made slow progress; will be at Decherd to-night. I will burn the country around Lynnville if they continue to cut the wires. The ammunition is all right.

D. S. STANLEY,

Major-General.

NASHVILLE, TENN., November 6, 1864-10 p. m.

Major General D. S. STANLEY, Pulaski:

Your dispatch of 8. 30 [6. 30] p. m. just received. All right. Keep Hatch and Croxton as close to the enemy as they can go, and be secure, for instance, on Shoal Creek, as by that means they can get the earliest intelligence of any movement the enemy may undertake. Direct that they report promptly all important information they can obtain. Four hundred thousand rounds of ammunition left this place on a special train for you to-night.

GEO. H. THOMAS,

Major-General, U. S. Volunteers.

DECATUR, ALA., November 6, 1864.

Major-General THOMAS:

The same authority from whence I got my most reliable information of the movements of Hood before his arrival here says he learns that the rebels have rebuilt the railroad bridge over Bear Creek and cars are running to Tuscumbia. They have their pontoon bridges, he reports, at Florence, and abundant supplies. He thought they would move up into Tennessee, from the best information he could receive, by Lawrenceburg or Johnsonville. It is barely possible that Sherman's movements may call him off. Major Williamson, at Brown's Ferry, 7 p. m. yesterday, reports artillery firing heard in the direction of Lamb's Ferry.

R. S. GRANGER,

Brigadier-General.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Nashville, Tenn., November 6, 1864-3 p. m.

Brigadier-General GRANGER, Decatur:

Keep scouts out at all times and report to me promptly all reliable information you get. Be prepared, also, in case the enemy moves in force on Croxton and toward Athens, to obstruct Elk River as completely as possible, and then remove the garrison from Athens to Decatur, where you should accumulate all the stores and quartermaster's supplies and ammunition you can, and hold the place to the last. If it should become necessary to abandon Athens, the troops at Huntsville and along the railroad should fall back, gradually, toward Stevenson, halting at Flint River, Paint Rock, and opposing him as much as possible. The patrols on the river as high up as Triana might go to Decatur, and those above should fall back with the Huntsville garrison. The above is the programme for your guidance in case of necessity; but you must bear in mind that the troops must not leave their present positions unless you are positively certain that the enemy is moving on Athens and Huntsville.

GEO. H. THOMAS,

Major-General, U. S. Volunteers.