SPECIAL HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY CORPS,

FIELD ORDERS, MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,

3. Athens, Ala., January 6, 1865.

I. The Fifth Iowa and Seventh Ohio Cavalry are hereby transferred from the Sixth Division, Cavalry Corps, to the Fourth Division, and will proceed, under command of Colonel Garrard, to Eastport, Ala.

II. Colonel Harrison, with the Sixteenth Illinois Cavalry and the battery attached to is brigade, will proceed by the nearest route to Pulaski, Tenn. On arriving at that point Colonel Harrison will report in person to General Johnson.

III. The Sixth Tennessee Cavalry is hereby transferred from the Fourth Division Cavalry to the Sixth Division Cavalry. Its commanding officer will report without delay to Brigadier-General Johnson.

IV. Brigadier General Edward Hatch, being unfit for field service for the present, is authorized to proceed to Nashville, and if not granted a leave of absence will report thence without delay at Eastport.

By command of Brevet Major-General Wilson:

HENRY E. NOYES,

Lieutenant and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

SPECIAL ORDERS, HDQRS. SIXTH DIV., CAVALRY CORPS,
6. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,

Edgefield, Tenn., January 6, 1865.

I. Colonel Mix, commanding Eighth Michigan Cavalry, will march with his regiment to-morrow at daylight, crossing the river by the pontoon bridge [or by the railroad bridge, if most convenient]. He will divide his command into two nearly equal bodies-one wing moving by the roads to the right of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, via Nolensville and Triune, to Murfreesborough; the other by the turnpike to Beard's Mill, and thence, if parties of the enemy are heard of in that direction, to Lebanon, concentrating afterward with the right wing at Murfreesborough. At Murfreesborough the command will draw rations, and being thee divided into two equal detachments as before, will move by such roads as Colonel Mix may think to afford the best opportunities for effecting a thorough patrol of the country to Shelbyville, the two wings concentrating at that point. From Shelbyville the command, dividing into two equal bodies as before, will move to Fayetteville, concentrating at that point, and from there to Pulaski, where the whole division will presently concentrate. The object of the expedition is to pick up the many stragglers from the rebel army who are understood to be lurking in the country, particularly a regiment of Tennessee cavalry under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Withers, which is understood to be scattered through the counties of Davidson, Williamson, Wilson, and Rutherford. The strong probability is that wherever found the enemy will be in inferior force, and they will be, therefore, promptly and vigorously attacked and pressed; but no force of less than one-half the regiment will be detached to operate independently. Colonel Mix will command the left wing, moving by Beard's Mill. The officer commanding the right wing will be furnished with a copy of this order. The wagon of the regiment will be left to follow with the remainder of the division. Special pains will be taken by all officers to preserve the condition of the horses. The general commanding expects that no trooper will become dismounted on this expedition.