Summary:
Union General Winfield Scott Hancock writes Chief of Staff Henry Halleck in April, 1865, regarding the strategic situation in the Shenandoah Valley in April, 1865. He mentions that Confederate General George Pickett's division is in Staunton.

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Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK,
Chief of Staff:

WINCHESTER, VA.,

April 3, 1865.
(Received 7 a.m., 4th.)

Have you any information which will throw any light upon the probability of a movement in the Valley? If it be true that Pickett is at Staunton, as all reports agree, it seems to me that he is thrown out to cover Lynchburg. The direction of Lee's retreat will slow something. I suppose he holds the line from Burkeville over to Lynchburg.

W. S. HANCOCK,
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 46, Serial No. 97, Pages 540, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.