through southern point of Grenada and west of Mississippi Central Railroad; Central District, south of Grenada to Natchez and west of Mississippi Central Railroad and Pearl River; Southwest Mississippi and East Louisiana that portion of Mississippi south of a parallel through Natchez and west of Pearl River and the portion of the State of Louisiana east of the Mississippi River. The reorganization I would respectfully suggest, to give greater unity of the commands, is to unite into one district the two sub-districts-the Central District and the Southwest District of Mississippi and East Louisiana-under one commander say Brigadier General Wirt Adams, and to give me the command of a district to be composed of the Northeast District, the Northwest District, and the District of West Tennessee, which last has to face the same enemy at Memphis and support Corinth in case of an attack; and further, the outposts of Corint must necessarily be on the Tennessee River, and cannot come under the command of the commander of West Tennessee, although within his military limits. Therefore I take the liberty to suggest that West Tennessee properly connects with North Mississippi, but the whole, including East Louisiana, would be too great a space for one commander, who is required to be present at each point as circumstances require, while the troops of each part are too few to hold the enemy in check long enough to be re-enforced from other positions. I would respectfully urge that the cavalry force of this district be increased as rapidly as troops can be spared. Wade's Mississippi regiment, which is represented as an excellent regiment, if being collected at Corinth and Cherokee, and I request that it may be transferred to may command and ordered to the District of Southwest Mississippi and East Louisiana; and I also apply for Sander's battalion of cavalry, which is recognized as a permanently independent battalion. It is also essential to increase the light artillery of this command.

I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

FRANK GARDNER,

Major-General.

Lieutenant Colonel GEORGE G. GARNER,

Chief of Staff, Mobile.

Numbers 3. Reports of Brigadier General George B. Hodge, C. S. Army, commanding District of Southwest Mississippi and East Louisiana.

HDQRS. DISTRICT OF SOUTHWEST MISS. AND EAST LA.,
December 2, 1864.

Mr. PRESIDENT: I avail myself of the departure of Major Bowen for richmond as a safe and sure means of sending you intelligence. I have again the mortification of another formidable raid in my district, with but puerile and hardly noticeable resistance to it. I had 1,000 men for duty in my camps, better armed, better equipped and clad, than had ever been known in the district-500 of them in camp (its front protected by a creek, with a bridge 300 yards off) on the Jackson and Liberty road; 250 at Williams' Bridge, on the amite, east of Clinton, on the road from Baton Rouge to Greensburg, and the remainder at Woodville and on the Homochitto.