of the river. And those of us who have had some experience in the cotton regions cannot resist the moral conviction that many in high places and in low have been unable to withstand the alluring temptations held out to them by enormous cotton gains. In this condition of affairs, with the atmosphere of the whole MISSISSIPPI valley reeking with a corruption more pestilential and fatal than the malaria of its swamps, I and other right-thinking men, hailed, as the harbinger of a brighter and purer day, your General Orders, Numbers 4. In trade, at least, the dull quiet of annihilation is preferable to the baleful activity that springs from the fermenting and festering decay of all the higher and more noble elements of commercial life. The recent action of the Treasury Department would seem to indicate that our anticipations of a more honorable future are not doomed to disappointment. But the malign influences are diabolically strong; we can only pray for honest officials and hope for the best. I imagine, general, that now for the first time your attention has been drawn to the prejudicial construction that can be given to your expression in regard to the gun-boats. Let me ask and hope that in some succeeding general order you will refer to the subject and state that it was foreign to your intention to cast a stigma upon the sister service, and that those who may have thus construed your words were altogether mistaken both as to your purpose and your meaning.

With high regard, I have the honor to remain, very respectfully and sincerely, yours,

ROBERT TOWNSEND,

Commander, U. S. Navy.

GENERAL ORDERS,
HEADQUARTERS SECOND BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION,
16TH ARMY CORPS, Numbers 27.
Abbeville, Miss., August 18, 1864.

Pursuant to an order from headquarters First DIVISION, SIXTEENTH Army corps, the undersigned hereby assumes command of this brigade. Until further orders the present appointments upon the staff will continue.

L. F. HUBBARD,

Colonel Fifth Minnesota Infantry Veteran Volunteers.

SPECIAL ORDERS,
HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF Vicksburg, Numbers 19.
Vicksburg, Miss., August 18, 1864.

I. By authority of Special Orders, Numbers 90, headquarters Military DIVISION of WEST Mississippi, New Orleans, August 7, 1864, the undersigned assumes command of the district and of the post and defenses of Vicksburg; all reports will be rendered accordingly. All existing orders will continue and remain in force until otherwise directed.

II. The staff of the district and post of Vicksburg will remain as heretofore till further announcement.

III. Captain George H. Dana, Thirty-second Massachusetts Volunteers, and Captain E. L. Sproat, Eighty-second New York Volunteers, are announced as aides-de-camp.

N. J. T. DANA,
Major-General, Commanding.