Brigadier-General Williams followed and reported to him in Columbia. No charges having been filed against him and an investigation being impracticable in that army, he was directed to report to General Beauregard. In General Hood's letter to General Beauregard the cause of his arrest is stated to be his conduct during the expedition which Major-General Wheeler make into Tennessee in August and September last. The case was referred by General Beauregard to General Hardee, who states that he has no charges against General Williams, knows nothing of the facts which caused him to be arrested, and refers the matter to this office, with the request that a speedy trial be ordered. General William desires that the matter may not be dismissed without investigation, that he may be punished if guilty of any offense, and that if improperly arrested, from inquiry at General Bragg's office, that the order for Brigadier-General Williams' arrest was made upon the written, though unofficial, report of an officer of Major-General Wheeler's staff to General Bragg that General Williams had separated himself from General Wheeler in Tennessee without orders, and had thereby seriously interfered with the success of the movement. Lieutenant-General Hardee was telegraphed to ascertain from General Wheel whether charges had been preferred against General Williams, and their nature, and replies that General Wheeler states that charges for conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline had been forwarded to General Hood. The course pursued toward General Williams, if not a persecution, seems to have been harsh and unusual. The arrest of an officer of high rank, at the head of his troops, and the order to report several hundreds of miles off for trial, upon the report of a subordinate staff officer, without informing him of the accession or allowing him to be heard, is not in accordance with military usage, and meets with my grave disapprobation; and the failure to follow up the case seems to indicate, at least, that the offense, if any, was trivial in its nature. Just before his arrest General Williams had rendered valuable service in the defeat of the enemy's movement on Southwestern Virginia, for which he has received the thanks of Congress. It does not appear to me that an investigation in this case would be for the good of the service or required for the ends of justice.

I recommend that General Williams be released from arrest and restored to his command, with a expression of the Department of its disapprobation of the course pursued to him.

S. COOPER,

Adjutant and Inspector-General.

Returned to Major Barton. It is not necessary to take action on this cause at this time.

S. C.

MERIDIAN, January 11, 1865. (Received 2 o'clock 14th.)

Honorable J. A. SEDDON:

Cannot authority be granted to people of North Mississippi and North Alabama to exchange cotton in limited quantity for provisions? Unless something is done for relief, many in these sections must starve. Cotton is constantly going out surreptitiously, benefiting speculators only.

Respectfully,

R. TAYLOR,

Lieutenant-General.