Summary:
In this July, 1863, dispatch, Union General William French requests
reinforcements from General in Chief Henry Halleck to help cut off Lee's retreat
from Gettysburg. He mentions that The Army of Northern Virginia is massing at
Chambersburg and Williamsport.
Received 3.40 p. m.
H. W. HALLECK,
Gen.-in-Chief:
Frederick, Md.,
July 5, 1863
Your dispatch of this date is just received. Meade's instructions to me require the force sent back from Harper's Ferry. No time is to be lost. Buford is passing through to-day. I have destroyed the bridge at Williamsport, and am fortifying the South Mountain passes. Lee, it is reported, has massed at Chambersburg, and will rest his right on the river at Williamsport. Should he find his passage there impracticable, as the river is rising, he will endeavor to seize the passes. I have one good brigade holding them. I also hold the Monocacy bridges, and have only a few unreliable infantry in reserve. Should you send me re-enforcements, they should come direct by rail. The cavalry is broken down. I have issued a proclamation for horses, and will remount as fast as they are brought in. It was reported to me that artillery was being placed on the heights at Shepherdstown Ford, and a bridge in readiness to swing across. Buford will visit that place to-night.
To reoccupy Maryland Heights will require time, and probably the holding for awhile the opposite side of the river. The enemy can get nothing by having them, and a small force without a depot would be in a cul-de-sac.
I have just received the following dispatch from headquarters Army of the Potomac, dated July 4, 10.30 a. m.:
Maj.-Gen. French:
More recent developments indicate that the enemy may have retired to take a new position, and await an attack from us. The general commanding countermands his dispatch requiring you to reoccupy Maryland Heights and seize the South Mountain passes, resuming the instructions of July 3, making your movements contingent upon those of the enemy.
DANL. BUTTERFIELD,
Chief of Staff.
Latest dispatch.
July 5--7 a. m.
Gen. French:
The enemy appear to be in full retreat, and you can act upon the contingencies
provided for in previous dispatches.
DANL. BUTTERFIELD.
I will, therefore, require the re-enforcements.
WM. H. FRENCH,
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 544-545, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
