was restrained from acting offensively by the orders or instructions contained in a dispatch that he had received from General Buell. Whether General Morgan referred to the dispatch just read or some other received previous to our conversation I cannot say. But he gave me this information in consequence of my asking him to allow me to proceed and tap the railroad at Morristown.

Commission adjourned to meet on Saturday, April 25, 1863, at 11 o'clock a.m.

[APRIL 25, 1863.]

Testimony of Colonel J. B. FRY, Provost-Marshal-General.

By General BUELL:

Question. State you name and position in the service of the United States; whether you were on duty with the Army of the Ohio, under the command of Major-General Buell; in what capacity and for what period.

My name is James B. Fry; I am lieutenant-colonel in the Adjutant-General's Department of the Army, and additional aide-de-camp with rank of colonel, and at this time I am Provost-Marshal-General of the United States. I was on duty with the Army of the Ohio, commanded by General Buell, from the time he assumed command of that army, on 15th of November, 1861, until he relinquished the command of it, on 30th October, 1862, and during this period I was assistant adjutant-general and chief of staff of that army.

Question. State what you know of the movement of the Army of the Ohio from Corinth to North Alabama in June, 1862, the orders under which it marched, the points from which it marched, the dates of arrival and departure, the causes of any delay that may have occurred on the march, the strength of the army, the measures taken by its commander to supply it on the march and after its arrival, and whether the march and the measures on which it was dependent were prosecuted with industry.

Corinth fell into our hands on the 29th of May; within two or three days from this time Wood's division of the Army of the Ohio was by order of General Halleck pushed to the east and along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, with orders to repair the railroad as it proceeded, the intention being, as it was understood, to establish railroad communication with Mitchel's division, then in North Alabama; and General Halleck intimated his intention of sending the Army of the Ohio to operate against Tennessee. On this intimation orders were at once, about June 1 or 2, sent to the staff officers at Louisville and Nashville, warning them to be ready with supplies to meet such a movement, and orders were given to send supplies at once to Eastport, the highest point at which the Tennessee is navigable for ordinary boats, to meet Wood's division, and be in readiness for the rest of the army when ordered to the eastward. On the 4th of June, General Buell, with Nelson's and Crittenden's divisions, started, in pursuance of orders from General Halleck to join General Pope, who was pursuing the enemy down the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and who asked for re-enforcements.

The pursuit of the enemy ceased near Booneville, Miss.; and on or about June 10 orders were received for the Army of the Ohio to proceed to North Alabama. Orders were immediately sent to officers of the supply department in Louisville and Nashville directing them to throw forward supplies to meet the now actually ordered, and General Mitchel was again directed to push repairs on Nashville and Tennessee River Railroad and to accumulate supplies as rapidly as possible. The two divisions above mentioned marched from Booneville on the 10th of June; McCook's division marched from Corinth on the 11th of June. McCook and Crittenden, according to orders, proceeded to and reached South Florence on the 15th of June. Nelson was halted at Iuka to guard the railroad and aid in repairing it and wait until the ferry should be ready at Florence. The preparation of a suitable ferry was at once commenced under Lieutenant Morton, the engineer, and by the 22nd was completed, and was capable of crossing a division a day, with its transportation, and perhaps more. No other delay occurred on the march but that required to arrange this ferry; the labor was pushed with industry and energy, and no time was lost. The Memphis and Charleston road and our forces working upon it were at this time threatened by the enemy, who lay within striking distance to the south of us, and considerable apprehension was felt

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