Augusta), and in accompanying me in my visits to the disloyal parts of the district; and I do not hesitate to say, notwithstanding the assertions of the anomymous writer heretofore mentioned, that no similar body of men in this department have performed more labor or rendered more efficient service than this small company, gallant and devoted to our sacred cause, and bearing on their persons honorable scars won on many a hard-fought field. It would be unjust if it were not ridiculous that such men should be sneered at and slandered by an individual, who evidently from his own admission (for he says he is no "military man") has been skulking in the rear during four long years of bloody strife, and still remains there though a ruthless enemy is thundering at his very doors. As for the base insinuations against myself I regard them no more than the idle winds. They are like their secret author- too contemptible to be noticed by any honorable man; but I must confess that I am astonished that such a document should have secured the consideration that this anonymous communication has evidently received at the War Department. I have been brought up to believe that an anonymous letter was the weapon of a cowardly miscreant, a stab in the dark from a pusillanimous wretch who had not the courage to face the man he secretly assailed; but it seems a new order of things has been established and that the teachings of my youth were erroneous. Bred to the profession of arms and having made it a life-long study, and having spent many years on the rude frontier, I freely admit that I know but little of the seductive arts of peace. I am no politician, no wire-worker, no representative man, and

To crook the pregnant hinges of the knee,

That thrift may follow fawning

forms no part either of my character or education. And because of this I have doubtless made some enemies; but it is impossible to please all, and the history of the world and of individuals in all of the departments of public life shows that the man who performs his duty faithfully, honestly, fearlessly, has little favor to expect at the hands of those who know nothing of the motives that actuate him or the orders by which he is guided. In conclusion allow me to think that the name of the author of the anonymous (to me) letter should have accompanied his slanderous attack. In law, if I mistake not, no man is liable to indictment unless there is an open accuser, and it seems to me that military courtesy demands no less. I therefore respectfully ask that the name of the author of the letter to the Assistant Secretary of War in which I have been infamously libeled, and because of which this statement has been made, be forwarded to me.

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

A. W. REYNOLDS,

Brigadier-General, Commanding, &c.

[Indorsement.]

HDQRS. GEORGIA RESERVE AND MIL. DIST. OF GEORGIA,
Macon, February 20, 1865.

Respectfully forwarded, being an answer from General A. W. Reynolds to certain charges preferred against him in a letter addressed to the Assistant Secretary of War.

HOWELL COBB,

Major-General.