Summary:
Union Colonel George H. Sharpe writes General Humphreys with intelligence
gathered by Union men in the Confederate capital during September, 1864. Sharpe
reports that the Confederate telegraph officer in Staunton left the town in
anticipation of its capture.
Maj.-Gen. HUMPHREYS,
Chief of Staff:
City Point, Va.,
September 27, 1864.
GEN.:
The Union men of Richmond sent us word last night, through our scouts, that the telegraph operator had left Staunton night before last-Sunday night. The dispatch also stated that the Yankees were expected to occupy Staunton early yesterday morning; Gen. Early was retreating to Waynesborough; Gen. Lee was in Richmond on Saturday in consultation with the War Department, and pontoon bridges were being put across the Appomattox. Fitz Lee had arrived in town wounded, his command remaining with Early. The three regiments formerly reported as having been sent to Lynchburg are all there troops that have been moved within the last week. Silver sold in Richmond yesterday at 29 for 1, and gold at 30 for 1. Mr. Davis had not returned from Hood's army up to yesterday morning at 10 o'clock The command rumors of the evacuation of Richmond are gaining strength. The wounded of Early's army are expected to arrive in Richmond, but none of them have yet arrived. The brigades at Chaffin's, if taken up, have been replaced, as one of our agents saw South Carolinians on Sunday belonging to Bratton's brigade, of Field's division, who had just crossed the bridge. Files of Richmond papers are forwarded herewith.
Very respectfully,
GEORGE H. SHARPE,
Col., &c.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 42, Serial No. 88, Pages 1050, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
