CAMP NEAR BIRDSONG FERRY, July 3, 1863.
Lieutenant-General PEMBERTON:
Your dispatches of June 28 were destroyed by messenger. He
states that General Smith's troops were driven back to Monroe. This statement
and his account of your condition make me think it necessary to create a
diversion, and thus enable you to cut your way out, if the time has come for
you to do this. Of that time I cannot judge; you must, as it depends upon your
condition. I hope to attack the enemy in your front about the 7th, and your
co-operation will be necessary. The manner and the proper point for you to
bring the garrison out must be determined by you from your superior knowledge
of the ground and distribution of the enemy's forces. Our firing will show you
where we are engaged. If Vicksburg cannot be saved, the garrison must.
J. E. JOHNSTON.
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. 987
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