CITY POINT, VA., March 25, 1865.

Major General P. H. SHERIDAN,

Commanding Middle Military Division, Westover Church, Va.:

You will find a pontoon bridge at the point where Hancock crossed last summer below Four-Mile Creek, instead of Deep Bottom. The bridge at Deep Bottom will be dropped down to this position before 8 a. m. to-morrow. General Roberts' command will move by the most direct route to their position in the Army of the James.

U. S. GRANT,

Lieutenant-General.

FIELD ORDERS,
HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY, Numbers 27.
Near Westover Church, Va., March 25, 1865.

The command will march to-morrow at 6 a. m., via Malvern Hill and Deep Bottom, to the south side of the James River. The order of march will be as follows, viz, first, First Cavalry Division; second, trains; third, Third Cavalry Division.

By command of Brevet Major-General Merritt:

J. SPREADBURY,

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS MIDDLE MILITARY DIVISION,
March 25, 1865-4 p. m. (Received 4.05 p. m.)

Honorable E. M. STANTON,

Secretary of War:

Your dispatch* to General Stevenson has been referred to me. The order was published before my arrival by General Stevenson when in command of the Department of West Virginia, and has been a source of embarrassment to me, and I propose to lay it before the lieutenant-general, thinking it opposed to the letter of his instructions. My investigation shows that the order was issued on the instigation of the governor of West Virginia and the loyal people, who declared that a large number of refugees from the Confederate army, some with arms, were coming into the the border settlements, their presence giving rise to considerable apprehension. The order has not been executed, but the following modification was directed: Wherever the loyal people were satisfied for the refugee or alleged deserter to remain he was allowed to do so, but where he could not obtain some guarantee from loyal citizens or local authorities that his presence was not dangerous he was sent farther north as a precaution. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company are employing numbers of these people on becoming their guarantors, and I understand that this modification meets the views of the governor, the people, and Mr. Smith, the master of transportation. It is a delicate question, and though General Stevenson's order was too sweeping and rigorous, in my judgment, something was demanded to allay the apprehensions of the people. I respectfully ask whether the modification meets your approval. In effect it treats each on its own merits.

W. S. HANCOCK,

Major-General.

---------------

*See Stanton to Stevenson, March 25, p. 168.

---------------