S. A. Hourlbut to Stephen A. Hurlbut, July 10, 1862

General HuRLBUT, La Grange, Tenn.: Assure Colonel Leggett of prompt assistance if he needs it. Davis’ Mill should be closely watched. No enemy should be allowed to camp there for a single night. If Jackson’s cavalry are about Salem they are watching Halleck’s movements about Ripley. Still, as so much now depends on the Columbus road, it should be well guarded. I can hear or see no enemy about me, and very little of anything between us and Memphis. Very little can be done this hot weather by us or the rebels. Try and prevent petty thieving and pillaging; it does us infinite harm. I hear of some horses taken by your men near Holly Springs and a pair of mules taken by your train from near La Fayette. Can you hire a good spy to stay at Holly Springs? I can find none here, which is an insignificant place. W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General. Hypgrs. FourtTH DIv., DISTRICT OF WEST TENNESSEE, La Grange, Tenn., July 10, 1862. I have fired no guns nor heard any. The country to my south and east is quiet. My cavalry have been at Saulsbury to-day, and report concentration of our forces at Rienzi and Ripley; also that 4,000 cavalry, with infantry and artillery, passed toward Holly Springs night before last, 15 miles below Saulsbury. Everybody, black and white, reports a large force gathering near Holly. Train from north not yet in.

[S. A. HOURLBUT],