CULPEPER, VA., April 16, 1864-11 a. m.

(Received 11. 50 a. m.)

Major General H. W. HALLECK,

Chief of Staff:

Order all troops that can be spared from the defenses of Washington, either from new troops arriving or from those already there, to report to General Burnside for assignment to brigades. General Augur mentioned to me the arrival of a regiment of heavy artillery, 2,900 strong, which he could make such disposition of as to give General Burnside a considerable force of infantry.

U. S. GRANT,

Lieutenant-General.

WASHINGTON, April 16, 1864-12. 50 p. m.

Lieutenant-General GRANT,

Culpeper, Va.:

Colonel Kautz will be sent to General Butler, if you deem him more useful there than here in charge of the Cavalry Bureau. There is no competent person here to take his place, and the difficulty of getting horses is daily increasing. Could you not employ General Pope to advantage on the Mississippi River? He is anxious for active employment. There is a regiment of heavy artillery in Baltimore, drilled as infantry, 1,500 strong, which could be sent to the field, if you think it can be spared from General Wallace's command. His last returns give his effective force, 6,700. Since then 1,200 have been sent to Harper's Ferry.

H. W. HALLECK,

Major-General, Chief of Staff.

WASHINGTON, April 16, 1864-3. 30 p. m.

Lieutenant-General GRANT,

Culpeper, Va.:

Only four companies of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry are mounted. No Twenty-seventh New York at cavalry depot. The Twenty-second New York is there, but not mounted, the Army of the Potomac taking every horse as fast as we get one. The fraction of the Eighth Illinois mounted is the only cavalry for picket and scout duty, and the only one acquainted with the country.

H. W. HALLECK,

Major-General, Chief of Staff.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,

Culpeper, Va., April 16, 1864-6 p. m. (Rec'd 10. 30 p. m.)

Major General H. W. HALLECK,

Chief of Staff:

General Butler is absolutely without a cavalry commander, and I can think of no one available equal to Kautz. Cannot General J. W. Davidson, or some officer of less rank, now that the duties of the Calvary Bureau have been changed, do the duties as well? I think