Summary:
In June, 1863, General Robert E. Lee invaded Pennsylvania in what became the Gettysburg campaign. In this dispatch, Union General Ambrose Burnside reports that Lee's cavalry held points as far west as Chambersburg.

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Maj.-Gen. ROSECRANS,
Murfreesborough, Tenn.:

CINCINNATI,

June 17, 1863.

Lee seems to be moving up to the north, with a view to the invasion of Pennsylvania and Ohio, he holds the Shenandoah Valley, and as far west as Cumberland and as far as Chambersburg, with cavalry, and we still hold Harper's Ferry. I think the main body of his force is still between the Blue Ridge and Bull Mountains. Indications are that Hooker is followed him, and I hope he will make a successful attack on his rear. I have sent out those two expeditions of which I have already informed you, and am very much inclined to follow them with all my available amount of force into East Tennessee, say, to the extent of 5,00 or 6,00 men. What is your opinion? Will it be of service to you if the move is made?

A. E. BURNSIDE,
Maj.-Gen.

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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 23, Serial No. 35, Pages 436, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.