that guns were arriving at the city when he left. William O'Conner left Mobile on the 19th instant; says he read a letter from Tupelo, dated about the 15th instant, stating that Hood's army is falling back from that place.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

E. S. EATON,

Captain and Chief Signal Officer, Mil. Div. of West Mississippi.

HEADQUARTERS THIRD BRIGADE, RESERVE CORPS,
MILITARY DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,

Barrancas, near Pensacola, Fla., January 27, 1865-12 m.

Colonel C. T. CHRISTENSEN,

Assistant Adjutant-General, New Orleans, La.:

COLONEL: I have the honor to report my arrival at this place on the steamer Warrior at 1 o'clock last night. The Warrior bough eight companies of the Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry and the principal part of the transportation and stock of that regiment and of the One hundred and fourteenth Ohio Infantry. The Corinthian arrived some time previous to 1 o'clock yesterday with a part of the Twenty-fourth Indiana Infantry. The Saint Mary's, with the balance of the regiment, arrived here at 1 o'clock yesterday and is just about ready to go out. The Swaim, having on board detachments of the Thirty-fourth Iowa and One hundred and fourteenth Ohio and the ambulances, also stores of the commissary, arrived at 10 p. m. yesterday. Everything is off of the Swaim and she has been ordered to start back immediately to East Pascagoula. The Saint Charles, having on board the principal part of the One hundred and fourteenth Ohio, got aground in Lake Pontchartrain and has not yet arrived.

My last to you was written at the Lake Pontchartrain depot, New Orleans, at 9 p. m. Tuesday evening, January 24.* I, in a few minutes afterward, proceeded to Lakeport, arriving there at 10,p. m. The Steamer Adriatic, which brought down the One hundred and fourteenth Ohio from Kenneer, had to land a quarter of a mile below the railroad depot. Owing to this fact and the limited amount of transportation furnished by the railroad, we did not get the troops, equipage, and transportation (the latter going by the public road) till 2 o'clock the next morning. On arriving at Lakeport I found the wharf so narrow and so much obstructed by coal, lumber, and other public property as to very much impede our getting aboard the transports. It was also necessary to lead the animals over a narrow and rather defective platform 400 yards in length a few at a time or move them the same distance on platform-cars. I also found that the capacity of the transports had not been ascertained, and had to wait till the captain of each was consulted before I could determine how to distribute the troops on board. The wagons, of course, had to be taken apart. It was also dark, cold, and windy, and the quartermaster, Captain Bradshaw, advised that nothing could be gained by undertaking to load at night. I determined, however, to make as much progress as possible during the night, and the work proceeded with considerable activity, Lieutenant Champlin, aide-de-camp, remaining up all night personally superintending the matter. Everything was ready for the men of the Thirty-fourth Iowa to embark on the Warrior a little before 11 o'clock the

See Vol. XLVIII, Part II, p. 682.