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.
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
