_Brigadier-General Commanding_.
To ascertain what enemy I would have to meet, I sent my chief of staff,
Captain George E. Spencer, a very competent officer who was a genius in
getting inside of the enemy's lines, with a communication to General P. D.
Roddey, who had returned to Tuscumbia, and was in command of the rebel
forces south of the Tennessee River. I told Captain Spencer that the
communication was an important one and he must not deliver it to any one
except General Roddey; that he must impress upon the officer on the
enemy's picket-line that he must take him to General Roddey and in that
way he would be able to determine very closely what forces I would have to
meet. Captain Spencer went prepared to do this. He met the picket
officer; they became very chummy, and the officer took Captain Spencer
right through all of the enemy's forces between Bear River and Tuscumbia,
and he delivered the message to General Roddey, who was in great anger at
his officer; but they made the best of it. After the war, Captain Spencer
and General Roddey were great friends and I believe partners in some
business. The result of Captain Spencer's trip I set forth in the
following dispatch to General Oglesby:
CORINTH. _April_ 17, 1863.
_Major-General Oglesby, Jackson_:
My A. A. G., Captain George E. Spencer, has just returned from
Tuscumbia; succeeded in getting through all the enemy's camps and
obtaining valuable information. The forces are posted as follows:
Colonel Dibrell, 900 men, at Tuscumbia Landing; Colonel Josiah
Patterson, 1,000, at Florence; Colonel M. W. Hannon, 1,800, at
Tuscumbia; Colonel Roddey's old regiment, 800, at Tuscumbia Landing;
Baxter Smith, 350, ten miles this side; Colonel Hampton, 300 at same
place; W. R. Julian, 300, at Grey's, six miles this side; and Smith,
100, at Big Bear. The above all cavalry. Between Courtland and
Tuscumbia, one brigade of infantry, under Colonel Wood, as follows:
Colonel A. H. Helvenston, 300; Colonel J. B. Bibb, 500; Colonel W. B.
Wood, Sixteenth Alabama, 400. The last brigade, and one brigade of
cavalry, under General Roddey, arrived at Tuscumbia last week. This
more than doubles their force. They have also five pieces of artillery
at Florence and six pieces at Tuscumbia.