I have expelled the cotton buyers from my lines as they had no authority from any one to purchase cotton.

Can a man ship cotton to Memphis, going with it himself, without a permit from the Treasury Department?

I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

E. D. OSBAND,

Colonel First Mississippi Cavalry, A. D., Comdg. Post.

CHATTANOOGA, November 23, 1863.

J. B. ANDERSON,

Manager Railroads, Nashville, Tennessee:

I mean by my dispatch that I think the Nashville and Stevenson road in its present condition is enough for one man to attend, and I shall put some one else whose exclusive duty it will be to look after the construction of the other road. Already several weeks of valuable time have been lost. I presume we will want Boomer to make the bridges you contracted for, but in the mean time I was trestles built and the road running.

U. S. GRANT,

Major-General.

HDQRS. DEPARTMENT AND ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE,
Near Chattanooga, November 23, 1863.

T. J. HAINES,

Chief Commissary of Subsistence, Saint Louis, Mo.:

Please keep Eastport supplied according to the troops there, about three months' ahead. At present there must be about 3,000 men there, and I deem it the best offensive point in the South from which to reach the interior of Alabama. The river will be good till next June, and I cannot foresee what I will do, till Chattanooga is disposed of. Therefore, there need not be a very heavy supply there now. The commanding officer is ordered to make his requisitions on you direct.

W. T. SHERMAN,

Major-General.

NEAR CHATTANOOGA, November 23, 1863.

General ALLEN,

Chief Quartermaster, Saint Louis, Mo.:

The troops at Memphis, Corinth, and Eastport should have transportation, according to the army allowance. Wagons and harness for Eastport and Corinth should go up the Tennessee, notice being sent of the fact to General Hurlbut at Memphis. The Memphis and Charleston road takes an army to guard, and the sooner it is abandoned the better. I have left discretion with General Hurlbut on this point, as I am too far off to give specific orders. Ample supplies of forage can be got along up the Tennessee, and if a hostile shot is fired at the boats, it shall not cost a cent.

W. T. SHERMAN,

Major-General.