HEADQUARTERS,
Lexington, Ky., June 30, 1864. (Received 5 p. m.)

Honorable E. M. STANTON,

Secretary of War:

I desire to have my command mounted as speedily as possible, to be in readiness for any emergency. It will take too long if I depend entirely on Captain McClung, assistant quartermaster. Citizens of Kentucky are anxious to sell their stack, and all I need can be purchased in a short time if authority to purchase be given Captain T. E. Hall, assistant quartermaster. Please answer.

S. G. BURBRIDGE,

Brigadier- General.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF Kentucky,
June 30, 1864.

Brigadier General L. THOMAS,

Adjutant- General U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.:

GENERAL: I have the honor to inclose a copy of General Orders, Numbers 29, current series, from these headquarters,* and General Orders, Numbers 4, series 1863, headquarters Military DIVISION of the Mississippi. + Owing to the fact that civil law is but poorly enforced anywhere in this State, and in many portions of the State cannot be enforced at all, the act of the Legislature quoted in General Orders, Numbers 29, above referred to, is but a dead letter. I would respectfully suggest that General Orders, Numbers 4, above referred to, may again be allowed to govern in this State as in other parts of the Military DIVISION of the Mississippi. Until resident reels in Kentucky are made to suffer in pocket for the depredations committed by guerrillas, it will be impossible to break up the thieving bands with which the State is now infested. This communication is forwarded direct on account of the length of time it takes to forward through department headquarters.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

S. G. BURBRIDGE,

Brigadier- General, Commanding.

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
In the Field, near Kenesaw, June 30, 1864.

General BURBRIDGE,

Louisville, Ky.:

General Allen writes me that you have issued orders controlling his employees and contractors. I will sustain you in anything you may do to eradicate the mischievous class to our rear who, afraid to fight, want to keep alive the feelings of mistrust and enmity almost as dangerous as real armed hostility, but the truth is you can only control the acts of staff officers who properly belong to your command. Quartermasters or commissaries detailed by the War Department or who belong to mine and Schofield's staff are not subject to your supervision and control, and are always jealous of interference. I advise you, therefore, to construe your order as obligatory only on the officers who properly be-

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*See Vol. XXXII, Part III, p. 41.

+See Vol. XXXI, Part III, P. 58.

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