Summary:
Union General Robert Patterson, commanding the Department of Pennsylvania from Chambersburg, writes General George McClellan in June, 1861. Patterson discusses the trouble his army faces in preparing an advance on Harper's Ferry.

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Gen. GEO. B. McCLELLAN, Commanding, Cincinnati, Ohio:

Chambersburg, Pa.,

June 15, 1861.

Col. Wallace is threatened between Grafton and Cumberland by three thousand rebels, and asked for aid (artillery, infantry, and ammunition) from Gen. Morris, which was declined. If possible, assistance will go from Hagerstown, but I may be able only to hold my own for a few days, fearing to be cut up in detail. The destruction of Harper's Ferry is a decoy, I fear. I have ordered him, if hard pressed, to come this way or to return towards Bedford. The force of enemy at Harper's Ferry exceeds mine at Hagerstown. Do not know the kind of arms Wallace has.

R. PATTERSON,
Maj.-Gen., Commanding.

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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 689, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.