one of his staff officers, that at 4 a. m. his advanced guard had reached the town of Saltville and reported that the enemy had first burned and then evacuated the place the night before. The whole of the day an night of the 21st was devoted to the destruction and demolition of the buildings, kettles, masonry, machinery, pumps, wells, stores, material, and supplies of all kinds, and a more desolate looking sight can hardly be conceived than was presented to our eyes, on the morning of the 22nd of December, by the salt-works in ruins. Our work being compelled, we had yet before u s a long and arduous march through rivers swollen by the recent and almost continuous rains, along roads which had become nearly impassable, and over mountains slippery with ice and covered with snow. I sent General Burbridge with his command back to Lexington, Ky., and gone him the choice of routes by which he would return. He chose the one via the Big Sandy. General Gillem with his command was ordered back to Knoxville, returning via Poor Valley and the west side of the Holston River.

The following is a resume of the principal objects accomplished by the expedition:

Duke's command was badly whipped by Gillem at Kingsport and his wagon train captured, also 84 prisoners, including Colonel Morgan, then temporally in command, and sent to Knoxville. Bristol was captured by Burbridge, and all the railroad depots, five railroad trains filled with supplies, about 1,000 stand of arms, and a large amount of fixed ammunition, wagons, ambulances, &c., were destroyed, and 17 commissioned officers and 260 enlisted men captured and sent to knoxville. Abingdon, with one gun and a limited amount of supplies, was captured by Burnbridge. Major Harrison, commanding Twelfth Kentucky, captured two railroad trains near Glade Springs, destroyed all the railroad bridges from that point up to Marion, the large iron-works in Wythe and captured several hundred fine horses. The lead-works in Wythe Country were captured and completely destroyed by Colonel Buckley's brigade. Gillem's brigade, re-enforced by the Eleventh Kentucky and the Eleventh Michigan Cavalry, of Burbridge's command, captured Marion, drove Vaughn from that point beyond Wytheville, destroyed all the railroad bridges from Marion to Reedy Creek, captured and destroyed Wytheville, with all its depots and stores, embracing 25,000 rounds of fixed ammunition, a large amount of ammunition for small arms, pack-saddles, harness, and other quartermaster stores, large amount of subsistence and medical supplies, several hundred wagons and ambulances (serviceable and unserviceable), 15 caissons and 10 pieces of field artillery, 2 locomotives, and several cars. Quite a large number of horses and mules were also captured. - commissioned officers and 198 enlisted men were captured and paroled.

Breckinridge was derived into North Carolina by the operations of the whole command: Wade's and Brown;s brigade, however, having dole all the fighting on that occasion. In the captured of Saltville and the works surrounding it, thought the whole force under my command was present, to Colonel Stacy and the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry is due the credit of having acted the most conspicuous part. He Burbridge's force on the right acted with equal vigor, we should without doubt have captured the whole garrison. In addition to the destruction of the salt-works we captured here 8 pieces of artillery and a large amount of artillery and small-arm ammunition, 2 locomotives, and quite a number of horses and mules. I see it officially report in the rebel papers that 91,000 bushels of salt were at the works when we arrived there; also, that 128 good kettles remain and 788 were broken.