HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT NORTHEASTERN LOUISIANA,
Young's Point, June 22, 1863.
Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT, Comdg. Department of the Tennessee:GENERAL: I have the
honor to acknowledge the receipt of dispatches from you of this date.
A cavalry
reconnaissance that I ordered in the direction of Richmond returned night
before last, and report that they proceeded as far as Richmond, and found no
force there, or any indication of an enemy in that vicinity.
The enemy, in their
retreat, burned the bridge over Tensas Bayou, and are undoubtedly beyond Delhi.
From what I can
learn, the rebels are unquestionably building skiffs and flat-boats at
Vicksburg. You may rest assured, general, if they intend an attack upon us,
they will not catch us napping.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ELIAS S. DENNIS.
SOURCES: 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. 427; John Y. Simon,
Editor, The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant,
Volume 8, p. 400
