HDQRS. CAVALRY FORCES, MIL. DIV. OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,
Columbus, Miss., May 24, 1865.

Colonel G. M. L. JOHNSON:

COLONEL: Your communication of the 23rd instant, inclosing report of Lieutenant-Colonel Pepper, is at hand. You will collect all Government property, cotton, &c., which can be done so conveniently, and ship it to Mobile. Such as is beyond your reach the parties in whose hands it is will be notified that their private property will be held as security for the safety of the public. You will take charge of all State property, and hold it until instructions can be obtained as to the disposition to be made of it. All stock branded C. S., for which parties hold bills of sale or certificates that it was exchanged for other stock, will be allowed to pass unmolested. We are very busy here at present, but the general intends coming down to see you as soon as possible. You will send a party up the railroad to Crawford and Brookville and remove all Government property at these points to Macon. Use such negroes as you need for fatigue purposes and keep the rest in order until Mr. T. W. Conway, superintendent of freedmen, arrives; he is expected in a few days. Communicate with these headquarters frequently.

By order of Bvt. Major General B. H. Grierson:

S. L. WOODWARD,

Major and Assistant Adjutant-General.

HDQRS. CAVALRY FORCES, MIL. DIV. OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,
Columbus, Miss., May 24, 1865.

Colonel W. P. MOORE,

Commanding Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry:

COLONEL: You will proceed by the most practical route to West Point, Miss., and send detachments to take charge of all Government stores at all stations on the railroad as far north as Okolona; also at Aberdeen, eight [miles] east of Egypt Station, on the Tombigbee, and at Tibbee Station, south of West Point. You will collect all Government property together at the different stations and gain all possible information concerning the quantity and locality of Government cotton, corn, and other property. After a thorough examination you will report all the facts fully to these headquarters, when orders will be sent you as to the disposition to be made of them. You will be held accountable for the good conduct of your command, and will likewise hold your subordinate commanders responsible for the conduct of their respective commands. No taking or exchanging of animals will be allowed, and no private property of any description will be interfered with, except corn, which will be properly receipted and accounted for.

By order of Bvt. Major General B. H. Grierson:

S. L. WOODWARD,

Major and Assistant Adjutant-General.

[MAY 24, 1865.-For Bailey to Osterhaus, reporting expedition from Spring Hill, Ala., to Baton Rouge, La., see Vol. XLVIII, Part I, p.262.]