VII. Lieutenant Vernay, aide-de-camp to General McPherson, will collect all the mail matter and newspapers he can obtain for the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps, and convey the same to the army at Canton, and Colonel Winslow, chief of cavalry, will furnish him an escort of 200 men, all to start on March 1.

VIII. Colonel E. F. Winslow, Fourth Iowa Cavalry, will proceed with the re-enlisted veterans of that regiment to Iowa, and grant furloughs for thirty days after their arrival at Keokuk. At the expiration of the furloughs he will meet them at some rendezvous on the Mississippi River, and reconduct them back to the regiment at or near Vicksburg, Miss.

IX. The quartermaster's department will provide the necessary transportation to and back.

By order of Major General W. T. Sherman:

L. M. DAYTON,

Aide-de-Camp.

[Inclosure Numbers 15.]

SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE TENNESSEE,

Numbers 24.
Vicksburg, Miss., March 6, 1864.

I. General Hurlbut will, out of his First and Third Division, make up a command of about 7,500 infantry, with two good batteries of artillery, the whole under command of Brigadier General A. J. Smith, to embark on the 7th and 8th instant on board of transports, with thirty days' rations and provided for an expedition up Red River. Only two ambulances per regiment and one for each battery, and one wagon for each headquarters, will be taken along, and the remaining wagons and sick will be left at Vicksburg, to be taken care of until the command returns to Vicksburg.

II. General McPherson will, in like manner, make up a command of about 2,500 men, with one good battery, under a brigadier of rank inferior to that of General A. J. Smith, prepared in like manner to embark on boats on the 7th and 8th instant. The general in command to report in person to General A. J. Smith, who will receive full and minute instructions from the general commanding.

III. Corps commanders will at once order a part of the re-enlisted regiments of their corps to their respective States, where organized, for a furlough of thirty days therein, with full instructions as to procuring additional recruits and rejoining their proper brigades with dispatch on the expiration of their furloughs. The officers and soldiers thus sent on furloughs should be impressed with the importance of their return on time, as military plans can only be based on a positive knowledge of numbers and time.

IV. Brigadier-General Veatch's command will proceed via Cairo and the Tennessee River with all its men, guns, transportation, and materials to join the command of General Dodge at or near Athens, Ala.

V. The chief quartermaster of the department will provide the necessary transportation to carry out these orders and those issued February 28, 1864.

By order of Major General W. T. Sherman:

L. M. DAYTON,

Aide-de-Camp.