borhood of Florence with his regiment. Major Murphy, Fifth Tennessee Cavalry, has sent you request to send him 4,000 rations to Waynesborough. Can you spare them? I refused.

If Rowett goes to Lexington after the two Union families, had not some other regiment better be sent out and instructed to co-operate with him against Johnson.

J. W. BARNES,

Lieutenant, and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

General GRENVILLE M. DODGE,

Athens, Ala.

DECEMBER 1-10, 1863.-Operations about Natchez, Miss., and Skirmish (7th).

REPORTS.

Numbers 1.-Major General James B. McPherson, U. S. Army, commanding Seventeenth Army Corps.

Numbers 2.-Colonel Bernard G. Farrar, Thirtieth Missouri Infantry.

Numbers 3.-Brigadier General Alfred W. Ellet, commanding Mississippi Marine Brigade.

Numbers 4.-Brigadier General Wirt Adams, C. S. Army.

Numbers 1.

Reports of Major General James B. McPherson, U. S. Army commanding Seventeenth Army Corps.

*HEADQUARTERS SEVENTEENTH ARMY CORPS, Vicksburg, Miss., December 9, 1863.

GENERAL: Shortly after the transfer of Crocker's division from Natchez to this vicinity, and in fact before T. Kilby Smith's brigade-the last to come up-had reached here, I received information from scouts and citizens that there was a movement of rebel cavalry in a southerly direction, not in masses, but in companies and squads chiefly, Brigadier General Wirt Adams, late Colonel Lorgan's command, and that they were concentrating at Gallatin, Liberty, and near Fayette, and had at least one battery of artillery with them.

A portion of Harrison's command, under Colonel McNeill, with six pieces of artillery, had moved down from Monroe, and were operating between the Tensas and Mississippi, below Lake Saint Joseph. They had made their appearance on the river at Water Proof, about 30 miles above Natchez, and had fired into two or three transports, only one, however, the Welcome, with artillery.

On learning this, I ordered the [Mississippi] Marine Brigade, which had been cruising in the vicinity of Greenville, to come down and cruise between Rodney and Natchez. When General Gresham came up with his brigade, about two weeks ago, he landed a couple of regiments below Water Proof, moved rapidly across the point, and appeared unexpectedly before the place, and captured some 18 prisoners, the remainder of the force escaping back into the country.

As he had no mounted men he could not pursue them, but it had the effect of making them keep their artillery back from the river.

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*A similar letter of same date addressed to Sherman.

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