GENERAL ORDERS, HDQRS. DISTRICT OF EAST TENNESSEE, No. 31. Knoxville, Tenn., May 6, 1865.

I. Hereafter any person found within the limits of this command, wearing or having about his person the badges, insignia, or uniform of an officer of the late Confederate armies, will be considered as guilty of an act of hostility toward the United States Government and will subject himself to arrest and imprisonment.

By command of Major-General Stoneman:

G. M. BASCOM,

Major and Assistant Adjutant-General.

WASHINGTON, May 6, 1865.

Major General J. M. PALMER,

Headquarters Louisville:

George D. Prentice says that Lieutenant-Governor Jacob states to J. D. Osborne, of the Louisville Journal, that he, Jacob, knew that the rebels contemplated something that would startle the nation, but that he had no right to say anything further in regard to the matter. Please examine Jacob under oath, requiring him to state what he really has said to Osborne or to any other person on the subject, or what he meant by it and from whom he received his information, and report the result.

By order of the Secretary of War:

C. A. DANA.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF KENTUCKY, Louisville, Ky., May 6, 1865.

Honorable E. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.:

SIR: A large number of rebel soldiers have returned to this department as paroled prisoners. Some came in as organized bodies, having surrendered, and were paroled here. The presence of these persons here as paroled prisoners is productive of much harm. So far as I am aware they have not been guilty of outrages involving the public peace, but are guilty of many acts of astonishing impudence. This could be borne, but disavowing as they do all allegiance to the Government, they seem to the people to be merely waiting for something favorable to their cause that they may resume their arms. They are centers around which the disloyal sentiment of the country organizes itself, and thus they check the returning sense of loyalty and keep alive the idea of future resistance. I beg to suggest that all these men be required to take thee amnesty or some other oath which strips them of their character as admitted representatives of the rebel Government, and in case of refusal to take the oath prescribed they be required to leave the State. They seen only mischievous when they return to their original neighborhood. I would be glad to be authorized to issue such an order for this department.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

JOHN M. PALMER,

Major-General, Commanding.

GENERAL ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF KENTUCKY, No. 28. Louisville, Ky., May 6, 1865.

The attention of all concerned is called to Circular No. 3, from these headquarters, and especially to that portion of the circular which