To Henry W. Halleck1Jump to section
Major Genl. Halleck Washington, D.C.
Corinth, Miss. June 30, 1862.
Would be very glad of twenty five thousand Infantry---no artillery, or cavalry---but please do not send a man if it endangers any place you deem important to hold, or if it forces you to give up, or weaken, or delay the expedition against Chattanooga. To take and hold the Rail-road at, or East of, Cleveland in East Tennessee, I think fully as important as the taking and holding of Richmond. A. LINCOLN
Annotation
[1] ALS, RPB. Halleck telegraphed Stanton on June 30, ``I think, under the circumstances, the Chattanooga expedition better be abandoned or at least diminished. If not, I doubt our ability to hold West Tennessee after detaching so large a force as that called for. . . .'' (OR, I, XI, III, 279). Stanton replied at 3 P.M., ``The Chattanooga expedition must not on any account be given up. The President regards that . . . as one of the most important movements of the war. . . . and directs that no force be sent here if you cannot do it without breaking up the operation. . . .'' (Ibid., p. 280). Halleck replied to Lincoln (received 9:40 P.M.) that ``Your telegram just received saves Western Tennessee; the former order was imperative and I had no alternative but obedience. . . .'' (Ibid., p. 285).