HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

Camp near Harrison's Landing, July 14, 1862.

His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President:

Our cavalry pickets communicated yesterday with the pickets of Colonel Campbell near New Kent Court-House, crossing the Chickahominy.

We thus had a communication between Williamsburg and here. No considerable force of the enemy was found, and it does not seem that he is making any demonstration on Yorktown or Williamsburg.

GEO. B. McCLELLAN,
[Major-General, Commanding.]

WAR DEPARTMENT

July 14, 1862.

Major-General HALLECK, Corinth, Miss.:

I am very anxious-almost impatient-to have you here. Have due regard to what you leave behind. When can you reach here?

A. LINCOLN.

CORINTH MISS.,

July 15, 1862-10.40 a.m.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

General Grant has just arrived from Memphis. I am in communication with General Buell and Governor Johnson in Tennessee. Hope to finally arrange disposition of troops, and to re-enforce Curtis by to-morrow,and to leave Thursday morning, the 17th.

H. W. HALLECK.

Major-General.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

July 15, 1862. (Received 8 p.m.)

His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President;

Your telegram of yesterday [July 13] has been received. The difference between the effective force of troops and that expressed in returns is considerable in every arm. All commanders find the actual strength less than the strength represented on paper. I have not my own returns for the tri-monthly period since arriving at Fort Monroe at hand at this moment, but even on paper I will not, I am confident, be found to have received 160,000 officers and men present, although present and absent my returns will be accountable for that number. You can arrive at the number of absentees, however, better by my return of July 10, which will be ready to send shortly. I find from official reports that I have present for duty: Officers, 3,215; enlisted men, 85,450; in all present for duty, 88,665; absent by authority, 34,472; without authority, 3,778; present and absent, 144,407.

The number of officers and men present sick is 16,619. The medical director will fully explain the causes of this amount of sickness, which I hope will begin to decrease shortly. Thus the number of men really absent is 38,250. Unquestionably of the number present some are absent-say 40,000 will cover the absentees. I quite agree with you that

21 R R-VOL XI, PT III