GENERAL ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS PRICE'S DIVISION,

Jacksonport, June 6, 1863.

Numbers 5.

I. The undersigned, in accordance with orders from district headquarters, hereby assumes command of all the troops in this neighborhood and toward the borders of Missouri.

II. The commanding officers of all such troops will make immediate returns to these headquarters of the exact strength and condition of their respective commands, and of their distribution, and of such other facts as may be necessary to give the major-general commanding an accurate and thorough knowledge of their number, condition, efficiency, and wants.

III. All officers are urged to use the utmost diligence in placing the entire command in the most efficient condition for active service, and, to this end, returns will be made to the proper staff officers at these headquarters of the quantity, kind, and distribution of transportation, ordnance stores, and other supplies in each brigade, detached company or regiment, and requisitions will be made upon said officers for whatever may be necessary.

IV. No furlough or leave of absence will be granted until the application for the same shall have been approved at these headquarters.

V. The undersigned, by order of the lieutenant-general commanding, also assumes charge of the recruiting service in Northern Arkansas and Missouri. All officers and others recruiting within these limits will, therefore, make immediate reports to these headquarters of the orders, if any, under which they are acting, the number of men they have enlisted, and the disposition that has been made of them, together with such other facts as may aid him in obtaining a full knowledge of what has been done in this branch of the service within the limits named.

VI. The major-general commanding has heard with the most profound regret that the troops in this vicinity have been guilty of acts of lawlessness, which are calculated not only to bring disgrace upon themselves, but, by disaffecting toward us those who would otherwise be our friends, to entail disaster, if not ruin, upon our cause. He hopes that he has been misinformed, and that the acts of a few thoughtless men have been grossly exaggerated to the prejudice of the many. Be that as it may, he will not permit the troops under his command to pillage and plunder either friend or foe. The property and persons of women and children and other non-combatants shall not be interfered with except by legitimate authority. It is for the commanding general to decide, in the absence of the civil authority, upon the disposition to be made of the persons and property of disloyal and suspected persons. That privilege must not be usurped by individuals. Officers and men will be held to a strict accountability for any violation of this order. The just wants of the troops can and will be supplied without recourse to plundering. The surest and only way to retaliate upon the barbarous foe for the savage wrongs that he has inflicted upon our unoffending and defenseless friends is, by strict obedience to orders, by close attention to your soldierly duties, and by a strict observance of the rules of Christian warfare, to build up a well-organized, well-disciplined, and invincible army, which shall not only drive the enemy from our borders, but pursue him into his own accursed land.

VII. The following changes on the staff are announced: Lieutenant Colonel H. Clay Taylor, chief of artillery and ordnance; First Lieutenant John Mhoon, engineer, and First Lieutenant Celsus Price, aide-de-camp, vice Lieutenant Wood, promoted.

STERLING PRICE,

Major-General, Commanding.