Summary:
Union General-in-Chief Winfield Scott writes General Robert Patterson concerning
troop movements and orders for his command in Pennsylvania and Maryland in July,
1861. Scott tells Patterson to expect to receive troops from Wisconsin via
Chambersburg.
Maj.-Gen. PATTERSON, Martinsburg:
WASHINGTON,
July 5, 1861
Your letter of the 4th is received. Orders were sent this morning to Madison for the Third and Fourth Regiments from Wisconsin to repair to Williamsport via Chambersburg and report to you. The Nineteenth and Twenty-eighth New York Regiments leave here for Hagerstown to-morrow at half past 2 p. m. You will have to provide transportation for them thence to the post you may order them to. If any three-months' men will re-engage for the long term, designate a Regular officer of your command to muster them, provided a sufficient number to form a regiment can be obtained. Having defeated the enemy, if you can continue the pursuit without too great hazard, advance via Leesburg (or Strasburg) towards Alexandria; but consider the dangerous defiles, especially via Strasburg, and move with great caution, halting at Winchester and threatening a movement by Strasburg; or the passage of the Potomac twice, and coming down by Leesburg, may be the more advantageous movement.
WINFIELD SCOTT.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 2, Serial No. 2, Pages 158-159, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
