serviceable; one 32-pounder banded rifle gun unhurt, carriage destroyed; one 32-pounder smooth-bore, trunnion knocked off, carriage destroyed; nine 24-pounder howitzers for flank defense, guns and carriages unhurt; one 24-pounder howitzer for flank defense, gun unhurt, carriage dismounted; one 1-pounder brass signal gun, gun and carriage unhurt. Total number of guns, 46; rifles, 11; smooth-bores, 35. There are at least 250 rounds of shot and shell to each gun, except to the flank howitzers, for which there are about 50 rounds of canister per gun. There are about 50,000 rounds of small-arm ammunition, caliber . 57. The powder is all destroyed.

Respectfully submitted.

C. S. SARGENT,

First Lieutenant, Aide-de-Camp.

Numbers 6. Report of Lieutenant N. Henry Camp, Signal Corps, U. S. Army.

GENERAL: I have the honor to submit the following report of reconnaissance for signal points near Mobile Bay:

Reference is had to Coast Survey charts. The proposed landing for operations are to be, one about four miles from Fort Morgan on the seaside, one about the middle of Dauphin Island from the Sound side. The first landing to be covered by gun-boats outside during the passage of the fort by the rest of the squadron, and afterward by the combined action of gun-boats inside and outside. It is the object by this landing to, in conjunction with the naval force, isolate Fort Morgan. The beach and points between Fort Morgan and the proposed landing can be to a great extent covered by the naval fire. The second landing on an open beach and a narrow strip of low sand (Dauphin Island) will also be covered by gun-boat fire. It is the object of the second landing to isolate Fort Gaines. It is possible there will be a THIRD landing on Sand Island to establish a depot. This island is vacant and is not defended. There are three fixed points which, in communication, assure the complete communication of the land and naval forces in all the extent of the fields of operations. These points are, in the order of their importance, Sand Island, the landing on Mobile Point, and a point in the woods on Dauphin Island. The distance between these points is so great that the stations should be fixed with a view that the reduction of harbor forts will require some time. I recommend that there be preparations to erect a platform of thirty feet in height at the landing on Mobile Point, one of forty feet on Sand Island, and a THIRD to project twenty feet above the pines, whatever may be their height, on Dauphin Island. For the platform on Sand Island the rims of the light-house will form a partial support, or it can be placed on one of the sand-hills. The station on Mobile Point could, I think, be well filled by one of the portable ladder towers, now suggested for use. The platform on Dauphin Island ought to be constructed with the timber of the pines among which it will be. A party of men, with some skilled carpenters and suitable tools, should accompany the expedition for this purpose, and the constructions of the platform be commenced immediately upon the occupation of the ground. Should the fleet be long kept part inside the bay and part outside, the army being also in divided portions, the facilities had through these stations may