in European armies, and is commended for the zeal, energy, and good sense which he brings to the service of the Government. Lieutenant-Colonels Banning, One hundred and twenty-first Ohio, and Grosvenor, of Eighteenth Ohio, each commanded for a short while a brigade of the division; they are good officers, and rendered the country service which should be remembered. Colonels Thompson, Twelfth U. S. Colored Infantry, and Morgan, Fourteenth U. S. Colored Infantry, commanded brigades of colored soldiers for a short while with me. Their troops were disciplined and behaved uniformly well. These officers are entitled to the consideration of the Government for their personal efforts on the late campaign, and for the good results flowing from their labors in demonstration of the problem that colored men can be made soldiers. It is impossible to note all the deserving officers in command of battalions or companies of the division. The reports of the brigade commanders contain general and special notices of these officers, and the attention of the major-general commanding is directed particularly to them. The cheerful manner in which Captain Givens (Company M, Eleventh Indiana Cavalry), commanding garrison at Larkinsville, responded to all orders from my headquarters, and the valuable service which his command rendered from thorough knowledge of the surrounding country, is entitled to creditable mention.

My staff consisted of the following officers, viz: Captain John A. Wright, assistant adjutant-general; Captain G. W. Marshall, assistant quartermaster; Captain A. C. Ford (Thirty-first Indiana), acting commissary of subsistence; Captain A. Vallendar (One hundred and twenty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry), acting assistant inspector-general; Captain L. S. Windle (One hundred and thirteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry), ordnance officer; Surg. J. D. Cotton (Ninety-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry), medical director; First Lieutenant I. N. Leonard (Ninth Indiana Volunteers), acting aide-de-camp. Each of these officers merits my thanks for the satisfactory manner in which he discharged his duties, and they are all worthy of higher positions than they hold.

With my regards to the major-general commanding district, I am, very respectfully, yours, &c.,

CHARLES CRUFT,

Brigadier-General, U. S. Volunteers.

Major S. B. MOE,

Assistant Adjutant-General, District of the Etowah.

No. 180. Report of Colonel Benjamin Harrison, Seventieth Indiana Infantry, commanding First Brigade, of operations November 29, 1864-January 12, 1865.

HDQRS. FIRST BRIGADE, PROVISIONAL DIVISION,
ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND,

Chattanooga, Tenn., January 12, 1865.

In obedience to your instructions, I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of this brigade from the time of its leaving Chattanooga (November 29) to the present date:

The organization of the brigade, begun about the 20th of November, had been but partially perfected when orders were received on the 29th of November to take the field. The brigade consisted of three battalions,