2. This detachment will form the guard to the Walla Walla and Fort Benton road party, and be under the command of First Lieutenant J. Mullan, Second Artillery.

3. The command will be furnished with provisions and clothing, and medical stores, for sixteen months, and 300 rounds of ammunition.

4. The meast ration will consist of one-third pork and two-thirds cattle on the hoof; a reasonable supply of desiccated vegetables will be taken.

5. Eight months' provisions will be taken from Fort Walla Walla, and the remainder under arrangements to be made by the chief commissary of the department.

6. The detachment from Colville will move to Coeur d'Alene Lake at such time and by such route as may be notified to the commanding officer at Fort Colville; the detachment from Walla Walla will move under the immediate orders of Lieutenant Mullan.

7. The detachment from Colville will be supplied with no more provisions than may be necessary to reach the Coeur d'Alene Lake and wait the arrival of Lieutenant Mullan.

8. Captain Kirkham, assistant quartermaster, will furnish transportation for the detachment and its supplies, adopting, on consulation with Lieutenant Mullan, the most economical measures compatible with efficiency.

9. If boots are on hand at Fort Vancouver or Walla Walla, two pairs per man will be supplied in the place of shoes.

10. The ordnance officer at Vancouver Arsenal will furnish the ammunition called for by this order on the requisition of Lieutenant Mullan.

11. Asst. Surg. Lewis Taylor will accompany the detachment.

* * * * * * January

By command of Brigadier-General Johnston:

W. W. MACKALL,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., April 8, 1861.

Major W. W. MACKALL,

Asst. Adjt. General, Hdqrs. Dept. of the Pacific, San Francisco:

SIR: I have the honor to report that in obedience to instructions from the War Department I am about to resume work upon the Fort Walla Walla and Fort Benton military road, and anticipate taking the field from Fort Walla Walla at a date nor later than the 5th proximo, and in conformity to a notification from the department that an escort of 100 men, 3 officers and a physician would be furnished me by the general commanding the Department of the Pacific, I would respectfully make requisition for said escort to join me at Fort Walla Walla, or such other point as the interests of the service may permit. By the plan of operation submitted to and approved by the War Department, our field work will occupy a period of not less than fifteen continuous months, but to provide against contingencies I shall take in the field supplies for sixteen months, which will take the expedition to Fort Benton, enabling us to winter in the Bitter Root Valley, or some other equally suitable point. Having reached the Missouri River, a period of two months will be necessary for a return to Walla Walla, and the supplies needed for these two months could be economically and judiciously shipped from Saint Louis in the spring of 1862, and for which