Summary:
Union General Phil Sheridan writes to General Grant on the December, 1864, situation in the Shenandoah Valley. Sheridan reports sending scouts as far as Staunton.

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Lieut. Gen. U. S. GRANT,
City Point:

KERNSTOWN, VA.,

December 19, 1864

I sent off this morning for City Point one division of Crook's command. It will number about 3,500 men. On Wednesday I will forward the Provisional Division, numbering about 3,000. The weather has been very bad and is still so. I sent out the cavalry this morning (two divisions) to cross through Chester Gap and strike the railroad if possible; the other division goes up the Valley pike as far as Staunton and stays out as long as its forage will last. The weather is so very bad that I am not sanguine of success in getting to the railroad. My scouts report that two divisions (Rodes' and Wharton's) commenced moving up the Valley last Friday from their camp between Harrisonburg and New Market. I will probably know to-night or to-morrow if any have gone to Richmond.

P. H. SHERIDAN,
Maj.-Gen.

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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 804, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.