Letter

Unknown to Henry W. Halleck, June 28, 1862

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI,

June 28, 1862. Major-General HALLEOK, Corinth, Miss. : No news from our front, from Jacinto around to Ripley road. Asboth sends statement of man from Rienzi, G. R. Bollard, who left Columbus, confirming the following: Columbus being fortified; used as depot for conscripts; use of slave labor; position of main army between Tupelo and Saltillo; passenger trains come to Tupelo; army, 40,000; many sick, many dispirited; Breckinridge gone to Vicksburg; purchase of teams. If you think we are secure from a principal attack upon the part of our lines, or, if it comes, may meet its first shock near Rienzi, I will advance another division to some point fit for bivouac beyond Rienzi and threatening an advance on the Ripley, Booneville, and Blackland roads there. Will leave one division in this camp.

W. 8S. ROSECRANS,

Brigadier-General, Commanding.
Editor's Notes
From: Operations in West Tennessee and Mississippi, Pt. 1. Summary: Brigadier-General Rosecrans informs Major-General Halleck of enemy fortifications and troop movements near Columbus, proposes advancing a division beyond Rienzi to threaten key roads if their lines remain secure.
Sources
The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 17, Part 1 View original source ↗