CARLISLE BARRACKS, PA., April 22, 1861.
SIR: Last evening three of my missing men arrived here, having left Harper’s Ferry the previous afternoon. They report that fifteen minutes after my command left the armory nine hundred troops marched into town, and that they continued to arrive every hour during the night, so that by morning there were probably nearly five, thousand troops there. They also report that the fire in the workshops was arrested, but that the arsenal buildings containing the arms, together with their contents, were completely demolished, and that it is probable not a single gun was saved from them.
I remain, sir, with respect, your obedient servant,
R. JONES,
First Lieutenant Mounted Riflemen.
To the ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL,
Headquarters of the Army, Washington, D. C.
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 