Island on the evening of the 3rd instant, and immediately invested Fort Gaines. About midnight of the 4th he succeeded in getting the light artillery in position (within 1,200 yards of Fort Gaines), which opened on the fort the next morning simultaneously with the passage of the batteries by the fleet, taking their water batteries in reserve and silencing them. The fleet passed the batteries on Friday morning, the 5th, with the loss of a single monitor, the Tecumseh, sunk by a torpedo, and Admiral Farragut is now operating in the inner harbor of Mobile. The rebel ram Tennessee surrendered after a stubborn resistance. Buchanan, her commander, lost a leg, and is now a prisoner in our hands. General Granger is disembarking the heavy guns on the south side of the island, near Pelican Island Spit, and will have them in position to open on Fort Gaines by daylight this (Saturday) morning.

ED. R. S. CANBY,

Major-General.

Major-General HALLECK,

Chief of Staff.

NEW ORLEANS, LA., August 9, 1864.

(Received 9. 40 a. m. 16th.)

SIR: Fort Gaines, with 46 commissioned officers and 818 enlisted men, with its armament, 26 guns intact, and provisions for twelve months, has surrendered unconditionally. It was occupied by our forces at 8 o'clock yesterday morning. Fort Powell was abandoned, its garrison escaping to Cedar Point; its armament, 18 guns, is in condition for immediate service. General Granger, re-enforced by 2,000 men, will immediately invest Fort Morgan, leaving garrisons in Forts Gaines and Powell.

ED. R. S. CANBY,

Major-General.

Major-General HALLECK,

Chief of Staff.

NEW ORLEANS, LA., August 17, 1864-3 p. m.

(Received 9 a. m. 26th.)

I returned from Mobile Bay on the morning of the 16th. The communications with the fleet are fully secured by the occupation of Forts Gaines and Powell. The outworks of Fort Morgan, batteries Gee and Bragg, were abandoned by the rebels, and the fort closely invested by Granger's forces. Batteries of 30-pounder rifle guns have been established at 1,200 yards, and of mortars at 500 yards from the fort. The troops are well covered from the fire of the enemy, and very few casualties have occurred. Farragut coincides with me in the opinion that it will be unwise to make any direct attempt upon Mobile until the co-operating land force can be largely increased. This cannot be done now, but such demonstrations will be made fromthe bay and from the MISSISSIPPI as will keep up the state of uneasiness now felt there, and operating in favor of General Sherman. General E. K. Smith has nearly completed the reorganization of his army. Magruder commands the District of Arkansas; Buckner, the District of WEST Louisiana; and J. G. Walker that of Texas. His force has been considerably increased by conscripts. The forces in Texas Louisiana are