greater advantages than they should legitimately have had. The Indian country is destitute of everything essential to an army, or to the supply of its inhabitants, the crops last year having been a complete failure; hance the task of not only furnishing the troops with rations, but indigent loyal Indians with bread, brought from a distance, thus throwing upon the commissariat the necessity of supplying with inadequate means 30,000 or 40,000 natives. This command when I assumed it was destitute of nearly everything, and would have been without even ammunition sufficient for one round but for the provident care of General Cooper, who was then holding a subordinate command under General Pike. The flour of Texas was not available, for the want of wagons to haul it; consequently the troops and destitute citizens of the Nation were dependent upon the uncertain navigation of the Arkansas, and the insufficient number of steamboats navigating it, for the bread they have eaten during the past winter. This route failing to yield a sufficient supply, a large number of the troops were sent to the Red River district for food. " If the mountain would not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain."

The spring has opened and the enemy is in motion, and at the present moment the game is mostly in his hands, but whether or not he knows his advantages and will avail himself of them remains to be seen. In a short time I shall have the troops sent to Red River back again on the line of the Arkansas River, and I shall at least be able to hold my own, unless there should be a very considerable defection amongst our Indian troops. The Indian country is of great importance to us; but it is of more importance to keep the enemy at a distance from the granaries of Texas. Were he to get a foothold in Northern Texas, the dependence of our whole Trans- Mississippi Department for breadstuff would be taken away. You are probably aware that in Northern Texas, as well as in Western Arkansas, there are not a few who would welcome the Northern rule. In both places the best men have been the first to volunteer, and [there remain] either lukewarm friends or concealed enemies or speculators, who care only for the profits. The letter I send you is from the adjutant of one of the Cherokee regiments to his colonel, and he is, as you see, a member of the National Council. These people feel themselves neglected. They cannot see and understand how small a portion of the field they occupy, and if every part of the treaty is not carried out, it gives occasion for discontent. It is quite likely that their welfare has not received the attention that it deserves. There is no superintendent here. I have been acting as such ex officio, but without money. My communications to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs remain unanswered. Under these circumstances it is worse than having none. I am frequently asked for something which the Indians think they have a treaty right to, and of which I know nothing. I have heard that a superintendent has been appointed; if so, he should be sent to his post at once, and furnished with instructions and money without waiting for the usual routine of a time of peace, which would be too slow, even if the communications with the seat of Government were uninterrupted. This want of communication, or of some one to represent the War Department on this side of the river, causes much trouble and embarrassment. The bonds of disbursing officers are forwarded and never heard from; at least, such is the case with many that were sent forward last year. This places them in a position which makes them frequently useless in their proper capacity. Officers holding funds are unwilling to turnover to those whose