ORs: (US) Col. J. B. Fry to Gen. W. S. Smith - July 16, 1862

War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
Series 1, Volume 16, Part 2, Page 164

HEADQUARTERS,
Huntsville, July 16, 1862.

General WILLIAM S. SMITH,
Tullahoma,

(Or where he may be, to be forwarded at once):

Your letter dated 12 p. m. July 14 at Tullahoma is just received. The general is greatly surprised at your orders to Colonel Hambright. Your instructions did not authorize you to draw the troops below the Duck River Bridge, and only left it optional with you to concentrate there or at Wartrace. You were not authorized nor was it supposed you would give up quietly to the enemy the railroad and bridges between Wartrace and Tullahoma. General Wood’s division will be at or near Shelbyville to-night. Communicate with him and send at once by rail a guard for the Duck River Bridge. Inform General Wood what troops you have and where they are and report same here. Unless movements of the enemy render changes necessary leave the body of your troops at present and set to work at once establishing your bridge guards and
having the stockades erected. Order, and as far as possible secure, strict attention to guard duty. It is of vital importance to erect the stockades instantly, and the general directs your special attention to this. Our information is that the enemy left Murfreesborough on the morning of the 14th and they are said to have gone toward McMinnville. They may strike at some other point. There were not more than 2,000. Report, so far as you know, what damage the railroad has sustained.

JAMES B. FRY,
Chief of Staff