HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, GENERAL: I have the honor to inform you that since my report of the 20th instant nothing of importance has transpired in this department. From the Northern District Brigadier-General Scammon reports the works on Morris Island as progressing as rapidly as the means of transportation will allow. On the morning of the 23d instant, a side-wheel steamer was discovered ashore opposite Battery Rutledge, Sullivan's Island. She had run on a shoal at that point during the night while endeavoring to run the blockade. Our batteries immediately opened fire upon her, and she now lies a complete wreck. I inclose a copy of the report of Col. William Ames, chief of artillery, in regard to the firing on this vessel. She is called the Flamingo by the navy, and the Flora or Florinne by the rebel papers. From the District of Florida Brigadier-General Hatch reports the enemy as removing everything between the railroad and the Saint John's River. . The rebel prisoners of war are now safely quartered in Fort Pulaski, Ga. Every precaution has been taken to prevent the escape of In the Districts of Beaufort and Hilton Head matters remain about the same. The works on the fortifications are being pushed forward as rapidly as possible. The yellow fever still exists in Charleston and Savannah, and generally along the coast within the rebel lines. As yet we have had no cases reported in this department, which is undoubtedly due to the stringent quarantine and sanitary regulations established throughout the department. The health of the command is improving slowly. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, J. G. FOSTER, Major-General, Commanding. Chief of Staff. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, Hilton Head, S. C., November 6, 1864. GENERAL: I have the honor to state that since my report of the 28th ultimo very little of importance has transpired in this department. A small cavalry force sent out from Magnolia for the purpose of collecting cattle was attacked by the enemy in superior numbers and defeated with a loss of 20 to 30 men and a number of horses. I have accordingly ordered some changes to be made in the District of Florida. The post of Magnolia will be discontinued and a new post established to protect the inland passage from the Saint John'sto Fernandina, with an earth-work for defense. The Seventyfifth Ohio Mounted Infantry I have ordered to be dismounted and the horses to be used for other purposes, transportation, &c. In order to supply an officer of the requisite experience in the Northern District, I have ordered Brigadier-General Hatch to take * See p. 108. command and relieve Brigadier-General Scammon, whose health is very much impaired by his imprisonment, and was entirely broken down by exposure while in command of that district. As soon as General Scammon's health will permit he will go to Florida, which change is urgently recommended by the surgeon, to take command of that district. In the Districts of Beaufort and Hilton Head everything remains in a quiet state, the troops being occupied in strengthening and improving the defenses and in drilling. In the Northern District the work of strengthening and improving the batteries continues with unabated industry. Everything else is in a satisfactory state. The general health of the command remains good. The yellow fever has not made its appearance yet, and owing to the strict sanitary and quarantine regulations established, and to the fact of the season being well advanced, it is not expected. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, J. G. FOSTER, Major-General, Commanding. Chief of Staff. GENERAL ORDERS, ADDENDA. HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, Hilton Head, S. C., November 7, 1864. The following summary of evidence relative to the attack on Forts Johnson and Simkins in July last is published for the information of the command. Its publication has been delayed by the illness and prolonged absence of Brigadier-General Schimmelfennig, who was originally charged with the investigation: At 2 a. m., July 3, 1864, the Fifty-second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Hoyt, and the One hundred and twenty-seventh New York Volunteer Infantry, Major Little, with 60 men of the Third Rhode Island Artillery, left Paine's Dock, Morris Island, in boats, and under orders to take Forts Johnson and Simkins. They were to cross Charleston Harbor till opposite the beach between the forts, then move by the left flank, pull vigorously to land, and assault with the bayonet. Clear and precise instructions were given to all concerned. The only signal of retreat was to be sounded on a bugle in possession of Colonel Hoyt. The pilot failed to find the passage through the bar near Fort Johnson, but a narrow channel was at last discovered near shore. Through this many of the boats had passed, when, by day breaking, the enemy opened a heavy fire, which was, however, almost entirely harmless, passing far overhead. The boats commanded by Colonel Hoyt, Lieutenant-Colonel Conyngham, Captain Camp, and Lieutenants Stevens and Evans, all of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania, rowed rapidly to the shore, and these officers, with Adjutant Bunyan (afterwards killed) and 135 men, landed and drove the enemy, but, deserted by their comrades, were obliged to surrender to superior numbers. Colonel Hoyt bestows unqualified praise on the officers and men who landed with him; of them, 7 were killed and 16 wounded. Colonel Hoyt himself deserves great credit for his energy in urging the boats forward and bringing them through the narrow channel, and the feeling which led him to land at the head of his men was the prompting of a gallant spirit which deserved to find more imitators. At the time of Colonel Hoyt's landing great confusion existed in the second and third divisions of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania Regiment, and a retreat commenced. It is impossible to discover which boats first led off the disgraceful movement, the occupants of each declaring that others were retreating before they themselves turned. These divisions falling back in confusion, the One hundred and twenty-seventh shared the general movement, and the whole expedition returned to Paine's Dock. Colonel Gurney, One hundred and twenty-seventh New York Regiment, commanding Morris Island, who was charged with sending the expedition, did not accompany it, but remained at Paine's Dock. There seems no sufficient reason for this conduct. The presence of a commanding officer when the landing was effected would have been of the greatest service in preventing the retreat. The chief cause of failure was the lack of spirit, energy, and power of command on the part of subordinate officers. In such an expedition the commanders of boats exercise in a great measure an independent authority, while at the same time they are able to hold the men completely under their control. It is on them the main responsibility must rest, and it is plain that many of them were totally unequal to the occasion. Among those who seem to have been most wanting in decision and determination were Major Jayne, Captain Weed, and Lieutenants Farr, Moses, and Hollingsworth, of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania Regiment, and the confusion in the boats of this regiment could only have arisen from a very lax state of discipline. The One hundred and twenty-seventh New York Regiment showed more coolness and better discipline; still they not only retreated without proper orders, but were gravely in fault for not obeying the peremptory order of their commanding officer, Major Little (who seems to have done everything that could be done), to land at once. From this censure must be excepted Captain Henry and Lieutenants Little and Abercrombie, who brought their boats to shore and landed. Captain Weston, too, deserves favorable mention. The officers and men of the Third Rhode Island Artillery appear to have behaved well. The expedition was well planned and would have succeeded, had it not been for the absence of the commanding officer and the want of spirit and energy on the part of many of his subordinates. The major-general commanding regrets that he has felt it his duty to make known the results of investigation into an affair which reflects so little credit on most of those concerned. He has reason to hope that many are heartily ashamed of their conduct, and he trusts it will be a lesson to the whole command, and especially to officers of all grades, how indispensable to the success of the most promising plan is the possession of determination and soldierly spirit by those who are to execute it. By command of Maj. Gen. J. G. Foster: W. L. M. BURGER, Assistant Adjutant-General. No. 3. Itinerary of Military Operations, January 1-November 13.* DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH.† JANUARY, 1864. Northern District, commanded by Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry. Northern District established January 15, 1864, consisting of that portion of the department bounded on the north by Charleston Harbor and on the south by Saint Helena Sound. Two posts on Folly Island, S. C., consolidated into one command by the order constituting the district. The Third Brigade, U. S. Forces, Morris Island, S. C., ordered to Hilton Head January 28, 1864. The Fortieth Massachusetts Volunteers ordered from Folly Island to Hilton Head, S. C., January 13, 1864. The Twenty-fifth Ŏhio Volunteers, re-enlisted as veterans, ordered to Ohio January 14, 1864. January 19.-Light Battery B, First U. S. Artillery, ordered to Hilton Head. January 25.-First New York Volunteer Engineers ordered to Hilton Head. Foster's Brigade, commanded by Col. Jeremiah C. Drake, One hundred and twelfth New York Infantry. This brigade has, during the past month, been engaged in the following duties: The Thirteenth Indiana and one company of the One hundred and twelfth and One hundred and sixty-ninth New York Volunteers were engaged in doing picket duty on Long Island; 2 commissioned officers and 64 men employed in guarding the signal telegraph between Hilton Head and Folly Island. The remainder of the brigade were engaged in doing picket and guard duty on this island [Folly]. FEBRUARY, 1864. February 7.-Occupation of Jacksonville, Fla. February 9.-Forces under Brigadier-General Schimmelfennig made demonstrations on John's Island, S. C. A detachment of Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers left Fernandina, Fla., marching 35 miles inland, and returned, finding no enemy. February 15.-Detachment of Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers left Fernandina and proceeded up the Saint Mary's River to Woodstock and King's Ferry Mills, securing 700,000 feet of lumber. District of Florida constituted, comprising all of the State within the department limits. February 20.-Battle of Olustee, Fla. February 21.-Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania and detachment of Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteers, commanded by Col. J. B. Howell, made demonstration on Whitemarsh Island, Savannah River, Ga. *As reported on the monthly returns of the commands indicated. +Commanded by Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore to May 1, 1864; Brig. Gen. John P. Hatch to May 26, 1864, and Maj. Gen. John G. Foster to February 9, 1865. Northern District, commanded by Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry. FOLLY ISLAND, S. C.-General Foster's brigade of Vogdes' division, General Ames' brigade, the Colored Brigade, under command of Colonel Beecher, and Battery E, Third U. S. Artillery, Capt. John Hamilton, ordered to Jacksonville, Fla. General Vogdes and staff also sent there. February 8.-With parts of the First and Second Brigades and Foster's brigade of Vogdes' division, and six pieces of artillery, all under command of Brig. Gen. A. Schimmelfennig, crossed to Kiawah and Seabrook Islands to make a demonstration to distract the enemy's attention from the expedition to Jacksonville. February 9.-Crossed the Haulover Cut to John's Island at daylight, driving in the enemy's pickets with some loss and taking some prisoners. February 10.--Remained on the island. February 11.-Pushed forward some 3 miles, meeting the enemy's pickets and firing with artillery. Returned at night to Kiawah in obedience to orders. While on John's Island discovered a book containing all the signals sent from Folly Island by the signal telegraph, correctly given, showing that the rebels have the key to our system of signals. MORRIS ISLAND, S. C.-February 1.-Blockade-running steamer Presto ran aground at Fort Moultrie and was destroyed by the batteries on this island and the monitors. February 6.-Fourth New Hampshire Volunteers transferred to Hilton Head, S. C. February 18.-Sloop-of-war Housatonic destroyed by a torpedo off Morris Island. February 27.-Third New Hampshire Volunteers transferred to Hilton Head, S. C. First Brigade, Gordon's Division, commanded by Col. Leopold von Gilsa, Forty-first New York Infantry. February 6-12.-The Forty-first, Fifty-fourth, and One hundred and forty-second New York and Seventy-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiments participated in an expedition commanded by Brigadier-General Schimmelfennig to John's Island. The route was via Kiawah and Seabrook Islands, and across Haulover Cut bridge, at which point the rebel outposts were surprised by the One hundred and forty-second Regiment, which had the advance. February 9-11.-Skirmishes with the rebels occurred, the latter being near Bugbee Bridge. The Forty-first New York sustained an aggregate loss in killed, wounded, and missing of 13 men, and the One hundred and forty-second New York Volunteers of 2; no other casualties occurred. The troops returned to their respective camps on the 12th. February 26.-The Fifty-fourth New York Volunteers moved from Kiawah to Folly Island. U. S. Forces, Hilton Head District, commanded by Col. Joshua B. Howell, Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Infantry. February 21.-The Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers and detachment of the Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteers, under the command of Col. J. B. Howell, Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, |