GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPT. OF EAST TENNESSEE,

Numbers 3. Bristol, April 12, 1864.

The following officers are announced on the staff of the major-general commanding; they will be obeyed and respected accordingly:

Major W. F. Mastin, assistant inspector-general.

Lieutenant H. S. Foote, jr., acting assistant inspector-general.

Captain Isaac Shelby, jr., chief commissary of subsistence.

Lieutenant C. F. Johnson, aide-de-camp.

Lieutenant S. F. Chipley, aide-de-camp.

Major A. C. Gibson, chief of ordnance for the field.

Major S. K. Hays, chief quartermaster.

Surg. W. Jennings, medical director for the field.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Claiborne will continue as heretofore on duty as assistant inspector-general of cavalry.

By command of Major-General Buckner:

J. N. GALLEHER,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

TUNNEL HILL, April 12, 1864-8 p. m.

General W. W. MACKALL,

Chief of Staff:

Scouts report that two regiment of Yankee infantry, 800 or 1,000 strong, entered La Fayette at 7 a. m. to-day and camped half miles from the town, on the Dug Gap road.

J. H. KELLY,

Brigadier-General, Commanding.

HEADQUARTERS,
Savannah, April 12, 1864.

Lieutenant General L. POLK,

Commanding Dept. of East La., Miss., and Ala.:

GENERAL: A letter has been received by me from Lieutenant Colonel A. L. rives, acting chief Engineer Bureau, in which he regents to say that in consequence of many difficulties Lieutenant-Colonel Lockett has not been so successful in the organization of the engineer troops in the Department of East Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as it was hoped he would be, or as other officers have been in other parts of the country.

Feeling how important to the service these troops are in the rapid construction and repair of roads, bridges, and works, special recommendations were made to Congress for the enactment of the present law authorizing their organization, and believing that you acknowledge entirely the usefulness of this class of troops, I write to ask your countenance and aid in the difficult task of building up this valuable auxiliary to the army in your department.

The engineer troops in Tennessee and Virginia and the Trans-Mississippi Department have, after great efforts, been successfully organized, and the companies at Savannah, Mobile, and Wilmington are accomplishing all that could be expected from them, and give great encouragement to the Engineer Bureau to continue with vigor it labors in this direction.

So much depends, as you well know, upon the co-operation of