Summary:
Union General Darius Couch writes Chief of Staff Henry Halleck with a scouting
report on July, 1864, Confederate strengths and movements in the Shenandoah
Valley. Much of the information came from two Irish refugees who had passed
through Staunton.
Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, Chief of Staff:
HARRISBURG, PA.,
July 10, 1864.
(Received 6 p. m.)
An old scout of great shrewdness telegraphs from Hagerstown as follows:
Gen. Tazewell, formerly adjutant-general to Stonewall Jackson, stated, probably when in Hagerstown, that A. P. Hill was crossing river at Edwards Ferry, intending to operate against Washington. Hill in chief command. Early's, Rodes', and Breckinridge's commands are with his corps, and have 100 pieces of artillery, Two Irish refugees arrived, via Staunton; were told that Hill's forces were from Loudoun Valley. It is reported that the enemy have all gone west of Harper's Ferry on both of the river. Refuges say only stragglers are in Shenandoah Valley, and they report the force as higher than has been estimated, to wit, 40,000. A Union officer (prisoner) escaped from Frederick yesterday, reports that it was Early's division that passed through Frederick yesterday, and Bradley Johnson on the road north. A large train of ambulance accompanied.
D. N. COUCH,
Maj.-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. 71, Pages 185, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
