[Inclosure Numbers 1.]

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. 2nd DIV. ARMY OF KENTUCKY,

Numbers 9.
Georgetown, Ky, October 22, 1862

The practice indulged in by some of the officers and men of this division of enticing colored people within the lines is becoming an evil of such magnitude as to demand the immediate and vigorous application of a remedy. It is demoralizing to an army to be encumbered with non-combatants-hangers-on of any kind or class-and they will not be allowed in this division, except under such restrictions as will place them within direct and entire control from these headquarters. It is especially made the duty of guards and pickets, and of brigade and regimental commanders, to refuse admission within the lines to that class of people known as "contrabands." All those now within the lines, or that may hereafter in any way gain access thereto, will at once be taken inn charge by the division quartermaster,and reported to these headquarters for such action thereon as may be deemed expedient.

By order of Brig. General Q. A. Gillmore:

W. L. M. BURGER,

Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General.

[Inclosure Numbers 2.]

HDQRS. SECOND DIVISION, ARMY OF KENTUCKY,
Lexington, Ky., December 2, 1862

M. R. KEITH, Esq. Cleveland, Ohio:

MY DEAR SIR: I am in receipt of your note of the 26th ultimo, inclosing sundry slips from Cleveland newspapers, in which the writers condemn in unmeasured terms my course, as they understand it, in regard to contrabands. I am certain they do not fully appreciate the subject. I am convinced, and one week's sojourn here would thoroughly convince them, that the policy which they condemn, slightly modified, perhaps, is the only one adapted to the loyal State of Kentucky. The writers seem to forget that Kentucky is loyal; that she has now, and always has had, a full representation in Congress; that consequently we are not in the enemy's country; that martial law does not exist here, and that the civil authorities are in the full exercise and enjoyment of their legitimate functions, the same as they are in the State of Ohio or any other loyal State. They contrast, unfavorably to myself, my order and General Grant's on this subject, ignoring the fact, which contains the gist of the whole matter, that Mississippi and Tennessee, where General Grant is operating, are in persistent rebellion, by their own deliberate acts,while Kentucky is true to her to her allegiance.

Force of circumstances has made me an unwilling and reluctant actor on this question; my education and profession make me, I trust, an unprejudiced one. While I regret that a course which is demanded of me by the positive orders of my military superiors, and which my own judgment dictates as eminently proper, should not meet the approval of my former friends, I congratulate myself that I am not yet, and never have been, placed in a position where I could be swerved from a plain and evident line of duty by any political party or organization sitting in judgment on my actions. As a soldier, I have schooled myself to ignore such things. My desire in these trying times is to serve my country to the best of my ability, obeying the orders of my military superiors according to the rules and articles of war.

I have never returned a slave to any claimant, loyal or disloyal, and