Summary:
Union General David Hunter's Assistant Adjutant Charles Halpine issues orders
from occupied Staunton, VA, concerning June, 1864, reorganization of army and
cavalry regiments.
Staunton, Va.,
June 9, 1864.
13. The Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Col. J. M. Campbell, is hereby transferred from the First to the Second Infantry Division of this department. Col. Campbell will at once report to Brig. Gen. George Crook, commanding Second Infantry Division, for instructions and orders, and will be placed in command of one of the brigades.
18. Brig.-Gen. Duffie, commanding brigade, Second Cavalry Division, is relieved from duty with that division, and will report for duty to Maj.-Gen. Stahel, commanding First Cavalry Division.
20. Brig.-Gen. Duffie is hereby assigned to the command of the First Cavalry Division, and will immediately proceed to reorganize his division with a view to the most complete efficiency. He will report for dismissal, subject to the approval of His Excellency President, any officer or officers whom he may find to be derelict or incompetent for their positions.
21. In consequence of a wound, received while gallantly leading his division in the recent battle of Piedmont, Maj. Gen. Julius Stahel, commanding First Cavalry Division, is relieved from duty with the army in the field, and will immediately proceed to Martinsburg and Harper's Ferry, where he will at once devote himself to the important duty of collecting together and organizing all the troops that can be spared from the defense of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and all detachments of regimentals serving with this command, together with convalescents, and mounted men from the Dismounted Camp. With the forces thus collected and organized, Gen. Stahel will assume command of the important train to be sent after this command, and will with all discreet speed rejoin this command. He will also see that Keeper's battery, First Virginia Artillery, is horse, completely equipped, and sent forward with his forces, and will draw all troops that can be possibly spared from the Kanawha Valley, with the exception of the 100-days' militia there on duty. All commanding officers of the department will see that every facility is furnished to Maj.-Gen. Stahel for the execution of the important duties herein confided to him, and will promptly fill all requisitions which in his judgment may be necessary for the success of his operations. In temporarily parting with Gen. Stahel, the major-general commanding desires to express his appreciation of the faithful, zealous, and gallant services of this officer, and to express the hope that when he rejoins this command he will have entirely recovered from the injuries received in the recent battle.
23. The chief of artillery will detail one section of a battery to report to Brig. Gen. A. N. Duffie, commanding First Cavalry Division, at 3 a. m. to-morrow, for special service at Gen. Stahel's HDQRS.
By order of Maj.-Gen. Hunter:
CHAS. G. HALPINE,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
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 613-614, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
