ferent cavalry commands is attributable to the influence of a few bad men in each. If there are no means to get rid of them, their bad influence will continue to spread and fester until the whole body is in a measure affected by their presence. If authority could be given me to send these characters from the department, or to turn them over to the conscript officer, to be assigned to some distant infantry command, the good effects of it would be immediately. The commanding officers in each case should be notified of the proceeding, so that there would be no irregularity in it. I would be pleased if you would communicate the views of the Department on this question at your earliest convenience, as I am very anxious to institute measures to correct abuses at once, the more so as all the troops serving in the department at present are cavalry.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JNO H. MORGAN,

Brigadier-General, Commanding.

ENGINEER OFFICE, Meridian, Miss., July 1, 1864.

Colonel A. L. RIVES,

Acting Chief Engineer Bureau, Richmond, Va.:

COLONEL: I beg leave to submit the following report of engineer operations in the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, &c., during the second quarter of this year, ending June 30, 1864:

Captain P. Robinson, Corps of Engineers, has been stationed at Selma, Ala., during the quarter, making necessary alterations and repairs in the works at that point, which consisted mainly in laying platforms, thickening the parapets, and making embrasures in the batteries which were originally prepared for guns en barbette. I make the following extract from his report on this subject:

My operations have extended merely to the necessary repairs of the works as they stand, and to making embrasures in the batteries which had been prepared for guns en barbette. To have done more would have been a waste of time and money, for the works, though sLight, are well adapted to resist a mere cavalry raid, but are so badly located that no amount of labor could render them efficient for any further purpose. The city of Selma is situated on a table- like bluff, between Beachy and Valley Creeks, which debouch immediately above and below the city. On the northwest our works are extended into the low grounds of Valley Creek, so as to be subject to reverse and enfilade fire from the higher ground beyond the creek. The entire north front is subject more or less to the same objection, and is commanded by the first line of hills rising northward from the city plateau. This is to be regretted, as by retiring our works from the commanding ground under control of an attacking force, a much shorter and more powerful line might be obtained, susceptible indeed of such defense as would defy any attack, except by regular approaches.

I have not seen fit to order the change spoken of by Captain Robinson, as the city of Selma is so far into the heart of our country that I do not believe it will ever be threatened, except by a raiding party, and the present works will be a sufficient defense to resist such an attack. Captain D. Wintter, with his company of sappers and miners, has been stationed at Wright's Mills, near Gainesville, Ala., on the Tombigbee River, engaged in the construction of pontoon-boasts, of which he has completed thirty- five, with blanks, chesses, ropes for sheer lines and rocklashing, complete. The companies of Capts. W. A. C. Jones and J. A. Porter were at Demopolis, Ala., until the Army of Mississippi, under Lieutenant-General Polk, moved to form a junction with General Johnston in Georgia, on the 8th of May last. The companies were engaged in constructing pontoon-boats, of which twenty-four were