HDQRS. ARMY AND DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,
March 28, 1865.

Brigadier-General BAILEY:

Be on the lookout for raiding parties on your position and the public property at the landing. A regiment from the Thirteenth Corps has been ordered over to report to you.

E. R. S. CANBY,

Major-General, Commanding.

HEADQUARTERS ENGINEER BRIGADE,
Starke's Landing, March 28, 1865.

Colonel C. T. CHRISTENSEN,

Assistant Adjutant-General:

The dispatch from the major-general commanding has been received. All possible precautions will be taken to prevent any surprise.

J. BAILEY,

Brigadier-General, U. S. Volunteers.

SPECIAL ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS SIEGE TRAIN, Numbers 9.
Fort Gaines, March 28, 1865.

1. Lieutenant Colonel B. f. Hays, commanding First Indiana Heavy Artillery, will immediately proceed with the Second Battery, Siege Train, to Belle Rose Wharf, Mobile Bay, and upon his arrival report with the 30-pounder Parrott and the mortar battery to Major-General Canby. The 8-inch howitzer battery will be left on board the barge at Belle Rose Wharf until further orders.

* * * *

By command of Brigadier General James Totten:

WM. HUNT, JR.,
Lieutenant and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS,

Near Spanish Fort, March 28, 1865.

Lieutenant Colonel C. T. CHRISTENSEN,

Asst. Adjt. General, Army and Division of West Mississippi:

COLONEL: My command marched on the 17th and 19th instant. Have endured great fatigue and exposure, had have subsisted almost entirely on the prescribed field rations, as I have been able to obtain almost no cattle in the country. The field ration, in my opinion, when the men are undergoing great fatigue, unless fresh beef can be obtained, is insufficient. I find evidence of this in this command in flagging of energy and ability to undergo the labors well-fed men are capable of. The ration of whisky in case of great exposure seems to me also a matter of necessity. I have the honor to request that while we remain near our present locality, and while our means of transportation will admit, this command be furnished the field rations permitted to any troops in the field. The anxiety of the major-general commanding the army, that the morale of the troops be kept at the highest point of excellence, will, I trust, secure the orders necessary to keep the men in the best physical condition.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

G. GRANGER,

Major-General, Commanding.