Summary:
Union General Robert Patterson, commanding at Chambersburg, responds to Maryland
Governor Thomas Hicks' June, 1861, request for troops to protect Frederick,
Maryland. Patterson assures Hicks that his command, which included Maryland,
will do all in its power to protect the state.
His Excellency THOMAS H. HICKS,
Governor of
Maryland:
CHAMBERSBURG, PA.,
June 10, 1861.
GOVERNOR:
In response to the communication of the 9th instant, with which you have honored me, and to the call for protection you make upon the troops under my command, I have to inform you that the public interest in your vicinity, as well as in other portions of your State, have received my devoted attention, and that I am preparing to protect and secure you against molestation by the common enemy of our country; and I assure you that the people throughout your State, and especially in the vicinity of Frederick, shall have protection so soon as I can extend it consistently with the safety of other important interests confided to me and movements, one object of which is to rid you forever of the parties of whom you complain.
I am, 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 673, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
