Summary:
Union General George Meade writes to General in Chief Henry Halleck to report rumors about General Averell's raid into West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Meade tells Halleck that he has heard that Averell entered the important rail center of Staunton, burned the depot, and damaged the railroad.

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Maj.-Gen. HALLECK:

December 21, 1863--1 p. m.
(Received 2 p. m.)

Scouts just in, state it was reported at Orange Court-House that Averell had been into Staunton, burning the depot and doing other damage to the railroad, and that he had beaten Imboden and Jenkins. On receipt of this intelligence, Fitzhugh Lee's and Wickham's brigades of cavalry, with seven batteries of artillery, were sent to Albemarle County; they were traced as far as Stony Point, and are believed to have gone to Staunton. No other movements of troops reported; rebel soldiers said it was expected Longstreet would return to Lee's army.

GEO. G. MEADE,
Maj.-Gen., Cmdg.

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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 29, Serial No. 49, Pages 571, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.