Regarding Hallecks requests for troop returns from Grant, here is some interesting info in the notes of
Papers of US Grant by John Simon which suggest that Halleck had not really asked Grant for them like he said. Apparently McClellan had complained to Halleck for not sending more information and Halleck had explained to McClellan that
he was having problems with the telegraph. This suggests that Halleck may have been passing the buck to Grant for his own butt-chewing. Here is the note from Simon:
Although Halleck complained that USG had failed to report his strength and position, there are no specific requests for this information either in USG's hd. qrs. records or those of the Dept. of the Mo. On Feb. 16, McClellan had telegraphed to Halleck. "Give me in detail Grant's force & positions—the last report from him—all that you heard reliably in regard to enemy. What left at Fort Henry." ALS (telegram sent), DNA, RG 107, Telegrams Collected (Bound). On the preceding day, McClellan had requested the information directly from USG, but the telegram was not received until March 3. See letter to Commanding Officer, Gunboat Flotilla, Feb. 15, 1862. Memoirs, I, 325. On Feb. 21, McClellan complained that Halleck had not reported "either often or fully enough," though this telegram did not refer specifically to USG's command. O.R., I, vii, 646. In his reply of the same date, Halleck explained that he had encountered difficulties with the telegraph. Ibid., p. 647.
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