Summary:
Union General Andrew Humphreys reports to General Meade on information gathered
by a scout in March, 1864. The scout reported Confederate General Thomas
Rosser's brigade to be stationed near Staunton.
Maj. Gen. GEORGE G. MEADE,
Washington, D. C.:
March 4, 1864.--10 a. m. (Received 11.20 a. m.)
The scouts sent out have returned. They brought with them the scout sent to cut the telegraph. On Sunday night at 11 o'clock he disconnected the wires at Frederick's Hall Station. Next day at 10 a. m. he saw Dahlgren come in there. The telegraph station was destroyed, road torn up, and other damage done, but the artillery, distant 500 yards, was not seen, and was not disturbed. The scout saw a very large fire in the vicinity of Hanover Junction Monday at 3 p. m. and in the evening a larger one lower down. On his way back the scout was taken prisoner by the rebels, who told him they had been beaten at Hanover Junction and the bridge there destroyed. The rebel soldiers also reported that Kilpatrick had struck the Central train on its way to Gordonsville, and had taken Gen. Lee a prisoner. The scout escaped near Chancellorsville. Hampton is in pursuit of Kilpatrick with 1,800 men. The scout reports large forces of infantry about Chancellorsville and all roads very closely picketed and the river patrolled by infantry. The old man has a letter from his daughter showing that Rosser was then near Staunton. The reconnaissance sent out this morning not heard from yet. The following dispatch just received from Kilpatrick.
A. A. HUMPHREYS,
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 33, Serial No. 60, Pages 639, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
