR: As soon as the troops brought by you from Snyder's Bluff, and the battery of artillery sent from here, are embarked, you will proceed to the mouth of the Yazoo River, where you will find two gunboats lying under command of Captain Selfridge, and soon as he can get off you will proceed to Greenville, Miss.

It is reported that the enemy have moved a battery and about 250 men from Yazoo City to a point some 6 miles above Greenville. The object of the expedition you command is to capture this battery and troops if possible. Specific directions how to do it are not necessary, but use every effort to effect the object of the expedition. Should they retreat, and your force prove sufficient to compete with them, follow them as long as there is a hope of capture. On your return, in case of pursuit, destroy all bridges and corn-cribs, bring away all negroes disposed to follow you, and teams of rebels to haul them and their plunder. Keep your men out of the houses as much as possible, and prevent plundering. Give the people to understand if their troops make raids necessary, all their crops and means of raising crops will be destroyed.

After breaking up the rebels on the Mississippi, then proceed to Catfish Point, where there is also said to be a battery established by the enemy. The same general direction applies to it.

Should any negroes accompany you, they will be left at one of the camps established either at Milliken's Bend or Young's Point.

Respectfully, yours,
U. S. GRANT.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 24, Part 3 (Serial No. 38), p. 437-8

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