WILLIS A GORMAN/Union General/Civil War Letter/Excellent Vicksburg Content 12075

  

Civil War-Date Autograph Letter Signed - with excellent Vicksburg Campaign content. Union Brigadier General; Early-war Colonel of the First.

Minnesota Infantry; Minnesota Territory Governor - 1853-57; U. Representative - Indiana - 1849-53; Veteran of the Mexican War. Two pages, front and reverse of an imprinted 8 x 10 page as Commander of the District of Eastern Arkansas. In the early stages of the Vicksburg Campaign, Gorman sends a highly detailed account of operations under his command to Admiral David Dixon Porter. Charles [Arkansas], Jan[uar]y 20th 1863.

D[avid] D[ixon] Porter. Your dispatch of the 19th (yesterday) was duly rec[eive]d at 8 A.

All my transports will be at the mouth tomorrow. I will send for the Vicksburg Expedition all the force possible, at least one full brigade, one field battery fully equipped, and I think I may be able to send two brigades, being one more than the General asks. My success with the Expedition up White River has been complete. Charles I captured a large amount of forage, corn &c. At Duvall's Bluff I took two 8 inch Columbiads with carriages in complete order, 25 prisoners with 70 new Enfield rifles, some stores, tents, &c.

Destroyed 3 cars & R[ail] R[oad] track, and burnt two Bridges - one 90 and the other 200 feet long. All the force of the enemy have crossed the Arkansas [River] to Little Rock. I should have gone to Little Rock dire[c]t if I could have crossed the sea of mud and wa[ter] between there and Duvall's Bluff, but this is impossible at the present, and my orders were such as to comp[lete] my return at once. Ob[edient] Serv[an]t.

Brig[adier] Gen[ra]l Com[mandin]g. Lightly and evenly toned, with two horizontal folds; an old paper mounting strip at the right edge of the reverse obscures a few letters of text.