ot to give any important information unless written in that way. On the 10th of August the cipher was obtained at General Liddell's headquarters, and I then sent you a dispatch giving the chief points in General Taylor's communication. I now inclose the general's letter, which will give you his views more plainly than I could myself transmit them. General Taylor, through his staff officer, begs me that you will use your influence to have the troops that cross to this side paid up as soon as practicable. They have been greatly neglected in this respect, and he thinks a prompt attention to their wants would, to a certain extent, tend to remove the dissatisfaction which would exist by reason of transfer." He also suggests that when the troops are brought from Arkansas, General Price be left in the Trans-Mississippi Department. He thinks, unless ordered to remain, the general will be sent over, as General E. K. Smith is anxious to get rid of him. You will see from General Taylor's letter that he anticipates difficulty, moral as well as material, in the transfer of the troops to this side, but he promises that every exertion will be used to overcome both. On the 9th I again wrote to General Taylor, suggesting that he had better act fully without waiting to hear from Richmond, telling him that you considered expedition in the movement of the troops. I also informed him that it was your wish that he should move in person to this side as soon as practicable. I have not heard from General Smith. Generals Wirt Adams and Liddell have made all necessary arrangements for providing transportation and supplies for the troops as they Cross over, and both are ready to give such co-operation as to facilitate the movement. It is feared that the enemy is apprised of our intentions, not from positive information but from his spies observing preparations which indicate the contemplated movement. We find the greatest caution and secrecy necessary, as the inhabitants are in constant communication with the enemy. I will inform you as soon as I get further news. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, [Inclosure No. 18.] Captain, &c. HEADQUARTERS TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT, Lieut. Gen. R. TAYLOR, Commanding, &c.: GENERAL: Major-General Forney left this morning to report to you to take command of Walker's old division. From letters received this morning the general commanding is led to believe that serious difficulty will arise among the troops on General Forney's taking command of that division. If these apprehensions are well founded, and as this is the only command to which he can be assigned in the department, the genral commanding directs that upon your arrival on the east side of the Mississippi River you will relieve General Forney of command and order hm to report to Richmond. General Smith requests that you commuicate to him your views on this subject. I have the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN G. MEEM, JR., CLINTON, LA., August 13, 1864. (Via Mobile.) General BRAXTON BRAGG, Richmond, Va.: Are the troops from the Trans-Mississippi to bring their arms with them? General Smith has decided not, if arms can be procured from Selma. Some arms will be necessary for police and possibly for contingencies, but it would be well, as far as practicable, to avoid the transfer of arms from the Trans-Mississippi Department. [Inclosure No. 19.] J. D. HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF WEST LOUISIANA, General E. KIRBY SMITH, Commanding Trans-Mississippi Department: GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 11th instant (No. 3637). In my note to you of the 9th instant, to which yours is an answer, I mentioned that I had already put Parsons' cavalry brigade en route for Arkansas. Harrison's Louisiana brigade, as you know, had already marched. I was, therefore, surprised at this passage in your communication: You will have the two brigades of Major's division prepared, so that they can march to Arkansas as soon as the movement of General Taylor is accomplished. It would appear from this that it is your desire that four cavalry brigades shall be sent to Arkansas from this district. In our conversation on the subject while you were here, and in the correspondence which has taken place between us on the subject, you did not intimate that you desired me to send more than three brigades-the two in addition to Harrison's command. Please give me instructions on this point. The preparations for the crossing of the command of General Taylor have been pushed forward by Colonel Douglas and his assistants with such energy that the pontoons will be able to move from here to-morrow those I mean that have not already been sent around by water. It is of the greatest importance to the success of the movement that Genera Taylor should be with the troops in superintendence of the whole in person, but I learn from one of his staff that he intends leaving here to-morrow to assume command of the Department of Mississippi and await the arrival of the troops on the other side. This is in conse quence, as Major Levy informs me, of an order to that effect sent hin directly by General Bragg and received last night. I have not see the order, and think Major Levy is mistaken in regard to the order bein from General Bragg. It was probably the advice to that effect of Ma jor-General Maury. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. G. WALKER, [Inclosure No. 20.] General E. K. SMITH, ALEXANDRIA, August 13, 1864. Comdy. Trans-Mississippi Department, Shreveport : GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 11th instant at this place to-day. In reply to your remarks in reference to crossing troops over the Mississippi River, I have to say that I have been unfortunate in my manner of expression if I have not in my previous correspondence satisfied you as to my ap preciation of the importance, of such a movement and of the promptness with which it should be executed. I beg to add, however, that the plan suggested in my letter of the 8th instant for effecting such an end, to which you refer as "submitted and approved by me," emanated from Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas, an officer of your staff and chief engineer of the department. I have never been in a position to become acquainted with the resources of the entire department, and if those resources are inadequate to the execution of the plan of the chief engineer, who certainly had the best means of knowing them, the fault that the plan is "impracticable and visionary" should not be attributed to me. I trust that my professional career since I have held a command in this department will show that my military plans have generally proved neither "impracticable nor visionary." You state that in your letter of July 31 the whole disposable force of the district was placed under my control through General Walker, its commander. By that letter I understood myself to be placed in command of the infantry only of my former command, and I learned from Major-General Walker that he had received orders to assist and confer with me. Major-General Walker has extended me his cordial co-operation, but the whole disposable force of the district was certainly not placed under my control. In reference to your suggestion for covering the point selected for crossing by cavalry and artillery, I beg to say that my experience in engag ing the enemy's gun-boats has shown me the futility of attempting to prevent their passing any batteries we might be able to place upon the bank. The proposition that gun-boats can pass batteries in navigable treams has been, I think, incontestably proven by experience, and especially on the Mississippi River, which is almost an inland sea. In general, a diversion should be made to cover the crossing of an ordihary stream in the face of the enemy. It would be more necessary, therefore, in crossing the Mississippi, and a plan based upon this recognized proposition would eminently justify sending the cavalry on a "distant expedition." Your letter of July 31 authorized me to send officers of my staff east of the Mississippi, but it was not until the evening of the 7th instant that I received an answer indicating which officers of my former staff you would permit to remain with me. There was not a moment's delay in sending them, as almost the whole of my former command was ordered east of the Mississippi. I fail to appreriate the liberality which permitted a portion of the staff long connected with that command to accompany it, and in this connection I would observe that the orders of General Bragg to me were issued on the supposition that I was still commanding the troops of the District of West Louisiana, whereas I had been for some weeks removed, even from the theater of their operations. My correspondence with your headquarters, since you have commanded this department will show that it has been my constant endeavor to delocalize the operations of the troops under my command, and so to conduct their movements as to conduce most powerfully to the success of our comrades-in-arms east of the Mississippi. With the long-settled conviction which has die tated such a course, I cannot be deemed insensible to the importance of the movement now in contemplation. I beg to observe, in conclusion, that I do not anticipate accomplishing impossibilities, but that not a moment's delay has occurred through me with the means at my disposal to attempt to carry out the difficult duty assigned me. The troops are already in position to cross and the means of crossing en route to their respective destinations. I myself leave here to-morrow to join the troops. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, CLINTON, LA.. August 14, 1864. (Via Mobile.) General BRAXTON BRAGG: Your dispatch of the 12th received. General Taylor was previously informed of your wishes. Four thousand infantry will cross the Mississippi River on Thursday, the 18th, at Dolgin Wall. This comprises the whole force expected. [First indorsement.] THOMAS BUTLER. Respectfully submitted for the information of the President. General BRAGG: [Second indorsement.] How can the number of men reported be transferred as two divisions, or has a change been made? [Third indorsement.] J. D. HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES, August 22, 1864. Respectfully returned to His Excellency the President. I have indi cated to General Taylor that he should cross and assume his new com mand, but I think it better be renewed. The number of men (4,000) reported in the dispatch within seems t be the whole force intended to be sent. See copy of cipher telegram 22d, herewith sent. BRAXTON BRAGG, General. ALEXANDRIA, August 14, 1864. General E. KIRBY SMITH: GENERAL: Your communication of 12th instant (No. 3659) has ju been received, in which you inform me that Major-General Forney on his way to this place to report to me to take command of Walker old division. After stating that you have received letters which lead you to belie that "serious difficulty will arise" among the troops on General Forn taking command of that division, you say: If these apprehensions are well founded, and as this is the only command to whi he can be assigned in the department upon (my) arrival on the east side of the Miss sippi River (I) will relieve General Forney and order him to report to Richmond. While in your letters you profess an anxiety and desire to facilitate the movement of the troops, you now persist in the assignment of this icer, in spite of "serious difficulty" which you believe will arise thereby, and thus add embarrassment in the matter, and direct me when shall reach the new department, which is independent of your control nd jurisdiction, to relieve him and order him to Richmond. Obviously, the only effect of your instructions will be to place General Forney in ommand of the troops at the moment when the difficulty of which you speak would embarrass the important movement, whose success and disatch you profess to be desirous of advancing, and thus you would get id of an officer whose services you do not need or desire in your own lepartment. While you have the right to assign commanders to troops serving within your military jurisdiction, you certainly have none to direct disposition of officers in a command separate from and independent of your own. As soon as the troops reach the bank of the Mississippi River I shall order General Forney to report to your headquarters, as I do not require him to cross with the division. In one of your former letters to me you speak of the influence of Major-General Walker with his old division, he having been in command of it for nearly two years. In view of this fact, and of his being command of the District of West Louisiana, controlling its military esources and familiar with the dispositions and operations which may ave taken place recently within the district, the dispatch, secrecy, and thciency of the movement of crossing the troops would surely have been promoted by charging him therewith and permitting me to proceed in the first instance to the Cis-Mississippi, where in command of my department I could have matured all the arrangements necessary to be made on that side, and with Major-General Walker in command of his old division the embarrassments and difficulties referred to in your letter of the 12th instant would not have arisen. Inclosed I forward you copy of dispatch in cipher from Capt. T. Butler, of General Bragg's staff, dated Clinton, La., August 9. I shall start at once for my command, and after visiting the troops on this side and inspecting the arrangements for crossing them proceed to the department to which I have been assigned and make the needful dispostions there. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, [Inclosure.] R. TAYLOR, CLINTON, LA., August 9, 1864. General Bragg directs that you come across and assume your new command as soon as practicable.. THOMAS BUTLER, Captain, &c. [Inclosure No. 21.] HEADQUARTERS TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT, Lieut. Gen. R. TAYLOR: Shreveport, August 15, 1864. GENERAL: By a letter of the 13th instant from General Walker, commanding the District of West Louisiana, I learn that you contemplate baving the troops here under your command and crossing the Missis ippi. This I positively forbid. Your presence with those troops now on the eve of crossing is of the greatest importance to the success of the ovement. Should you have received instructions from higher author |