CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, AND RETURNS RELATING TO OPERATIONS ON THE COASTS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND MIDDLE AND EAST FLORIDA FROM AUGUST 21, 1861, TO APRIL 11, 1862.

UNION CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.

WAR DEPARTMENT, August 2, 1861.

Brigadier General THOMAS W. SHERMAN:

GENERAL: You will proceed to New York immediately and organize, in connection with Captain DuPont, of the Navy, an expedition of 12,000 men. Its destination you and the naval commander will determine after you have sailed. You should sail at the earliest possible moment.

THOMAS A. SCOTT,

Assistant Secretary of War.

AUGUST 2, 1861.

Approved:

A. LINCOLN.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

Washington, August 11, 1861.

Brigadier General THOMAS W. SHERMAN:

SIR: You will proceed to the capitals of the States of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, and confer with the governors of those States on the subject which I have verbally communicated to you, and which is conveyed to the governors also in the letters herewith placed in your hands, and which you are requested to deliver. You will then proceed to New York City, as heretofore instructed.

Very respectfully,

THOMAS A. SCOTT,

Assistant Secretary of War.

[Inclosure.]

WAR DEPARTMENT,

Washington, August 10, 1861.

General T. W. Sherman, having been charged with the preparation of an expedition to rendezvous on Long Island Sound, will, on the part of this Department, consult with you as to the troops which can be earliest made available for this service.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

THOMAS A. SCOTT,

Assistant Secretary of War.

Their excellencies the governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

NEW YORK, August 20, 1861.

Colonel E. D. TOWNSEND,

A. A. G., U. S. A., Hdqrs. Army, Washington, D. C.:

SIR: In conformity to verbal instructions of the 10th instant I have delivered in person the letters placed in my hands by the honorable