HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO,
Cincinnati, May 26, 1861.
Colonel STEEDMAN,
Commanding Fourteenth Regiment, Marietta:
You will on receipt of this cross the river and occupy Parkersburg. The Eighteenth [Ohio] Regiment at Athens is ordered to report to you. You will at once move forward by rail towards Grafton, as far as can be done with prudence, leaving sufficient guards at parkersburg and the bridges as you advance. Avail yourself of the assistance of the armed Union men. Preserve the strictest discipline, and do all in your power to conciliate. If you have to fight, remember that the honor to Ohio is in your hands. Communicate fully. See that the rebels receive no information by telegraph. Take one week’s rations. See that the rights and property of the people are respected, and repress all attempts at negro insurrection.
GEO. B. McCLELLAN,
Major-General, U. S. Army, Commanding Department.
Sources
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, Vol. II. With additions and corrections. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902.
Spirit of '61 