HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE JAMES,
Richmond, Va., May 4, 1865.

Major-General SCHOFIELD,

Raleigh:

General Sheridan having relinquished the command of North Carolina, that State comes within this military division. Please communicate with General Wright, at Danville and Greensborough, in regard to the withdrawal of his troops to Virginia. Paroled officers and men of the rebel army cannot, under existing circumstances, be permitted to go to Northern States, nor can public transportation be furnished to them.

H. W. HALLECK,

Major-General, Commanding.

SPECIAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DIV. OF THE JAMES, No. 3. Richmond, Va., May 4, 1865.

The First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, Brevet Brigadier-General Abbot commanding, is hereby detached from the Army of the Potomac and is assigned to duty in the Department of Virginia.

By order of Major General H. W. Halleck:

J. C. KELTON,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, No. 20. May 4, 1865.

The following instructions have been received from the War Department:

WASHINGTON, D. C., May 4, 1865.

Major-General MEADE:

All soldiers, patients in hospitals (except veteran volunteers, veterans of the First Army Corps, Major-General Hancock's, and soldiers of the regular army), will, as soon as they shall cease to require medical treatment, be at once mustered out of service in the usual manner. Should the commissary of musters and his assistants be insufficient to perform this duty promptly, you are authorized to appoint such additional assistants as you may consider necessary, and to avail yourself of such mustering officers within the geographical limits of your command as, in the judgment of the chief mustering officer, can be spared from their present duties.

The commissary of musters must take especial pains to see that the commanding officers of the regiments, and the chief mustering officers of the States to which the soldiers belong, are each furnished with a copy of the muster-out roll. An extra copy may be made for this purpose if necessary.

Soldiers, whose claims for pensions are entitled to consideration, should be discharged on the usual surgeon's certificate of disability.

Soldiers absent on furlough from hospitals will be notified by the surgeon in charge to report to the nearest chief mustering officer for muster-out, and required to acknowledge the receipt of the notification. As soon as their acknowledgment of the notification is received, their descriptive lists will be sent to the chief mustering officer to whom they report. Should they return before receiving such notification they will be mustered out as the others.

A copy of the muster-out roll of all men will be furnished to the Adjutant-General of the States to which the regiments belong.

It is expected that department commanders will use every exertion to have this duty performed promptly and correctly.

By order of the Secretary of War:

W. A. NICHOLS,

Assistant Adjutant-General.