LUBARY LLC. RIVERSIDE

LA FOURCHE DISTRICT,
Thibodeaux, La., February 10, 1865.

COMMANDING OFFICER NAPOLEONVILLE:

Your telegram with reference to the enemy is received. The gen-
ral commanding has sent two companies of cavalry from this place by
way of Brulé Landry and Texas, who will probably strike the canal
and report at Napoleonville before dark, unless they meet the enemy.
Please inform Major Davis, so that there may be no collision.
By command of Brigadier-General Cameron:

B. B. CAMPBELL,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,
New Orleans, La., February 10, 1865.

Maj. Gen. N. J. T. DANA,

Commanding Department of Mississippi, Memphis, Tenn.:

SIR: The commanding general desires that any protection that may
De given, without danger to more important military interests, be given
to the planting and other interests embraced in General Orders, No. 13,
and the regulations of the Treasury Department. The policy indicated
u the regulations is that adopted by the Government, and will be
carried out as fully as it can be without interfering with military oper-
ations or endangering the safety of your command.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

C. T. CHRISTENSEN,

Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General.

HDQRS. FIRST DIV., DETACH. ARMY OF THE_TENNESSEE,
On board Steamer Diadem, Memphis, Tenn., February 10, 1865.
General N. J. T. DANA,

Commanding Department of Mississippi:

GENERAL: I have been directed by the major-general commanding to stop at this place and collect all the officers and men belonging to my command who are fit for duty. As some of them no doubt are detailed and it is very desirable they should join their commands, will you please issue an order to that effect, directing the men to report immediately on board the above steamer? I also send you list of names of some of the regiments in application from the regimental commanders to have officers and men relieved.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. MCARTHUR,
Brigadier-General.

HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY EXPEDITION,

Steamer John Raine, Gaines' Landing, February 10, 1865. Maj. Gen. N. J. T. DANA,

Commanding Department of Mississippi:

GENERAL: After the most fatiguing scout of my life I arrived here at 2 p. m. to-day, and have the honor to report my command well, in good condition, and within one day's march of this place. I send the

Fourth and Fifth Illinois Cavalry on steamers Laurel Hill and Autocrat, and desire that the greatest expedition be used in returning them, as I cannot move until they reach me. The command have, in the fourteen days of their absence, passed through Oak Ridge, Monroe, Bastrop, Hamburg, Collins', and Shanghai; have failed to provoke a skirmish even from the enemy. They have captured 45 prisoners, 20 deserters, 1 steamer (the Barkman, which I burned after crossing my troops with it), 6 ferryboats on Bayou Bartholomew, and about 300 horses and mules, many of them the very best. They have marched 300 miles, and made 4 ferries; have built two miles and a half of bridges, and this with a total loss of 1 man accidentally wounded, 1 man leg broken, 30 men sick, and 30 horses and mules disabled and abandoned. To describe the roads, the poverty of the people, or the sufferings of my command during this terrible march would be impossible. I think twenty negroes died in one day from exposure, and it is not exaggeration to say that at one time one-half of a regiment might be seen dismounted, struggling with their horses, every one of which was mired and down. No squad of men, much less an army, can live anywhere we have been. The people have neither seed, corn, nor bread, or the mills to grind the corn in if they had it, as I burned them wherever found. Practically, the line now and hereafter of the Confederates is the Ouachita. Colonel McNeill's force of 800 men, at Oak Ridge, dwindled from that number to fifty, who scattered at our approach promiscuously through the woods, McNeill being last heard from in an impassable swamp with four men and a nigger. The nigger deserted, as did probably the others. I have taken from these people the mules with which they would raise a crop the coming year, and burned every surplus grain of corn, and cannot imagine that one company of cavalry can obtain subsistence for more than thirty days in the whole country. On the receipt of brigade commanders' reports I will immediately furnish you a more full and satisfactory report.*

I have the honor, general, to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

E. D. OSBAND, Colonel Third U. S. Colored Cavalry, Commanding Expedition.

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint Louis, Mo., February 10, 1865.

Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK,

Headquarters Army, Washington, D. C.:

(Received 5.10 p. m.)

Following dispatch just received from General Dodge:

Maj. Gen. JOHN POPE:

FORT LEAVENWORTH, February 10, 1865.

Will have telegraph open to Denver and Salt Lake by Sunday. Am ready to protect Overland mail through.

G. M. DODGE,
Major-General.

WASHINGTON, D. C., February 10, 1865-2.24 p. m.

Major-General DODGE,

Fort Leavenworth, Kans. :

The Secretary of War authorizes you to raise two companies of Indian guides, to be mustered into service in usual form, for one year, or until sooner discharged. You will provisionally appoint the officers as soon as companies are raised, and send to the Adjutant-General a list of names of officers so appointed, for commission by the President. Those you require to be mounted will be supplied with Indian ponies by the quartermaster's department.

H. W. HALLECK,
Major-General and Chief of Staff.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF ARKANSAS,

Maj. Gen. G. M. DODGE,

Little Rock, Ark., February 10, 1865.

Comdg. Department of the Missouri, Saint Louis, Mo.:

GENERAL: I deem it inexpedient to make the proposed exchange of the Second Missouri Cavalry for the First and Seventh Regiments as suggested in your indorsement of the 20th ultimo.

I am, general, very respectfully, yours, &c.,

J. J. REYNOLDS,

Major-General.

Maj. J. W. BARNES,

FORT LEAVENWORTH, February 10, 1865.

Assistant Adjutant-General:

I shall have to remain here several days. If there are any papers that need my attention send them through by special messenger; any dispatches forward them by telegraph.

G. M. DODGE,
Major-General.

LUBERYLIC RIVERSIDE

SPECIAL ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Fort Leavenworth, February 10, 1865.

No. 41.

VI. The commanding officers at Fort Riley and Fort Kearny will halt all trains going west at those points and organize the persons accompanying them into companies for the protection of the train. A competent person will be selected as captain and placed in charge of the train and organization.

VII. All persons accompanying the train must be armed, and as soon as teams enough are concentrated to organize a company of 100 or more armed men they will be sent forward in charge of the captain appointed, who will be held responsible for holding the organization and train together for its security, &c. Under no circumstances will teams be allowed to straggle along the road, or go forward except under a thorough organization as above prescribed. The officer in charge of the train will endeavor to camp as near military posts as possible, and any insubordination on the part of any person accompanying the train, refusal to obey orders, &c., will be reported at the first military post, the commanding officer of which will immediately cause the arrest and punishment of the parties.

VIII. All Government trains passing Forts Kearny and Riley will be strongly guarded, and citizen trains will be allowed to accompany them. In such cases the commanding officer of the escort will be placed in charge of the entire train. The commanding officers of all posts are commanded to give all aid in their power to trains crossing the plains and to see that this order is complied with.

IX. Government trains and troops will obtain forage from the depots to Forts Kearny and Riley from citizens on the route, in all cases giving the proper receipts to the citizens and making the proper returns to the depot quartermaster, that no delay or trouble may ensue in issuing the proper vouchers.

X. At all times the Overland mail will be so protected as to insure its safety, escorts running from one military post to another. Breaks in the telegraph line must be immediately reported and repaired. Sudden dashes of Indians is no cause for stopping or turning back of mails, as the moment the Indians are driven off they can be pushed through. The mail stations through the country where Indian difficulties exist should be placed within protecting distance of military posts.

XI. Trains returning will be organized, as above prescribed, at some post near Denver to be selected by Colonel Moonlight, commanding District of Colorado.

By order of Major-General Dodge:

JOHN WILLANS, Assistant Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF CENTRAL MISSOURI,
Warrensburg, Mo., February 10, 1865.

Maj. J. W. BARNES,

Assistant Adjutant-General, Department of the Missouri: MAJOR: I have the honor to report the district at this time very quiet and harmonious. The counties of Jackson and La Fayette are the only localities troubled with bushwhackers. My efforts against the enemy have been mainly directed to these counties. My available force has been actively employed there for the last fifteen days and these efforts have been quite successful. Several bushwhackers have been killed, horses captured, and bands hotly chased, giving them no rest or security. The great trouble heretofore in pursuing these parties has been their facilities for crossing the Missouri River on the ice at any point. The breaking up of the ice will very materially interfere with their plans and make their points of escapement rather snares for entrapping them. The available cavalry of this post are now operating in La Fayette and I am hopeful of either destroying or expelling the few brushmen of that county during this month. The sending beyond our lines families and friends of these outlaws will greatly advance the success of our efforts. I shall make recommendations for their deportation as fast as I can collect evidence justifying such action. My force is growing weaker every week in consequence of the mustering out of the Missouri State Militia. I am therefore going about the organization of the volunteer militia companies authorized by Governor Fletcher with all possible energy. I hope in a very short time to have them ready for service. In addition thereto I am preparing local organizations in counties not included in General Orders, No. 3, headquarters State of Missouri. The construction of block-houses and

stockades is progressing well and will probably all be completed by the
time our militia and local forces are organized, so that they can be
defended and guarded. I hope to be able to forward by my next report
the rolls of the disloyal citizens of the district, classified, the accom-
plishment of which is no small task. The troubles at Boonville with
discharged soldiers and citizens have calmed down and the city is
tranquil. The manifestation of a resolution on the part of the military
authorities to put down predatory bands of thieves has greatly relieved
the people and these outrages are growing less frequent than they were
fifteen days ago. Circular of January 19, 1865, from your headquar-
ters, was well timed and will have a most salutary effect. I have laid
a special injunction on commanding officers to enforce it. The impor-
tant intimate military relations existing between this and the South-
west District have induced correspondence between General Sanborn
and myself, and it affords me great pleasure to mention the cordiality
of feeling and concurrence of sentiment and views between us. It is
his opinion that the military telegraph line, at one period of the war run-
ning direct from this district to Springfield, should be at once rebuilt.
With this I fully concur. The great delay in communicating between
here and Springfield, via Saint Louis, has often been attended with
most serious consequences.. Especially was this the case in the fall of
1863, when Shelby made so bold a raid through the Southwestern and
Central Districts. The habitual passing from that to this district of
guerrillas and raiding parties renders the speediest transmission of
information of the utmost importance. This matter is most earnestly
recommended to the consideration of the major-general commanding.
I am, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. F. PHILIPS,
Colonel Seventh Cavalry Missouri State Militia, Comdg. District.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF CENTRAL MISSOURI,
Warrensburg, February 10, 1865.

I start scout from here this evening to appear to-morrow morning in the vicinity of Sni Hills and to scout La Fayette County for five days. You will co-operate with this scout with all your available force. Look well to Greenton Valley and vicinity of Wellington.

JNO. F. PHILIPS,
Colonel, Commanding.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF CENTRAL MISSOURI,

Col. CHESTER HARDING,

Kansas City:

Warrensburg, February 10, 1865.

LIUDARYTIC RIVERSIDE

I start scout from here at 5 p. m. to-day to appear to-morrow morning in vicinity of Sni Hills to scout La Fayette County five days. Co-operate with this scout as far as possible.

JNO. F. PHILIPS,
Colonel, Commanding District.