Summary:
Union General in Chief Henry Halleck writes General Ulysses S. Grant on July, 31,
1864, to inform him of the raid into Maryland and southern Pennsylvania by
Confederate forces under Jubal Early. He mentions the destruction of
Chambersburg.
Lieut.-Gen. GRANT,
City Point, Va.:
WASHINGTON,
July 31, 1864
It appears from Gen. Averell's reports that while Gen. Hunter was collecting his forces at Harper's Ferry to attack the enemy on the south side the rebel army crossed on the morning of the 29th near Williamsport, and moved, by Hagerstown, into Pennsylvania. Their cavalry captured and partly destroyed Chambersburg yesterday. We have no reliable information of the main body, but, if it crossed and moved as reported by Averell, it would be nearer Baltimore, Harrisburg, and York than Hunter was at Harper's Ferry. I consequently directed him to move east of South mountain toward Emmitsburg, and sent last night, by railroad, to the Monocacy such of Emory's command as had arrived, where he would come immediately under Hunter's orders. They will probably effect a junction to-night. The weather is so intensely hot that marches will be very slow. It is possible that the enemy's infantry is merely covering his cavalry raid. Enemy's cavalry force said to be very large. Ours is so weak and poor that it gives us very little information. A very intelligent artificer of the Sixth Corps, captured at the battle of Monocacy, and who effected his escape in the Shenandoah Valley, has just come in. He says he had several good opportunities to estimate Early's force and actually counted forty-two pieces of artillery on their retreat, and thinks that, as compared with our army corps, which he has frequently seen on reviews, they numbered at least I do not hear that Early received any large re-enforcements in the Valley, but it is said he greatly increased his cavalry by remounts, stolen in Maryland.
H. W. HALLECK,
Maj.-Gen. and Chief of Staff.
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 528, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
