daylight the morning of the 11th. General Woods abandoned the road in General Smith's rear and moved across to the old stage road, striking it just as General Corse's rear of column was passing. After building a bridge across a mill dam, making connection with the stage road, he moved in the rear of General Corse to Gilchrist's Bridge. In the meanwhile the rest of General Smith's train having dragged through the swamp and crossed Lumber River, moved out toward Randallsville, and as General Woods was to take that road, he assumed his old position in the rear of General Smith's train, encamping some two miles in advance of that village. In accordance with instructions to move as far in the direction of Fayetteville as possible, the corps broke camp at an early hour on the 11th instant, moving on two roads that intersected about two miles from Rockfish Creek, General Hazen having the advance on one road, General Woods on the other. I can not invite too high praise for both officers and men of the corps for cheerfully sustaining the severe trials of the past two days, or in encountering those of the 11th, for although clear overhead, the rains had so saturated the ground that roads, ordinarily good, were impassable without great labor in corduroying and bridging. General Hazen succeeded in crossing Rockfish Creek, putting his command into camp by 9. 30 o'clock. The other divisions encamped to the west of the creek. During the night General Corse put in four pontoon-boats, and completed bridging the creek, as it was found that our hard bread and ammunition would be damaged if the wagons were put through the stream, the water reaching some five or six inches in the wagon beds.

On the 12th of March the corps moved to position around Fayetteville, where the troops were granted a few days partial rest after the arduous work of the part week. At this point a thoroughly inspection of the corps was ordered in compliance with instructions from superior headquarters, directing the reduction of the mounted foragers for divisions to sixty in number, to be under command of an energetic officer and to move in detachments as much as possible. The crossing of the pontoon was chosen as the most fit place for the execution of the order, and the corps underwent a thorough cleansing as to unauthorized animals.

The morning of the 14th the corps commenced crossing the Cape Fear River, using the two pontoon bridges. The head of column of General Corse's division got the bridge about 12 o'clock, when the troops and trains of that division and of the Second Division crossed, going into camp in rear of the position occupied by the Seventeenth Corps.

The divisions ordered to cross at the upper pontoon did not meet with the same success, as the Left Wing had not completed its crossing until a late hour in the afternoon, but the whole of the Third Division and a portion of the First crossed during the afternoon and evening, and General Woods brought over the rest of his command the next day. The further movement from this point was to be in support of the Left Wing of the army, and was to be made with unencumbered divisions, men to be supplied with five days' rations. All of our supply train and a portion of our ordnance train was to move by another and lower route directly on Everettsville. The organization of the train was effected before moving from the Cape Fear River, and the First Brigade, First Division, with a regiment each from the Second and Fourth Divisions, under commagadier-General Woods, was assigned as a guard for the train. All the ambulances and twelve ordnance wagons, with the headquarters and regimental teams, accompanied the troops.