Summary:
In mid-summer, 1864, Confederate forces under General Jubal Early raided north of the Potomac into Pennsylvania and Maryland in a campaign that included the burning of Chambersburg. In this July 29 dispatch, Union General Darius Couch, commanding the Department of the Susquehanna, writes from Chambersburg to General William Averell with orders to deal with the approaching forces.

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Gen. AVERELL,
Hagerstown:

CHAMBERSBURG,

July 29, 1864.

Should the enemy turn your right flank and move into this State, will you pursue them, provided they threaten your front; or, if they move on your right flank in overpowering numbers, will you fall back into this Valley or move to the left? It will be of great service for me to know this. If you can't safely send this by telegraph, but wish to let me know, can't you send it up by confidential messenger?

D. N. COUCH,
Maj.-Gen.

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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 37, Serial No. 70, Pages 334, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.