June 14, 1863 (Sunday): Halleck Prepares to Defend Pittsburgh

Battle of 2nd Winchester (Hotchkiss Map)

HARPER'S FERRY, W. VA.,
June 14, 1863--9 p.m.

Hon. E. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
   Nothing from Winchester to-day, neither from the enemy nor General Schenck.  Heavy firing at Martinsburg heard for one and a half hours, ceasing at dusk.  Telegraphic communication ceased at 7 p.m. and result not known.  Enemy reported at Berryville and Smithfield.
   My force here is not as large as it should be, yet the troops are in good spirits, and will give a good account of themselves.


B. F. KELLEY,
Brigadier-General.


WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, June 14, 1863--2.20 p.m.

GENERAL W.T.H. BROOKS,
Pittsburgh, Pa.:

   Lee's army is in motion toward the Shenandoah Valley.  Pittsburgh and Wheeling should be put in defensible condition as rapidly as possible.

H. W. HALLECK
General-in-Chief.

Official Records, Series I., Vol. 27, Part 3, Pages 109, 113.

Late to understand the Confederate move north would be more than a cavalry raid, Halleck now had to organize his forces in the field for any eventuality.  As the crow flies, it is roughly 190 miles from Fredericksburg to Pittsburgh.  The trip up to Pittsburgh would have been over rough terrain for much of the way.  Lee was more likely to move, as he did, toward Central Pennsylvania.  Gettysburg lay only 110 miles away over better roads.  One of his aims, as during Imboden's raid during the Chancellorsville campaign, we to break the rail link between Washington and what was then the frontier country of Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.  On this day Ewell was finishing his attacks at Winchester, routing Milroy and taking over 4,000 prisoners.  As seen here Kelley, at Harper's Ferry, was unaware of the situation at Winchester, only 25 miles distant.