Summary:
After Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson's string of victories in May, 1862,
Federal armies in the Valley attempted to converge against him. In this June
dispatch, Union General Nathaniel P. Banks informs Irvin McDowell of the
situation, and mentions expected military support for Jackson from Confederates
in Staunton.
Gen. MCDOWELL:
Winchester,
June 5, 1862.
Gen.:
I fear we are not in condition to furnish provisions to the prisoners at Strasburg, but I shall send a detachment up to-morrow to ascertain their condition. The great rains have cut off all our supplies. The river at Williamsport is impassable--not a boat can cross. The bridge at Harper's Ferry is carried away and the bridges on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. We are without wagons or rations for our own troops for more than a day or two. The prisoners might be brought here if necessary.
A servant that I find here reports a conversation heard between the rebel officers at the hotel on the day Jackson left. In speaking of their being cut off by your forces, they said that Johnston and Lee were to support them from the Luray road and Smith and Magruder at Staunton. Their purpose was to draw our troops into the valley as far as possible and destroy them by greatly superior forces. We heard these reports often when in the valley, and do not attach much importance. They are given as a part of the history of the day.
Very truly, yours,
N. P. BANKS,
Maj.-Gen.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 12, Serial No. 18, Pages 343, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
