HEADQUARTERS SIXTH ARMY CORPS,
January 10, 1865. (Received 9.05 a.m.)

Brigadier General S. WILLIAMS,

Assistant Adjutant-General:

Nothing to report for twenty-four hours last past.

H. G. WRIGHT,

Major-General, Commanding.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

Washington, January 10, 1865-12 m.

Major-General BUTLER,

Fort Monroe, Va.:

No principal report of yours on the Wilmington expedition has ever reached the War Department, as I am informed there. A preliminary report did reach here, but was returned to General Grant at his request. Of course, leave to publish cannot be given without inspection of the paper, and not then if it should be deemed to detrimental to the public service.

A. LINCOLN,

STEAMSHIP McCLELLAN,

Beaufort, N. C. January 10, 1865

Brigadier General J. A. RAWLINS,

Chief of Staff, City Point, Va.:

GENERAL: I have the honor to report that the fleet of transports containing the troops under my command sailed from Fort Monroe on Friday, the 6th instant at 4 a.m. Owing to the extremely heavy weather experienced none of the vessels arrived off this port until Sunday morning, the 8th. During that day they all, with the exception of the steamer Tonawanda, which has on board a portion of General Ames' division, were collected at the appointed rendezvous twenty miles off the harbor. The Tonawanda has not yet reported. I came into the harbor with my own vessel, waited upon Admiral Porter, notified him of the approach of the land forces, and said to him that they would be ready to proceed to their destination at any time when the should be ready. The admiral informed me that the weather was such as to preclude the possibility of making a landing, and that, in his judgment, some time would elapse before there would be a favorable opportunity. That opportunity has not yet occurred; but I have given him fully to understand that the land forces are and will be ready to move at any and at all times. This delay may cause us some inconvenience as regards coal, as the vessels lying off the land are, of course, consuming fuel, and there is scarcely any here belonging to either the army or the navy. Before I left Fort Monroe I directed Colonel Dodge, chief quartermaster, to make arrangements to have two coal schooners follow us immediately and since our arrival here I have instructed him to send for enough additional coal to resupply all the vessels. Fortunately I found here a schooner which was loaded with commissary, stores for the former expedition. She has on board 200,000 rations, so that there will be no embarrassment on that score. Water is being procured from the Newport River for the supply of those ships which have no condensers. Four of the transports received damage in the gale, which has com-