To Daniel Butterfield1Jump to section
Major General Butterfield: Washington, D.C., June 4, 1863.
The news you send me from the Richmond Sentinel of the 3d must be greatly if not wholly incorrect. The Thursday mentioned was the 28th, and we have dispatches here directly from Vicksburg of the 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st, and while they speak of the siege progressing, they speak of no assault or general fighting whatever, and in fact they so speak as to almost exclude the idea that there can have been any since Monday the 25th, which was not very heavy. Neither do they mention any demand made by Grant upon Pemberton for a surrender. They speak of our troops as being in good health, condition and spirits. Some of them do say that Banks has Port Hudson invested. A. LINCOLN.
Annotation
[1] Tarbell (Appendix), p. 367. On June 4, General Butterfield telegraphed as follows: ``Richmond Sentinel June 3d. says---Jackson June 1st. Grant demanded the surrender of Vicksburg on Thursday giving three days to Pemberton to consider the demand. Pemberton replied that he did not want 15 minutes & that his troops would die in the trenches before they would surrender. The federal troops are demoralized & refused to renew the attack on Saturday. The enemys Gunboats are firing hot shot at the City the federal loss is estimated at 25,000 or 30,000. . . . Port Hudson is invested Nothing in Enquirer of June 4.'' (DLC-RTL).