It was reported in Vicksburg the day of the President's arrival that a division of General Holmes's army of ten thousand men was approaching from Little Rock. According to the estimate of Major General M. L. Smith, a garrison of twelve thousand men was necessary to hold the place. He had about half the number. From a map of Port Hudson which he showed me, that place seemed require a force almost as great to defend it. I proposed to the President that General Holmes should be instructed to send twenty thousand of his troops to Mississippi instead of the ten thousand supposed to be on the way, because such additional force would have enabled us to put adequate garrisons into Vicksburg and Port Hudson, by which we held the part of the Mississippi between them, and to oppose General Grant with active force of forty thousand men. In writing the President on this subject, however, I expressed the opinion that Holmes's and Peniberton's troops should be concentrated in Mississippi. The President suggested to General Holmes but did not order him to send the twenty thousand men asked. General Holmes, very properly, waited for orders.
What twenty thousand troops would General Holmes have ordered across the Mississippi? As explained above, since one division already marching to the relief of Vicksburg which supposedly included ten thousand officers and men, we might assume that Johnston wanted another full division from General Holmes. Which two divisions did he have in mind?