Summary:
Union General Robert Patterson's Assistant Adjutant Fitz-John Porter writes from
Chambersburg in June, 1861, to Captain John Newton to discuss orders and plans
for an advance on Harper's Ferry.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA,
Capt. JOHN NEWTON,
Engineer Corps, en route to
Williamsport:
Chambersburg, Pa.,
June 15, 1861.
CAPTAIN:
In reply to your note of this date, I have, by direction of the commanding general, hastily addressed a letter to Gen. Cadwalader authorizing him to throw a force beyond Williamsport, and to send in advance towards Martinsburg parties to secure against surprise, provided the report you send that Harper's Ferry is vacated be true. He is advised to send you to reconnoiter carefully, and as you know the wishes of the commanding general and the momentous interests at stake, which would suffer even from a check, which would be constructed into a victory, to take your advice into consideration and act upon it, knowing, as does the commanding general, that he can rely upon your judgment and prudence not to compromise our present position. You understand the condition of the Army and the impossibility of advancing far with any large portion of our force, and the danger of having a portion cut off. If the enemy has abandoned Harper's Ferry, the commanding general wishes it occupied as soon as it can be done safely.
I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
F. J. PORTER,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
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 687, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
