GENERAL ORDERS, HDQRS. FIRST DIV., 13TH ARMY CORPS, Morganza Bend, La., May 23, 1864. No. 45. I. In obedience to orders from headquarters Detachment Thirteenth Corps, the undersigned hereby assumes command of the First Division, Thirteenth Corps. The following officers are announced on staff duty at these headquarters: Lieut. Col. Willard Slocum, One hundred and twentieth Ohio Volunteers, judge-advocate. Surg. B. B. Brashear, Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, surgeonin-chief. Capt. Bluford Wilson, assistant adjutant-general. Capt. W. W. Morsman, Twenty-second Iowa, acting assistant inspector-general. Capt. D. M. Alexander, commissary of subsistence. Capt. James G. Milligan, Twenty-second Kentucky Volunteers, provost-marshal. Capt. E. L. Hawk, One hundred and fourteenth Ohio Volunteers, ordnance officer. Lieut. Charles H. Paddock, Forty-ninth Indiana Volunteers, acting assistant quartermaster. Capt. P. B. Lawler, Eighteenth Illinois Volunteers, aide-de-camp. Lieut. F. X. Cottin, Fifty-eighth Illinois Volunteers, aide-de camp. By command of Brig. Gen. M. K. Lawler : [B. WILSON,] Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General. 8. The Ninety-first U. S. Infantry, colored, formerly Twentieth Infantry, Corps d'Afrique, will be reported for duty to Maj. Gen. J. J. Reynolds, commanding Defenses of New Orleans. 9. The Eleventh New York Cavalry (Scott's 900), Colonel Sherburne commanding, will proceed without delay to Thibodeaux. On its arrival it will be reported to Brig. Gen. John McNeil, commanding District of La Fourche. The quartermaster's department will furnish the necessary transportation. 10. The organization of the Third Division, Nineteenth Army Corps, prescribed by paragraph 3 of Special Orders, 41, current series, from these headquarters, having never been carried into effect, it is hereby ordered that the following shall be the organization of the Third Division, Nineteenth Army Corps: Brig. Gen. T. W. Sherman is placed in command of the Third Division, Nineteenth Army Corps, which will be for the present composed of two brigades, provisionally composed of the following regiments: First Brigade, Third Division, Nineteenth Army Corps, to consist of the Twenty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteers, to be armed and equipped forthwith for temporary service as infantry; Thirtieth Massachusetts Volunteers, One hundred and tenth New York Volunteers, Seventh Vermont Volunteers. These regiments will proceed without delay to Morganza, and be reported to Brig. Gen. T. W. Sherman. Second Brigade, Third Division, Nineteenth Army Corps, to consist of the Sixth Michigan Volunteers, Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry, and First Indiana Heavy Artillery, all to be armed and equipped forthwith for temporary service as infantry. That portion of the First Indiana Heavy Artillery which is now serving with the heavy guns in the field will remain with their guns and is excepted from the force of the above. All details from these regiments will be at once relieved and returned to their regiments for duty. The Sixth Michigan will proceed, as soon as equipped, to Morganza, and be reported to Brig. Gen. T. W. Sherman. The Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry and First Indiana Volunteers will proceed to Morganza, and be reported to General Sherman so soon as they are relieved at Baton Rouge by regiments to be designated in future orders. The quartermaster's department will furnish the necessary transportation. By command of Major-General Banks: GEO. B. DRAKE, Assistant Adjutant-General. SPECIAL ORDERS, HDQRS. 19TH A. C. AND U. S. FORCES, Morganza, La., May 23, 1864. No. 116. 15. Colonel Dickey, commanding First Brigade, U. S. Infantry (colored), will report for duty in the quartermaster's department, and will furnish any details Captain Sawtelle, assistant quartermaster, may require. Colonel Robinson, commanding Engineer Brigade, will furnish all picket details now required from Colonel Dickey's brigade. 16. Brigadier-General Benton, commanding detachment of the Thirteenth Army Corps, will send one division of his command to New Orleans to report to the commanding officer of the department there as soon as transportation is furnished. Lieut. Col. J. G. Chandler, chief quartermaster, will direct all boats going down the river to report to General Benton for the transportation of the troops. By command of Brigadier-General Emory: FREDERIC SPEED, Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF, Maj. Gen. J. J. REYNOLDS, SIR: I have the honor to inform you that it is the intention of the commanding general to send at once to Ship Island all rebel prisoners now in this city, numbering in the aggregate perhaps 1,300. The chief quartermaster has been directed to furnish transportation at the earliest possible moment, and General Bowen has been instructed to send forward the prisoners as rapidly as the means of transportation will admit. The commanding general desires that you will take every precaution to enforce order among the prisoners after their arrival, and to prevent any escape. No measures which may secure these ends will be overlooked, nor will any exercise of power be deemed too severe which may add to their security. If in your opinion the present garrison of Ship Island is not strong enough, in view of this addition to the responsibility of the post, you will please notify me at once, in order that another regiment of colored troops may be sent forward. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. DWIGHT, Brigadier-General and Chief of Staff. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF, Brigadier-General MCNEIL, Commanding District of La Fourche : All further morning and evening reports are to be sent to Brig. Gen. William Dwight, chief of staff, instead of to the assistant adjutant-general as heretofore. If in your opinion you are in need of any more troops, you can be re-enforced at once by requesting it from these headquarters. Your picket-line from Brashear City up should be watched attentively, and your attention is called to the fact that, in case of a strong attack on Brashear, your strongest line of defense is the line of the Bayou Boeuf, for Brashear can be turned, unless held by a very strong force, and even then it is weak. By command of Major-General Banks: Very respectfully, J. SCHUYLER CROSBY, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. HOUSTON, TEX., May 23, 1864. Brigadier-General ROBERTS, Commanding Federal Forces, &c.: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 16th instant, in which you state that the flag of truce has frequently been abused by myself as well as by my subordinates. This statement, as far as it affects myself, I know to be entirely without foundation and believe it to be so in the case of my subordinates. I recollect but two flags of truce sent by authority from these headquarters since the arrival of Federal troops on this coast, one to Decrow's Point and the other to Indianola, both relating to business of the greatest importance. The courteous manner in which the last flag of truce was received by Brigadier-General Warren and the tone of his communication in answer to mine indicate plainly that he was fully aware of the importance of a satisfactory understanding on the subject which gave rise to the necessity of a flag of truce. It is perfectly proper that officers commanding in the field should send flags of truce to each other without reference to distant headquarters, and nothing is more customary. My orders are that in all cases they shall only be sent for good and sufficient reasons, and that the flag shall be halted upon the least intimation from the enemy of his desire to that effect. I have gone further and even directed that they shall be halted, with out the intimation of such a desire, at such a distance as will attract the enemy without giving any reasonable grounds to suppose that the object of the flag is any other than that expressed in the communication which usually accompanies it. Applications have been received by me from Mrs. Hamilton, wife of A. J. Hamilton, and Mrs. Duval, wife of Dr. Duval, formerly citizens of Texas, now in your lines, and Mrs. Mott, of Baltimore, to go to New Orleans, by way of Saluria. I do not feel myself bound to grant these requests, but desiring to set an example of humanity to the Federal forces, I have done so. The families of these ladies they desire to take with them. These parties will probably go by way of Indianola. I write to ascertain if you will give them passage through your lines to New Orleans, to which place I understand they desire to proceed. I will thank you to send your decision by the flag-of-truce boat which carries this from Matagorda. J. B. MAGRUDER, Major-General, Commanding. E. P. TURNER, Assistant Adjutant-General. GENERAL ORDERS, HDQRS. U. S. FORCES ON RIO GRANDE, Brownsville, Tex., May 23, 1864. I. All citizens of the United States now residing or hereafter coming from the insurrectionary States within the lines of the United States forces on the frontier and coast of Texas who have not taken the oath of allegiance as prescribed by the President's proclamation of December 6, 1863, are required to report to the nearest provostmarshal or assistant provost-marshal within thirty days from the date of this order and take and subscribe said oath. II. All persons not citizens residing or coming within the lines of the said forces from the insurrectionary States within the time and as provided by the foregoing paragraph, will take and subscribe the oath required by General Orders, No. 42, series 1862, Department of the Gulf, for foreigners. III. All persons residing or found remaining within the lines of said forces after the expiration of the time aforesaid who shall have neglected or refused to take the oath above required, if males, will be held as prisoners of war; if females, will be sent beyond the lines with orders not again to return, under penalty of being treated as spies. By command of Major-General Herron: GENERAL ORDERS, WM. H. CLAPP, Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General. HDQRS. U.S. FORCES ON RIO GRANDE To preserve health, to guard against epidemics, and to prevent the importation and spread of contagious diseases amongst the citizens and troops within the limits of this command, a quarantine is established at the port of Brownsville, to take effect June 1, 1864. All vessels arriving here after that date will remain outside the bar until boarded and inspected by the quarantine surgeon. Vessels arriving from or having touched at any of the following-named points, together with their officers, crews, passengers, and cargo, will be subject to a quarantine of not less than ten days, except such as shall be hereafter designated : Havana, Matanzas, Trinidad, Cardenas, and Santiago, all on the island of Cuba; Kingston, Port Royal, Montego Bay, on the island of Jamaica; Jacinet and Port au Prince, on the island of Saint Domingo; the islands of Saint Thomas, Martinique, and Guadeloupe ; Campeche, in Yucatan; Belize, in Honduras; Vera Cruz, Alvarado, Tampico, Matamoras, and Tuspan, in Mexico; San Juan, in Nicaragua; Chagres, Aspinwall, and Porto Bello, in Central America; Maracaibo, La Guayra, in Venezuela; Island of Trinidad; Rio de Janeiro, Para, and Cayenne, in South America; Nassau, New Providence; and Galveston, Key West, Pensacola, and New Orleans, in the United States. Vessels in the service of the United States will not be retained in quarantine when on inspection by the surgeon they are found not to be infected by any contagious disease. The surgeon-in-chief of the U. S. forces on the Rio Grande will see that this order is properly executed. By command of Major-General Herron : WM. H. CLAPP, Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General. HDQRS. FIRST DIVISION, SEVENTH ARMY CORPS, COMMANDING OFFICER, Third Brigade, First Division, Seventh Army Corps: SIR: You will send a scout of 400 men under proper officers to Jenkins' Ferry, to start early to-morrow morning, provided with three days' rations. Guides will report to you from Captain Smith's company of independent scouts. It is reported that a body of the enemy's cavalry, numbering 100 to 300 men, was to cross the Saline River to-day at Pratt's Ferry (7 miles above Jenkins') to reconnoiter and conscript. The object of the scout to start in the morning is "to ascertain the truth of this report, get information generally, and clean out any parties of rebels that may be about." By order of Brig. Gen. F. Salomon : GEO. W. BURCHARD, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. BROWNSVILLE, May 23, 1864. Capt. C. H. DYER, Assistant Adjutant-General: A party of my men have just returned from a scout in the direction of Pine Bluff. Do not think that any force has crossed the river above the Bluff. Will send a large party to-morrow to scout the country from near the Bluff to Bear Skin Lake. O. WOOD, Colonel, Commanding. |