Summary:
Union General Robert Patterson, commanding the Department of Pennsylvania,
reports to the Assistant Adjutant General in May, 1861, concerning the muster-in
and position of troops under his command. He mentions several regiments
stationed at Chambersburg.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA,
ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL,
Headquarters of the
Army, Washington, D. C.:
Philadelphia, Pa.,
May 11, 1861.
SIR:
I forward for the information of the Gen.-in-Chief, on a department return, a detailed statement of the regiments mustered into the service of the United States, which are or have been in the department, and the present condition of the equipments. Eight regiments in excess in the Pennsylvania quota arises from troops having been mustered in at this place by authority and no attention taken of them at Harrisburg. I have urged and pressed the equipping of these regiments. The commander of Frankford Arsenal reports he cannot fill before the 25th instant the orders now in his possession for twelve regiments, three of which are at Chambersburg and three at York. No requisition for ordnance equipments for Gen. Negley's command has been received, and Lieut. Treadwell, the ordnance officer at the arsenal, is, by order from Washington, providing only for twelve thousand four hundred men, the Pennsylvania quota. I am aware that Maryland has been invaded from Virginia at Harper's Ferry, but in the present condition of my command am powerless.
I make the above statement that the Gen.-in-Chief may not rely at present upon these regiments in his plan of attack upon Harper's Ferry. By Wednesday of the coming week one regiment at York and two in this city will be provided with accouterments. I request to be informed if troops from York are to march through or around Baltimore, and whether the regiments on that line are to be pushed to Washington. The railroad hence to Baltimore will be opened in a few days. I desire also to be informed if there is any objection to using this route through Baltimore.
I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. PATTERSON,
Maj.-Gen., Commanding.
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 635, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
