SIR: A rebel
steamboat passed Burkesville yesterday at 12 o'clock, loaded with men and
cannon and other arms, clothing, &c.
I send 300 cavalry
to heights on this side to intercept it, if possible. I will move with 300 of
Third Kentucky and the Nineteenth Ohio to an advantageous position at the mouth
of Renick's Creek, 2½ miles above Burkesville, on the Cumberland. I shall move
the whole force here to Burkesville. It is only 4 miles farther from Glasgow
than Columbia. I am not willing to see the Cumberland surrendered, without a
struggle, to Zollicoffer and the rebel invaders. If this movement is wrong, it
can be censured. I know it will be right if we whip the scoundrels and wrong if
otherwise. More boats are expected up. If we delay much longer the enemy will
have time to bring his re-enforcements from Texas and Louisiana.
We have no cannon,
and must rely on our rifles to take off the men from the boats. With one piece
of artillery the boats could be torn to atoms or sunk.
Can you not send me
a section of a battery? I have ordered your commissary to supply rations to the
troops about to move.
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