Louisville, and Cicinnati, using great care in your communication by cipher or otherwise. Should you find it necessary on your arrival you can press five or six obats into the service.

Very respectfully,

LEWIS B. PARSONS,

Colonel and Chief of Rail and River Transportation.

P. S. -You will take with you Captains Hendricks and Downs, to render you such assistance as you may require, who had best proceed as far as Louisville at least.

L. B. P.

59.] OFFICE OF THE CHIEF QUARTERMASTER,

Louisville, January 16, 1865.

Colonel L. P. PARSONS:

COLONEL: I inclose you a copy of a dispatch just received from General Schofield. It is dated, your perceive, at Cairo, but I presume it was sent there from Clifton, as General Schofield cannot be in Cairo. This is about as we expected, that there were boats enough up or on the river to trnasport 5,000 to 6,000 men. At the time I am now writing (11 o'clock) only two boats have arrived from Cincinnati, and I have not heard from Colonel McKim either by letter or dispatch, although I telegraphed him a second time yesterday. A copy of the dispatch I inclose. I telegraphed you this morning to Paducah and also Cairo. Although you have ordered boats from Cairo to transport 10,000 men, I think it best to send you also the Cincinnati boats. It is better to have a surplus than a deficiency, and the surplus need not go farther than Paducah if you think proper.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ROBERT ALLEN,

Brigadier-General.

[Inclosure.]

60.] CAIRO, January 15, 1865.

General R. ALLEN,

Chief Quartermaster, Louisville, Ky.:

Please send to Clifton transportation for 10,000 men. The boats now up the river will bring down the balance.

SCHOFIELD,

Major-General.

61.] PADUCAH, January 18, 1865.

Honorable C. A. DANA,

Assistant Adjutant-General of War, Washington, D. C.:

Your two dispatches of yesterday are received. In accordance with my last dispatch we left yesterday morning. Last night we met the entire Second Division and two brigades of the Third, General McLean commanding, 9,000 strong and much overloaded. Ascertaining that I had provided transportation ample for the remainder and deeming it more important that I should return here, I detailed a very competent officer, Captain Arthur Edwards, to proceed and supervise the embarkation a Clifton. General McLean's command, with additional boats, left this morning at 8 o'clock, and should reach Louisville on Friday