the senior officer present. Brigadier-General Fry will report to the Adjutant-General of the Army by letter.

* * * * * * *

By command of Major-General Palmer:

E. B. HARLAN,

Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General.

HDQRS. ARMY AND DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,
Dannelly's Mills, March 24, 1865.

Rear-Admiral H. K. THATCHER,

Commanding West Gulf Blockading Squadron:

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of yesterday and its inclosure. The rear division of the Thirteenth Army Corps will be up to-day, and we move forward to-morrow morning. If the roads are as good as we now hope to find them, we will be able to communicate with you from the neighborhood of Point Zeb to-morrow night, or on the morning of the 26th. We will send back from this place to-morrow a part of our bridge to be towed up the bay to the point that will be selected as our depot. Will you please send up one or two of the tin-clads to convoy it, and any boats that may be here when the troops leave, to the anchorage at the mouth of Fish River, where the bridge material and some of our supplies will remain until they are ordered up the bay. I will communicate with you again to-morrow morning.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

E. R. S. CANBY,

Major-General, Commanding.

FORT GAINES, ALA., March 24, 1865.

Major General P. J. OSTERHAUS, U. S. Volunteers,

Chief of Staff, Mil. Div. and Army of West Mississippi:

GENERAL: I have the honor to remind you of your promise on leaving this place on the 21st instant that you would inform me as soon as you saw General Canby of the probable time I might expect to come forward with my siege train and ordnance supplies. You directed me to remain here and await orders from General Canby, and I suppose the general knows all about the reasons of my being here. Please let me know, if you can form any approximate idea of the time, when I shall probably be expected at headquarters. Tell the general commanding that I can move my batteries at short notice, if Colonel Sawtelle can furnish the water transportation, and that I am anxious to do so when wanted. I am expecting 100 artillery horses now every day from New Orleans, and so as to provide the active batteries with any additional ones to which they may be entitled, I respectfully request that you will cause corps commanders to direct their respective battery commanders to make out proper requisitions in time and send them to me. I send my aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Slack, with this, and as he is directed to return to-day you will have an opportunity to send anything by him you may wish.

Hoping that all are well at headquarters and that everything is going on satisfactorily, I am, very respectfully,

JAS. TOTTEN,

Brigadier-General and Chief of Artillery and Ordnance.