Civil War-Date Autograph Letter Signed – with excellent Vicksburg Campaign content

Autograph Letter Signed, two pages, front and reverse of an imprinted 8” x 10 page as Commander of the District of Eastern Arkansas.  In the early stages of the Vicksburg Campaign, Gorman sends a highly detailed account of operations under his command to Admiral David Dixon Porter.  Worthy of further study.

“St. Charles [Arkansas], Jan[uar]y 20th 1863

Acting Rear Admiral
D[avid] D[ixon] Porter

Admiral:

Your dispatch of the 19th (yesterday) was duly rec[eive]d at 8 A.M. Today.  All my transports will be at the mouth tomorrow.  From there I will row up to Helena, as each boat has Artillery, Cavalry and Infantry and I cannot fit out the force I am going to send to Maj[or] Gen[era]l McClernand at any other place.  I will send for the Vicksburg Expedition all the force possible, at least one full brigade, one field battery fully equipped, and I think I may be able to send two brigades, being one more than the General asks.

My success with the Expedition up White River has been complete.  At St. Charles I captured a large amount of forage, corn &c. and some prisoners.  At Duvall’s Bluff I took two 8 inch Columbiads with carriages in complete order, 25 prisoners with 70 new Enfield rifles, some stores, tents, &c., destroyed 3 cars & R[ail] R[oad] track, and burnt two Bridges – one 90 and the other 200 feet long.

At Des Arc we captured 100 prisoners, several hundred rounds of fixed 6 po[und] ammunition, several thousand bushels of Gov[ernmen]t corn, a large rebel mail, and destroyed their Telegraph.  All the force of the enemy have crossed the Arkansas [River] to Little Rock.

I should have gone to Little Rock dire[c]t if I could have crossed the sea of mud and wa[ter] between there and Duvall’s Bluff, but this is impossible at the present, and my orders were such as to comp[lete] my return at once.

I am Admiral very respectfully y[ou]r
Ob[edient] Serv[an]t,

W.A. Gorman
Brig[adier] Gen[ra]l Com[mandin]g.”

Lightly and evenly toned, with two horizontal folds; an old paper mounting strip at the right edge of the reverse obscures a few letters of text.