NASHVILLE, TENN., April 5, 1864-10 a. m.

(Received 1.20 p. m.)

Lieutenant-General GRANT,

General-in-Chief:

Dispatch of yesterday received. The change will be made forthwith. Will reconcile all conflicting interests that it is worth while to notice. All well with us. General Schofield is feeling up the valley cautiously, and dispositions are complete to make Forrest pay dear for his foolish dash at Paducah. I wrote very fully yesterday to General Rawlins.

W. T. SHERMAN,

Major-General.

CONFIDENTIAL.] HDQRS. MIL. DIV. OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

Nashville, Tenn., April 5, 1864.

Colonel C. B. COMSTOCK,

General Grant's Staff, Washington, D. C.:

DEAR COLONEL: Your letter of March 26 came to me on the 2nd instant, and the mail brought me the map yesterday.* The parcel had evidently been opened and the postmaster had marked some additional postage on it. I will cause inquiries to be made lest the map has been seen by some eye intelligent enough to read the meaning of the blue and red lines. We cannot be too careful in these matters.

That map, to me, contains more information and ideas than a volume of printed matter. Keep your retained copies with infinite care, and if you have occasion to send out to other commanders any more I would advise a special courier.

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*Comstock's letter not found. The map referred to is Colton's New Guide Map of the United States and Canada, edition of 1863, and is marked in pencil as follows:

First. Red line along the Potomac, from its mouth to Williamsport; thence along Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Oakland; thence via Elizabethown to Ceredo, Versailles, and Brandenburg, and along the Ohio River to Cairo; thence up the Mississippi to vicinity of Saint Louis, up the Missouri to the Kansas line, and thence in southwesterly direction into Indian Territory.

Second. Red line along the Rappahannock, from its mouth to Rappahannock Station; thence via Madison Court-House and Manassas Gap to Winchester; thence southwest to the headwaters of the Guyandotte, and along the Cumberland Mountains to vicinity of the Tennessee line; thence south to the Smoky Mountains; thence through Tunnel Hill, Guntersville, and Corinth, to Oxford, Miss., and thence along the railroad to Lake Ponchartrain and along the Gulf shore to Pascagoula.

Third. Rad lien from Vermillion Bay to Bayou Barholomew, in Drew Country, Ark., and thence northwesterly into Indian Territory.

Fourth. Red line about Pensacola and along Santa Rosa Island.

Fifth. Red line about Jacksonville and Fernandino, Fla.

Sixth. Red line along the coast from Savannah to Charleston.

Seventh. Red line from Federal Point, along the coast, to New River Inlet, N. C.; thence via Pollocksville, Washington, Plymouth, and Suffolk, to Saluda, Va., and thence via Gloucester Court-House to the Chesapeake Bay.

Eighth. Blue line from Saluda, Va., via Richmond and the James River to Lynchburg; thence via Liberty to the Blue ridge, and along thee and the Smoky Mountains to connect with red line Numbers 2.

Ninth. Blue line from New Berne to Raleigh, N. C.

Tenth. Blue line from Tunnel Hill to Atlanta, Ga.

Eleventh. Blue lie from Atlanta via Milledgeville to Savannah.

Twelfth. Blue line from Atlanta via Montgomery and Selma to Mobile.

Thirteenth. Blue line from Sabine Pass to Shreveport, La., and thence northwesterly into the Indian Territory.

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