HEADQUARTERS TWENTY-THIRD ARMY CORPS,
Knoxville, Tenn., September 18, 1863.

Brigadier General JULIUS WHITE,

Comdg. Second Div., Twenty-third Army Corps,

Five Miles from Strawberry Plains.:

Send balance of Chapin's brigade, with battery, to Morristown immediately, and await further orders with the rest of your division. The men left at Loudon are on the train which brings this, with the exception of about 90 which could not be brought, the cars being loaded. You can keep the men with you or send them on to Morristown.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

GEO. L. HARTSUFF,

Major-General.

VICKSBURG, MISS.,

September 19, 1863.

General H. W. HALLECK,

Commander-in-Chief U. S. Forces, Washington, D. C.:

MY DEAR GENERAL: I have returned from New Orleans, arriving here on the 16th instant, and am still confined to my bed, lying flat on my back. My injuries are sever, but still not dangerous; my recovery is simply a matter of time. Although fatiguing, I will still endeavor to perform my duties, and hope soon to recover that I may be able to take the field at any time I may be called on to do so.

I have just read General Sherman's private letter* to you, but do not fully coincide with the general as to the policy that should be adopted toward these people. While I believe with him that every effort should be made to fill up our thinned ranks, and be prepared to meet and destroy their armies wherever found, I think we should do it with terms held out that by accepting they could receive the protection of our laws. There is certainly a very fine feeling existing in the State of louisiana and in most parts of this State toward the Union. I inclose you copies of resolutions sent me by citizens of both Louisiana and Mississippi, showing something of this feeling.

If able to write myself I should write much more at length on this subject, but being compelled to dictate for another to write I will be brief, and should I recover in a short time sufficiently to write, I will address you again.

Yours, truly,

U. S. GRANT,

Major-General.

[Inclosure Numbers 1.]

STATE OF LOUISIANA, PARISH OF WINN,

September 3, A. D. 1863,

When, in consideration of the condition of our country and to make known our principles, it has obviously become necessary that we should embody ourselves for the protection of our homes, lives,

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

*See p. 694.

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