Summary:
Union General Darius Couch writes Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in June, 1863,
to report on the situation in Pennsylvania. He reports on Confederate troops and
numbers of guns in Chambersburg. He also mentions success in getting
Pennsylvania militia units to come out to defend the state.
Received 6.20 p. m.
Hon. Secretary of War:
Harrisburg,
June 29, 1863.
I hold from Altoona, along the Juniata and Susquehanna, to Conowingo Bridge, above Havre de Grace. The fortifications opposite here are being made as strong as we can make them. If a determined attack is made on me, their shells may destroy the bridges that communicate. Some 2,000 men of Milroy's command hold the country near Bedford Springs. I am afraid they will ford the river in its present stage. Ten thousand men in and about Carlisle last night. Their artillery has felt our intrenchments to-day. My whole force organized is, perhaps, 16,000 men. Five thousand regulars will whip them all to pieces in an open field.
Lee, Longstreet, the two Hills, and Ewell were in and about Chambersburg, and this side, on Saturday last; one hundred and sixty-two pieces of artillery, many of them heavy Parrott guns. There is some doubt about Longstreet and D. H. Hill. All the rest is reliable, and comes from four independent and trusty sources. The Pennsylvania militia are turning out in response to the call, but I much fear the Pennsylvania Railroad will be cut. Dispatch in reference to regulars received.
D. N. COUCH,
Maj.-Gen.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 27, Serial No. 45, Pages 407, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
