Thomas Jordan to F. W. Wagener, June 23, 1863

GENERAL: I am instructed to communicate, for your information, the following indorsement of the commanding general on the com- munications of Colonel Simonton, of the 9th, and of Capt. F. D.

Blake, of the 6th instant:

The project of a small battery, armed with ten guns, at Grimball’s, on the Stono, cannot be approved, for the following reasons :

First. It would not prevent the passage up the river of monitors by day, and of gunboats, or even transports, by night.

Second. It could not prevent the landing of troops at Battery Island (and at Legare’s, via Folly River Creek), which could then take in rear the isolated battery at Grimball’s.

Third. It could then be silenced in a few hours by batteries on the opposite shore of the Stono, assisted by monitors and gunboats in the river.

I have had for some time in contemplation a defensive line from Legare’s to Grimball’s, with a strong work at the latter, a battery at the former, and a system of lines in rear of Battery Island. I would have also, at the latter point, an outwork for infantry, to prevent its occupation by the enemy, but the want of labor and the hope of regaining possession of Cole’s Island have delayed the execution of that project.

When Cole’s Island was abandoned, the work at Battery Island should have been strengthened, and its armament increased in quantity and quality. Obstructions should also have been put in the river under the guns of the work, and a battery at Legare’s should have been located to guard the approach via Folly River Creek. This short line of works would have dispensed entirely with the long, weak, and expensive system adopted for the defense of James Island.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,