HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.: SIR: I have the honor to report my arrival here yesterday. Major-General Hunter relinquished, and I assumed, command yesterday. I have conversed freely with Major Duane and with several navy officers in reference to the recent attack on the forts in Charleston Harbor, and the present condition of affairs in that direction. The concurrent testimony is that the defenses on Morris Island have undergone a material change within the last three weeks, much to the advantage of the enemy. I shall visit that vicinity to-morrow, and make a full report by next steamer. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, GENERAL ORDERS, No. 48. Q. A. GILLMORE, Brigadier-General, Commanding. HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE SOUTH, Hilton Head, Port Royal, S. C., June 13, 1863. The following-named officers are hereby announced on the staff of the general commanding, and will be respected and obeyed accordingly : Col. John W. Turner, aide-de-camp, and chief of staff. Maj. Ed. W. Smith, assistant adjutant-general, and commissary of musters. First Lieut. Israel R. Sealy, acting assistant adjutant-general. Lieut. Col. J. J. Elwell, chief quartermaster. Lieut. Col. M. R. Morgan, chief commissary of subsistence. Surg. C. H. Crane, U. S. Army, medical director. Maj. Dwight Bannister, chief paymaster. Capt. John W. Todd, chief of ordnance. Maj. James C. Duane, chief engineer. Capt. John Hamilton, Third U. S. Artillery, chief of artillery. Capt. T. B. Brooks, aide-de-camp. First Lieut. Henry M. Bragg, aide-de-camp. First Lieut. Franklin E. Town, chief signal officer. By order of Brig. Gen. Q. A. Gillmore: JNO. W. TURNER, Colonel, and Chief of Staff. HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE SOUTH, SPECIAL ORDERS, Hilton Head, Port Royal, S. C., June 14, 1863. No. 345. Brig. Gen. Rufus Saxton is, at his own request, hereby relieved from command of the post of Beaufort, S. C. Col. W. W. H. Davis, One hundred and fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers, will relieve Brigadier-General Saxton and assume command of the post. By order of Brig. Gen. Q. A. Gillmore: ED. W. SMITH, Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.: SIR: I have made a reconnaissance of Morris Island and its surroundings next to Folly and James Islands. General Vogdes is in command on Folly Island. All his arrangements thus far have been defensive. He will openly continue in that attitude; but I have directed him to plant behind the sand-hills on the north end of Folly Island (secretly and without being seen by the enemy) batteries that will be able to dismount, in one hour, all the enemy's guns on the south end of Morris Island. The enemy are constructing a causeway from James to Morris Island across the marsh. I look upon this as unimportant as against any sudden attempt to get a lodgment on Morris Ísland, as success would place the causeway under our control. I have not fully sounded the navy as to the co-operation that may be expected from them in getting upon Morris Island. Probably nothing will be done by them offensively until the arrival of Admiral Foote. Colonel Montgomery, with 1,500 colored troops and some artillery, now occupies Saint Simon's Island, and will be directed to make raids from that point, and occupy the enemy in that direction. He will be able, I think, to keep many, if not all, of the Georgia troops in that quarter. As nearly as I can ascertain, there are about Charleston, for its defense, some 10,000 or 12,000 troops (mostly South Carolina militia), and there are about an equal number of Georgia militia available for the defense of Savannah. Major Duane started north in the Arago yesterday. The day after my arrival here, General Saxton applied to be relieved from the command of troops, which was done. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Q. A. GILLMORE, Brigadier-General, Commanding. [P. S.]—I have made application to the Adjutant-General of the Army for another engineer officer. HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE SOUTH, GENERAL ORDERS, Hilton Head, Port Royal, S. C., June 19, 1863. I. First Lieut. Guy V. Henry, First U. S. Artillery, is announced as acting chief of artillery, on the staff of the brigadier-general commanding, during the absence of Capt. John Hamilton from the department, and will be respected and obeyed accordingly. II. Copies of all orders issued by post commandants in future will be forwarded at their dates, or as soon thereafter as practicable, in separate series, on full sheets of letter paper, or as printed, to these headquarters. By order of Brig. Gen. Q. A. Gillmore: ED. W. SMITH, Assisiant Adjutant-General. HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE SOUTH, GENERAL ORDERS, Hilton Head, Port Royal, S. C., June 25, 1863. No. 52. I. Capt. Ed. W. Smith, Fifteenth U. S. Infantry, major, and assistant adjutant-general, is, by authority from the War Department, relieved from duty as commissary of musters of the Department of the South. II. Second Lieut. Richard Skinner, Tenth U. S. Infantry, is hereby appointed commissary of musters of the Department of the South, and will be obeyed and respected accordingly. III. All leaves of absence to officers, and furloughs to enlisted men, granted by Maj. Gen. D. Hunter, and subsequently held in abeyance by his order, are hereby revoked. All officers and enlisted men with such leaves will immediately rejoin their regiments. IV. Medical Inspector Augustus C. Hamlin, U. S. Army, having been assigned to duty in this department, is hereby announced as medical inspector of the Department of the South, and will be respected and obeyed accordingly. By order of Brig. Gen. Q. A. Gillmore: ISRAEL R. SEALY, First Lieut., Forty-seventh New York Vols., A. A. Á. G. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.: SIR: The condition of affairs on James and Morris Islands has not materially changed since my last report. Four deserters from Morris and 8 from James Island put me in possession of important information. I see nothing in their report to produce discouragement. Admiral DuPont will cordially co-operate with me, and in less than one week I hope to be in possession of a part or the whole of Morris Island. My batteries on Folly Island should be completed in three or four days. General Seymour, whom I left in New York to complete the shipment of certain stores, has not arrived yet, for some reason to me unknown. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Q. A. GILLMORE, Brigadier-General, Commanding. HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE SOUTH, GENERAL ORDERS, Hilton Head, Port Royal, S. C., June 29, 1863. I. Capt. W. L. M. Burger is announced as assistant adjutant-general on the staff of the brigadier-general commanding, and will be obeyed and respected accordingly. II. A misconception with regard to the true meaning of the term "desert" seems to exist in the minds of many of the officers and enlisted men of this command. To desert means to quit or abandon the post or command of the individual, and there is no authority requiring the animus with which the party left to be established, nor does the fact that he may afterward voluntarily return acquit him of the crime. The highest military authority declares that officers and enlisted men, absent from their command without proper authority, are in fact deserters, and not only forfeit all pay and allow ances due at the time of desertion, but are subject to the severe penalties awarded by law to that crime. III. When a man leaves this command without proper authority, and remains absent more than one day, his company commander will report him as "deserted on his next morning report, and will prefer written charges against him, to be forwarded through regimental to brigade headquarters; and if the man afterward returns, he will be reported as having "joined from desertion and awaiting trial," and these remarks, with the proper dates annexed thereto, will be placed opposite his name on the next subsequent muster-roll of his company, unless he shall in the meantime have been tried and acquitted, or restored to duty without trial by the general competent to order the same. Company and regimental commanders have no authority to dispose of such cases. By order of Brig. Gen. Q. A. Gillmore: ED. W. SMITH, Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.: SIR: I have to report no important changes in the condition of things at Folly Island. My preparations are nearly completed, but I can no nothing until Admiral DuPont's successor arrives and gets ready to work. The admiral has no instructions, and does not feel at liberty to put his vessels into action on the eve of relinquishing his command. I believe we could get Morris Island without the assistance of the navy, but so long as they lie outside the bar the enemy's iron-clads and other gunboats could annoy us so much that we could accomplish very little toward the erection of batteries. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Q. A. GILLMORE, Brigadier-General, Commanding. Abstract from return of the Department of the South (Tenth Army Corps), Brig. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, U. S. Army, commanding, for June, 1863; headquarters Port Royal, S. C. TRANSFERS. 11th Maine, from Port Royal Island to Fernandina. 115th New York, from Hilton Head to Port Royal Island. Independent New York Battalion [Enfans Perdus], from Port Royal Island to Saint Helena Island. 174th and 176th Pennsylvania, from Port Royal Island to Hilton Head. 3d Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, Company C, from Port Royal Island to Saint Helena Island. Troops in the Department of the South, Brig. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, Ú. S. Army, commanding, June 30, 1863. companies), Capt. Richard G. Shaw. 1st New York Engineers, Companies A, | 3d Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (three B, C, and H, Maj. James E. Place. 1st Massachusetts Cavalry, Company I, Lieut. Charles V. Holt. 3d New York Artillery, Battery F, Lieut. Paul Birchmeyer. Infantry. 1st U. S. Artillery, Battery C, Sergt. Michael Leahy. 3d U. S. Artillery, Battery E, Lieut. John R. Myrick. PORT ROYAL ISLAND, S. C. Brig. Gen. RUFUS SAXTON.† POST OF BEAUFORT. 115th New York, Col. Simeon Sammon. 52d Pennsylvania,§ Col. John C. Dodge, jr. 55th Pennsylvania, Col. Richard White. 104th Pennsylvania,§ Lieut. Col. Thompson D. Hart. 1st South Carolina (colored), Col. Thomas W. Higginson. Artillery. 1st Connecticut Battery, Capt. Alfred P. 3d Rhode Island Heavy; Company A, 1st United States, Battery M, Capt. Cavalry and Engineers. 1st Massachusetts Cavalry (three companies), Maj. Atherton H. Stevens, jr. 1st New York Engineers, Company K, Capt. Henry L. Southard. *These brigade organizations announced in General Orders, No. 23, headquarters U. S. forces on Folly Island, June 18; but see Special Orders, No. 391, of July 4, p. 13. See special orders, of June 14, and general orders, of July 6, pp. 4, 15. Assigned to command by Special Orders, No. 345, headquarters Department of the South, of June 14. § Brigaded under command of Col. W. W. H. Davis. |