William T. Sherman to Henry W. Halleck, July 8, 1862

General HALLECK: I had dispatched a train for Memphis and escort of a regiment, but upon receiving your dispatch that we could depend for supplies on Columbus I ordered the train from La Fayette. I have just sent a sconting party of 100 cavalry to Mount Pleasant and La Fayette and propose to send a brigade to Rising Sun, where wagon train was attacked, to recover the 6 broken wagons and to take a number of mules from the neighboring planters, according to Grant’s orders, to make good the ioss. There are small bodies of cavalry all around the country, but I can hear of no large parties or any infantry. If infantry advance from Tallahatchie they will most likely move toward Germantown. Weather is intensely hot and dust very bad. We have abundance of water here in Wolf River.

W. T. SHERMAN,