Major General W. T. Sherman to the command of the Fifteenth Army Corps;

Major General S. A. Hurlbut to the command of the Sixteenth Army Corps; and

Major General J. B. McPherson to the command of the Seventeenth Army Corps.

By order of the Secretary of War:

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS,
HDQRS. 13TH A. C., DEPT. OF TENN.,

Numbers 27.
Oxford, Miss., December 18, 1862.

* * * * * * *

VI. Foraging for any troops of an organized division will be conducted and regulated under the authority of the division commanders. Each division commander will select a suitable officer, who will report as assistant to the division commissary, whose duty will be to use all exertions to collect subsistence from the surrounding country, wherever the troops may be, and for running any corn-mills that may ne in the vicinity of his division.

By order of Major General U. S. Grant;

JNO. A. RAWLINS,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

Washington, december 19, 1862 - 3 p. m.

General ROBERT ALLEN, Saint Louis. Mo.:

Give General Grant the locomotives he requires.

H. W. HALLECK,

General-in-Chief.

SAINT LOUIS, MO., December 19, 1862 - 1 p. m.

(Received 7 p. m.)

Maj, General H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief:

In answer to yours of yesterday I proposed to furnish all General Sherman calls for the Helena - 12,000 - leaving about 13,000 to operate in Arkansas. This last force I propose to move cautiously till the downriver move is accomplished. Blunt's force Arkansas - about - 18,000 - is still at north base of Boston Mountains, scouts extending near to Arkansas River. I wish to draw these forces each other as fast as circumstances will permit. A move from Helena will prevent Holmes and Hidman massing froces against Blunt if nothing more, and it can go cautiously, awaiting the move and return of down-river force. Will this plan suit you?

SAML. R. CURTIS,

Major-General.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,
Saint Louis, December 19, 1862.

Major General WILLIAM T. SHERMAN:

GENERAL: I get orders and request from everybody in relation to a down-river move and try to accommodate all. Your dispatch of the

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