William T. Sherman to Hurlbut, June 23, 1862

June 23, 1862.

June 23, 1862. General ASBOTH, Rienzi, Miss. :

You are informed by mail to-day that General Davis’ division was at Jacinto and a regiment and battery ordered to Danville. The telegram from General Halleck to General Rosecrans would have been sent you if the line had been in working order.

A scout, has been ordered from Corinth in the direction of Kossuth and Ripley, so General Rosecrans has been informed.

W. L. ELLIOTT, Brigadier-General and Chief of Staff.

Hpgrs. FirtH DIVISION, ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, La Fayette Station, June 23, 1862. Col. J. C. KELTON, Assistant Adjutant-General, Corinth, Miss. :

Strz: The matters herein referred to, being special in their nature, I think should be addressed to you without going through the headquarters of General Grant, now in motion for Memphis. The general aud staff passed my camp this morning and will reach Memphis this evening.

On the 9th instant I received at Chewalla General Halleck’s instructions by telegraph to move with my own and Haurlbut’s divisions on Grand Junction, thence to detach strong working parties forward to repair the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, to use great care in securing my working parties, and to assure the inhabitants of all proper protection, &c. The bridges across the Tuscumbia and Hatchie had been destroyed by the enemy’s cavalry, so I sent forward to those points Denver’s brigade and Hurlbut’s division, and on Wednesday, June 11, I put in motion my whole division, except the Forty-sixth Ohio left behind as a rear guard to some wagons of provisions which had not yet arrived at Chewalla.

Repairing roads as we marched, we reached Grand Junction after night of the 13th. But there was no water there for troops, and on the morning of the 14th I occupied the town of La Grange, 3 miles west of Grand Junction, with my division, and General Hurlbut encamped his on Scott’s Creek, about 24 miles south of the Junction. There were two pieces of destroyed trestle-work in the town of La Grange which I caused to be repaired as rapidly as possible, and learning that the bridge across Wolf Creek, 10 miles west, was destroyed I sent General Denver’s brigade forward to repair it and to ascertain what damage was done beyond. Whilst the work was being done at La Grange and Moscow I dispatched General Veatch’s brigade of Hurlbut’s division and Morgan L. Smith’s of mine, with all our effective cavalry, to Holly Springs, with orders for the cavalry to push on as much farther south as was prudent, and if possible to force the enemy to destroy the bridge across the Tallahatchie River. This expedition was well conducted and cleared our flanks completely of an enemy thus far. Their pickets were at Lamar, retreated, burning a trestle there. At Holly Springs there was the remains of an infantry and cavalry regiment, which escaped in cars and by the railroad.” Our cavalry brought in of these about 8 prisoners—officers —whom I paroled.

Our cavalry reached the vicinity of the Tallahatchie Bridge and had

quite a brisk skirmish, driving the enemy across the river, where he had cars and re-enforcements, and the officer did not deem it prudent to push his venture farther, as the men of the Fifth Ohio Cavalry have no carbines. Some of the enemy are reported as killed. We had 4 wounded, 2 of whom were doubtless mortally. They were brought some distance to the rear and sent to a farm-house.

The two brigades remained in Holly Springs two days and returned to their respective camps.

On the 21st instant the two pieces of broken trestle-work in La Grange being done, and being unable to hear definite information of breaks west of Moscow, and our stock of provisions being reported to me as expiring the 27th instead of the 30th, I determined to move forward myself from La Grange to hurry up the repairs and send into Memphis for supplies. Even if the track was done the scarcity of cars may prevent our being supplied in that way. Accordingly yesterday, the 22d, [ moved forward my whole division to this point, except one regiment left at Moscow to finish up that bridge and guard it. I find two other bridges destroyed, one 3 miles west and another 3 miles east of this point. I now have strong working parties on all, and I feel confident cars may safely come through to-morrow evening. This morning, most agreeably to our surprise, a train of cars arrived at the break 3 miles west of us, from Memphis, with the Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteers, Col. P. Kinney, with orders to co-operate with us in repairing the road. This now establishes the communication.

We know exactly what is to be done, and not a minute shall be wasted. We labor under difficulties for want of tools, tackle, &c., but I feel confident in promising a through road after to-morrow. This morning, at 3a. m., I dispatched a heavy train of wagons for Memphis, to bring us out provisions; distance is 30 miles. They should be able to reach there and load to-morrow, and come out in two days, arriving, say, the evening of the 26th, by which date I have no doubt there will be uninterrupted communication between Corinth and Memphis, and then I can move to Coldwater, Holly Springs, Mount Pleasant, or wherever the general thinks best.

There is now great dearth of water in the country, and we have been forced to keep near the Wolf; but our expedition found excellent water in Coldwater, 5 miles north of Holly Springs.

My engineer has been so hard at work on bridges that I have not been able to compile many maps, but I have some sketches, which, at ne more leisure moments, I will have him compile and send to Colonel

with great respect, your obedient servant,

Major-General
Hogrs. FirtH Division, ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE,
La Fayette Station, June 23, 1862.
General HuRLBUT,
Commanding Fourth Division, La Grange, Tenn. :
Sir: Remain with your whole division at or near La Grange. Don’t
move on Moscow. I expect after getting provisions to effect a junction