If，inconjunctionwithMcDowell’smovementagainstAnderson，youcouldsendaforcefromyourrighttocutofftheenemy’ssuppliesfromRichmond，preservetherailroadbridgesacrossthetwoforksofthePamunkey，andintercepttheenemy’sretreat，youwillpreventthearmynowopposedtoyoufromreceivinganaccessionofnumbersofnearly15，000men；andifyousucceedinsavingthebridgesyouwillsecurealineofrailroadforsuppliesinadditiontotheoneyounowhave。CanyounotdothisalmostaswellasnotwhileyouarebuildingtheChickahominybridges？McDowellandShieldsbothsaytheycan，andpositivelywill，moveMondaymorning。Iwishyoutomovecautiouslyandsafely。
YouwillhavecommandofMcDowell，afterhejoinsyou，preciselyasyouindicatedinyourlongdespatchtousofthe21st。
A。LINCOLN。
TELEGRAMTOGENERALRUFUSSAXTON。
WARDEPARTMENT，May，241862。2P。M。