it is frequently of vital importance that the dispatches they are bearing should be delivered without delay.

Officers and men serving on courier lines should never be arrested, except in the most extreme cases, as the absence from duty of one man frequently seriously impairs the efficiency of the line. Should it be necessary to arrest a courier, immediate provision must be made by the officer causing the arrest for the delivery of the dispatches he is bearing.

The nature of the service requires that the men employed on courier duty should procure forage and subsistence in a great measure from the country through which they pass, or in which they are stationed. Commanding officers and provost-marshals will therefore refrain from arresting couriers for foraging unless for some flagrant abuse of the privileges which have from necessity been accorded them.

By command of Major-General Rosecrans:

C. GODDARD,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, September 12, 1863.

Colonel W. P. INNES,

Nashville:

Send one company of your regiment here as soon as possible to build bridges. Direct them to report to General Wagner, commanding post.

By order of Major-General Rosecrans:

C. GODDARD,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, September 12, 1863.

Captain VAN DUZER:

The general commanding directs me to ask if the telegraph wire is up and in good working order, and if in case it is down a party will start from Bridgeport and this place at same time.

Yours, &c.,

J. P. DROUILLARD,

Captain and Aide-de-Camp.

TRENTON VALLEY,

September 12, 1863-8 a. m.

Captain MERRILL:

Has General Thomas crossed the mountain?

W. A. SEITER,

Acting Signal Officer.

DEPARTMENT HEADQUARTERS,

Chattanooga, September 12, 1863-11.15 a. m.

Captain SEITER:

General Thomas is over the mountain, and this is the very way to communicate with him. You see the importance of the line. Jones