Waar Department, June 3, 1861 to W. B. Franklin, U.s. A, June 4, 1861
HD@RS. DEPARTMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA,
Chambersburg, Pa., June 4, 1861.
COLONEL: The last paragraph in the general’s letter [next preceding] refers to this, that at night the sound of the hammer is heard breaking stone on the Maryland Heights, the ax felling trees. Evidently a block_ house is going up. No one can get near enough to see, and no one is permitted to come here all the way from there. Their informers only go part way. No guns have been placed on this side, unless they are light field pieces, and taken up in wagons. The Virginia side of the Shenandoah is armed, and the guns are iron and long—probably 32 or 24 pounders. Squadrons of cavalry roam the Virginia shore, oppressing people and pressing them into service. Our volunteers are as green as green can be. Marching is their forte, if they have a drum or a band. They cannot form a square yet of those I have seen, yet they think themselves perfect. As the General has just said he would send one or two batteries here, the general will do nothing about getting the field artillery from Harrisburg, though ammunition will be called here, which will be available for the two field batteries if they come. If they do not come, we can get those guns and plant them. We are working like bees.
WAR DEPARTMENT, June 3, 1861. Governor BUCKINGHAM, Norwich, Conn. :
Send on to this place your three years’ regiments as soon as organized. Report when. !
Secretary of War.
(Similar dispatches to governors of Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.)
CHAMBERSBURG, PA., June 3, 1861. To the United States Troops of this Department : The restraint which has necessarily been imposed upon you, impatient to overcome those who have raised their parricidal hands against our country, is about to be removed. You will soon meet the insurgents.
You are not the aggressors. They have invaded a loyal State and intrenched themselves within its boundaries in defiance of its constituted authorities.
You are going on American soil, to sustain the civil power, to relieve the oppressed, and to retake that which is unlawfully held.
You must bear in mind you are going for the good of the whole , country, and that while it is your duty to punish ‘sedition, you must protect the loyal, and, should occasion offer, at once suppress servile insurrection.
Success will crown your efforts; a grateful country and a happy people will reward you.
By order of Major-General Patterson:
Assistant Adjutant-General.
WaAR DEPARTMENT, June 3, 1861.
Col. W. B. FRANKLIN, U.S. A.,
‘ New York City:
How many of the three years’ regiments south of Albany are
organized? Order immediately to this place by Harrisburg all that
are ready.
Secretary of War.