from August 1, 1865; Fourteenth, from August 1, 1865; Fifteenth, from August 1, 1865; Seventeenth, from August 1, 1865; Twentieth, from June 1, 1865; Twenty-third, from August 1, 1865; Twenty-fourth, from August 1, 1865.

By order of the Secretary of War:

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

WASHINGTON, July 29, 1865-3. 30 p. m.

Lieutenant-General GRANT:

General Gillmore's present force is 13,227. He proposes to reduce it to 5,839, first by mustering out 2,563 white troops; second, by sparing six regiments of colored troops, numbering 4,735, for which he has no use. Of the colored troops three regiments were raised in the North. He thinks he cannot get along without retaining 2,500 white troops. Do you approve this? There are a number of permanent forts in the Department of the East that require garrisons of twenty-five men each. General Meade recommends that, as he has no troops to put in charge of them, the Engineer Department hire civilians to take care of them. Would it not be well to order a regiment or two of these colored troops to report to General Meade for this and other duty?

T. S. BOWERS,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
Hilton Head, July 31, 1865-1 p. m.

SECRETARY OF WAR:

Governor Perry has issued a proclamation, dated the 20th instant, declaring that all civil officers in South Carolina who were in office when the civil government was suspended in May last shall resume their duties upon taking the amnesty oath of allegiance, and requiring the judges and chancellors to exercise all the powers pertaining to their officers, and restoring to operation the State constitution and all the State laws which were in force prior to the secession of the States. I desire to be informed whether Governor Perry has had any powers conferred upon him besides those specified in the proclamation appointing him.

Q. A. GILLMORE,

Major-General.

BOSTON, MASS., July 31, 1865-8 a. m.

(Received 11 a. m.)

Colonel T. S. BOWERS,

Assistant Adjutant-General:

General Gillmore can retain the number of white troops he proposes. Let him muster out the colored troops raised in the North and hold his surplus subject to orders. If General Meade can dispense with white troops by having colored troops sent to him, then two regiments may be ordered from South Carolina to him.

U. S. GRANT,

Lieutenant-General.