Summary:
In this October, 1864, dispatch, Union General Darius Couch, commanding at Chambersburg, explains that he called for a concentration of troops after hearing rumors of an impending Confederate raid north of the Potomac.

---

Hon. EDWIN M. STANTION, Secretary of War:

CHAMBERSBURG, PA.,

October 22, 1864

Four days ago all troops that could be spared from other points were concentrated in this valley in consequence of the existing alarm among the people, and the earnest exhortation of Governor Curtin, who informed me that a raid at this time would be very disastrous to the country. Of this I will communicate by letter. Possibly the half company of cavalry ordered from Columbia County might return. Some days ago I informed Gen. Halleck that cavalry was absolutely necessary in this State for the good of the country.

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 43, Serial No. 91, Pages 451, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.