Summary:
Fitz-John Porter, Assistant Adjutant to Union General Robert Patterson, writes
from Chambersburg in June, 1861, with orders for General George Cadwalader.
Porter instructs him to detail men to aid Union forces at Cumberland. Porter
also mentions the burning of Harper's Ferry.
Brevet Maj. Gen. GEORGE CADWALADER,
Commanding First
Division, Pennsylvania Volunteers:
CHAMBERSBURG, PA,
June 15, 1861.
GENERAL:
Cumberland is threatened by a large force (three thousand men) and asks for aid. If you are certain that the enemy has abandoned the right bank of the Potomac and cannot injure you in any possible manner, the commanding general desires you to detail towards Cumberland, as assistance, a section of artillery, a squadron of cavalry, and three regiments of infantry, using for the purpose the transportation of other regiments. No risk, however, must be run to endanger your own force, lest you be cut up in detail. The burning of Harper's Ferry may be a decoy, and hence the general enjoins the utmost caution upon you and Capt. Newton and every officer. Just at this time, when a movement is made, the danger is the greatest. If you can hire a man to go to Cumberland and tell Col. Wallace what you have decided to do, the general desires it.
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 687-688, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
