Summary:
Union General Dan Butterfield forwards a May, 1863, scouting report to Army of the
Potomac commander Joseph Hooker. The report estimates the number of Confederates stationed
under John Imboden at Staunton.
Maj.-Gen. HOOKER:
MAY 1, 1863
Sharpe's Richmond man returned. Following report received:
Our friend just returned. The works around Richmond are most formidable at Meadow Bridge and Mechanicsville road. They are intended for field artillery. No guns in position. Fifty-nine thousand rations issued to Lee's army, exclusive of cavalry. Not able to learn their number. Rumor put it down from 8,000 to 12,000 troops. At Richmond are the City Battalion and some artillery. Two thousand seven hundred rations issued to the troops in Richmond in active service. Gen. Wise has 5,000 on the Peninsula. Longstreet has three divisions at Suffolk. When they left Lee, they were each 8,000 strong. Their effective force, all told, not over 15,000 men. D. H. Hill is ordered from Washington, N. C., to re-enforce Longstreet's corps. He may, however, take Longstreet's place at Suffolk, and Lee may be-enforced by Longstreet. Imboden has 2,500 men at Staunton. If not sent to Jones, may go to Lee. No other re-enforcements can be brought to Lee in any reasonable time. Jones has 4,500 men in Western Virginia.
DANL. BUTTERFIELD,
Maj.-Gen., Chief of Staff.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 25, Serial No. 40, Pages 329, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
