Sold – Gen. Ulysses S. Grant Reports to the War Dept. (and President Lincoln) on the Crucial Progress of Sheridan’s Forces in the Shenandoah Valley, Using Confederate Newspapers

After Confederate Gen. Jubal Early attacked the defenses of Washington in July 1864 and threw the capital into a panic, Grant realized that as long as the Confederacy maintained an army in the Shenandoah Valley, Washington would never be safe. Early's army in the Shenandoah also protected the breadbasket of the Confederacy and undermined the Union's efforts to prevail by cutting off the Confederacy's supplies. To deal with these difficulties, Grant gathered an army near Harper's Ferry and placed it under the command of Gen. Phillip B. Sheridan. Sheridan received orders from Grant to break up the Confederate forces and destroy the agricultural potential of the Valley. And Sheridan was a man who proved capable of doing so.
Sheridan attacked Early just east of Winchester in the Battle of Opequon on September 19, 1864. After a day of bitter fighting, Early's forces were crushed and retreated to the strong defenses at Fisher's Hill, just south of Strasburg. However, Sheridan’s army followed Early and again attacked him at the Battle of Fisher's Hill on September 20-21, 1864. Early was defeated and forced to retreat to Waynesboro, at the south end of the Valley. This opened virtually the entire Valley to the Union scorched earth policy, so instead of further pursuing Early south and out of the Valley, Sheridan began pulling back up the Valley, with his cavalry fanning out as it moved north. In a campaign of destruction known locally as the Burning, and which bore a relationship to Sherman's in Georgia, an enormous amount of crops, and more than 2,000 houses, barns, factories and mills were burnt. Sheridan's army left nothing but desolation in its wake.

Grant, President Lincoln, and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton were deeply interested in the action in the Valley, but because telegraph lines down there were either cut or in enemy hands, they lacked current information on the fast-moving events. The Confederates, with their telegraph lines from the Valley to Richmond still functioning, had later, more current information. This information was generally printed in the Richmond newspapers, in the same way that reports received in Washington would soon be found in the newspapers of the north. Of course, later information does not mean better information, as rumors abounded during the war. Grant anxiously awaited the Richmond newspapers, gazing them eagerly for reports from the Valley.

On September 26, while the main body of the Union army was near Harrisonburg, some 35 miles north of Waynesboro (where Early was ensconced), Sheridan sent cavalry under General Torbert to destroy the Virginia Central railroad bridge at Waynesboro, and as a diversion to cover this movement, directed Col. Merritt to move to Port Republic, about 15 miles away from the Waynesboro target. When within 2 miles of Port Republic, Merritt's advance party encountered some Confederate cavalry, and drove them across the Shenandoah River; but just then a division of Confederate infantry attacked Merritt on his right and rear, forcing him to fall back. Here Merritt was joined by another Union brigade; some artillery was thrown into position and opened a vigorous fire on the Confederates, forcing them to retreat. Seeing this, Merritt sent word to General Powell at Piedmont to bring up his division, with a view to capturing Early's entire supply train. Union forces made one attempt to capture the train, but were compelled to give up the undertaking by the superior strength of the guard. The next day Confederate Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and his cavalry crossed the river and suddenly attacked Powell's camp, driving back the small force guarding it. Powell changed front, recalled that portion of his division that had already crossed the river, and then attacked Lee with such vigor that Lee was forced to retreat precipitately. Powell started to pursue, but a heavy column of Confederate infantry, cavalry and artillery was discovered moving towards him, evidently intent on cutting off his division. Powell prevented the success of the maneuver by slowly falling back to Cross Keys. Instead of attacking the Federal cavalry at Cross Keys the Confederates called off the fight and moved to Port Republic, which place they evacuated on the morning of the 28th. Thus, the skirmish at Port Republic was successful in acting as a diversion for Sheridan's main action, and it did nothing to hinder Union destruction in the Valley. Union forces were, however, unable to gain some objectives they felt might be within their grasp. Observers consider the skirmish a draw, with a slight Union advantage. However, the Union cavalry was forced to retreat four times, and there were moments when it seemed the Confederates might prevail. Rumors flew in the immediate wake of the action that Early's men had thrown Sheridan back, which would have been a significant Confederate victory; however, those rumors proved false.

Just as Grant's Army of the Potomac was engaged around Petersburg, Gen. Benjamin Butler's Army of the James was on the doorstep of Richmond. He was well placed to keep an eye on what was happening in the Confederate capital and to monitor the local press. On September 28, 1864, the day after the Port Republic action was (unbeknownst to him) completed, Grant telegraphed Butler, "Have you seen a Richmond paper of today? If so, what news does it contain from the Valley?" Butler responded, "The Richmond papers are gone to you. They say that a passenger that came down by cars says he had heard that Early repulsed Sheridan but the War Department had no news." The Richmond newspapers Butler speaks of having sent to Grant soon arrived, and Grant pored over them for the news he so sought. Having digested it, he quickly telegraphed what he found to the War Department in Washington (also, essentially, to President Lincoln, who spent so much time at the War Department reading telegrams).

Autograph Letter Signed, City Point, Va., September 28, 1864, to Stanton. "The Richmond Whig of this morning contains the following: 'Charlottesville Sept. 25th/64. The fight near Port Republic on Monday was an engagement between our cavalry and that of the enemy. They came over the river, and were driven back three miles by our cavalry to and across the river. The enemy's cavalry entered Staunton about 8 p. m. on Monday. A force appeared at Waynosboro about 9 o'clock this morning, and then went back about one mile from two. No damage has been done up to 4 p.m. The smoke seen indicates that they are burning the railroad track between Christian's Creek and Staunton [a town near Waynesboro]. There has been no serious fighting up to 4 o'clock this evening.'" Grant continues, "This dispatch should probably have been dated the 27th, but I give it as given in the Richmond paper."

Thus the Richmond papers made no claim of inflicting a major defeat on Sheridan, which must have been a comfort to Grant, Stanton and Lincoln. They moreover established that the operation against the railroad near Waynesboro had been successful, and that there had been no import ant battles in the week since Fisher's Hill.

This is the first time we have seen a letter of Grant providing news from a Confederate source, and the topic here is an important one. This letter is new to the market and has never before been offered for sale.