rout.
After we crossed the Etowah, five detachments of cavalry were successively sent, with instructions to destroy as much as they could of the railroad between Dalton and the Etowah.
All failed because too weak.
We could never spare a sufficient body of cavalry for this service, as its assistance was absolutely necessary in the defence of every position we occupied.
Captain Harvey, an officer of great courage and sagacity, was detached on this service, with one hundred men, on the 11th of June, and remained for several weeks near the railroad, frequently interrupting, although not strong enough to prevent its use. Early in the campaign the statements of the strength of the cavalry in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, given me by Lieutenant-General Polk, just from the command of that department, and my telegraphic correspondence with his successor, Lieutenant-General S. D. Lee, gave me reason to hope that a competent force could be sent from Mississippi and Alaba
