Litchfield enquirer., 1866-02-15

stopeman should break tho road until he gets into Virginia. unless it should be to cut of
 rollfag sfoek int may be caught west of that
 "U. s. GRANT, Leutenant-G General.
 Major General q. H. THoMAs.''s 9s4 "a
 Thus it will be seen that in March, 1865, General Canby was moving an adequate force against Mobile and the army defending 1t, un- der General Dick Taylor; Thomas was push ing out two large and well-appointed cavalry expeditions from Middle Tennessee un- der Brevet Major General Wilson against the enemys yitai points in Alabama, the other from East Tennessee under. Major General Stoneman towards Lynchburg-and assem- bling the remainder of his available forces, pre- paratoy to oiSsnasive operations from East Ten nessee; General sheridan'sy cavalry was at White House the armies of the Potomac and James were confronting the enemy under Lee in his defences of Richmond and Petersburg ]; General Sherman with his armies, re-en forced by fhato of Genetal Schofeld, vas at Goldsboro' Gsneral FopeMas making preparations for q spring campaign against the enemy unde Kir- by Smith and Price, west of the Mississippi 1; and General Hancock was concentrating a force in the vicinity of Winchester Virginia, to guard against invasion or to operate offensive as might prove necessary.
 After long march by General Sheridan g cavalry over winter roads, it was necessary to -..st ..1 -e4is at .trhite He~se.- At this time the greatest source of uneasiness to me was the
 fear that the enemy would leave his strong lines about Petersburg and Richmond for the purpose of uniting with Johnston, before he was driven from them by battle, or was pre- pared to make an effectual pursuit. On the 24th of March General Sheridan moved from White House, crossed the James river at Jones's landing, and formed junction with the army of the Potomac in front of Peters burg on the 27th. During this move, General Ord sent forces to cover the crossings of the Chikahominy. ,- ....
 On the 24th of March the following instruc- tions for general movement of the armies op erating against Richmond were issued:
 C1TY POINT, VA. March "A, 1865.
 "GEAERAL: On the 2eth instant the armies operating against Richmond will be moved by our left for the double purpose of turning the enemy out of his present position around Pe- tersburg and to insure the success of the cav airy under General Sheridan, which will start at the same time, in it's efforts to reach and destroy the South Side and Danville railroads Two corps of the army of the Potomac will be moved at first in two columns, taking the two roads crossing Hatcher:s run nearest where the present line held by us strikes that stream both moving towards Dinwiddie Court House.
 "The cavalry under General Sheridan, join ed by the division now under General Davies, will move at the same time by the Weldon road and the Jeruselem plank k-road turning west from the latter before crossing the Notto- way, and west with the whole column before Stony creek. General Sheridan will then move independently, under other instructions, which will bc given him, All dismounted cav airy belonging to the army of the Potomac, and the dismounted cavalry from the middle military divisioE not required for guarding property belonging to their arm of service will report to Brigadier General Benham, to be ad- ded to the de6ences of City Point. Major Gen. eral Parke will be left in command of all the army left for holding the lines about Peters burg and City Point subject, of course, to or ders from the commander ofthe army of the Potomac The 9th army corps will be left ] intact to hold the present line of works so leug as the whole line now occupied by us is held: 1f however, the troops to the left of the 9th | corps are withdrawn, then the left of the corps may be thrown back 80 as to occupy the posi-. ton heldby the army prior to the capture of the Weldon road. All troops to the left of the 9th corps will be held in readiness to move at she shortest notice by such route as may be designated when the order is given. |
 General Ord will derach three divisions, two white and one colored, or so much
 s--SoA oc A0 Oou, 6uU uOIu ulS present. | lines, and march for the present left of the ar- my of the Potomac. In the absence of fur. ther orders, or until further orders are given. l the white divisions will follow the left column | of the army of the Potomac, and the colored division the right column. During the move- ment Major-Ge Weitzel will be left in command of all the forces remaining behind from the army of the James.
 The movement of troops from the army of the James will commence on the night of the | 27th instant. General Ord will leave behind the minimum number of cavalry necessary for picket duty, in the absence of the main army, A cavalry expedition from General Ords com mand will also be started from Suffolk to leave there on Saturday, the lst of April under Col onel Sumner Tor the purpose Of cutting the railrcsd about Hicksford. This, if accom. Paished. will have to be a surprise, and there foss from three to i've hundred men will be sufficient They should. however, be support a ay sH the insantry that can be spared from NorsSlk and Pogssmeuth, as far out as to | wasurn sla xmx,.l,p n,v>ru.. sAr p,>.a,,>... ua