troops are not kept out, or if an attempt were made to withdraw them, that delegations of citizens would besiege the commander at Saint Louis begging him to instantly replace them. Public clamor rather than military sagacity, or economy of strength, dictates the present course. Guard mountings, dress parades, and other military requirements are entirely ignored and remembered only as part of the history of the past. Roll calls, stable calls, drill calls, and such other regulations are considered as relics of old fogyism, and entirely neglected. One officer (Captain McClanahan, Second Missouri State Militia) was commanding his company in citizens' dress; sentinels found sitting down by a fire, their muskets lay on the ground ten or twelve feet from them. When asked by me if they were acting in accordance with instructions, replied by saying, "They had been told to watch that house yonder; that was all. " Of course the sentinels were not to blame. The officer of the guard on duty is not responsible to the department commander; it is the commanding officer of the post or district. I remember the good old days when such men as the late General Sumner, then colonel commanding a department, would attend nearly every roll and other call, visit every sentinel post, and bring every delinquent up for correction and punishment. Those were days of comparatives peace. Now, during a state of war and danger, commanders of posts and districts seem to think that their only duty is to take quarters in some town, establish a headquarters, which they visit in the morning at 9 or 10 o'clock and approve requisitions and sign returns and reports of number of troops, &c., eat their meals, some cigars, then go to bed without a thought or a care whether those under them perform their duties or not. Since the invasion by Price in October the post of Pilot Knob presents rather a dilapidated appearance. The quartermaster's department, in charge of Captain Dyer, is not characterized by that high state of efficiency for which it has been mentioned in previous reports. Captain Dyer has since been relieved (by reason of sickness); his place is filled by Lieutenant White, regimental quartermaster, Fiftieth Infantry Missouri Volunteers. It is to be hoped that the public buildings necessary to shelter the public animals will be brought to a state of completion before the return of spring. The subsistence department, in charge of Captain Mayu, commissary of subsistence, performs its functions in the usual creditable manner. Supplies are on hand sufficient for two months. The hospital, in charge of Dr. T. W. Johnson, acting assistant surgeon, is in an excellent condition. There are eighty-two patients, twenty-four of whom are Confederate (wounded) soldiers. Doctor Johnston preserves the utmost order and compliance on the part of occupants, attendants, &c., with usual regulations governing military hospitals. The refugee department, in charge of Rev. L. T. McNeily, chaplain Third Cavalry Missouri State Militia, exhibits a marked improvement in the management of affairs. The chaplain was reported by my predecessor as having given orders for 4,500 rations in four days. This report, I believe, did the chaplain injustice, as it implied that to be the average number of rations issued. The chaplains by saying that whilst the road was severed, and communication destroyed with Saint Louis, that great difficulty occurred in procuring rations. Captain Huiskamp visited the post just as the first supply was received, consequently a great rush was made by the starving refugees on the commissary department; hence the basis for the report. The number of rations issued from December 1 to December 24, 1864, was 6,584. This includes issues to sick in refugee hospital and contrabands.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN V. DU BOIS,

Colonel and Inspector-General, Department of the Missouri.

SAINT LOUIS, January 14, 1865.

Lieutenant W. T. CLARKE,

Aide-de-Camp:

Order the Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry to Brookfield, and tell Major Hilliard we shall expect to hill every bushwhacker in Linn and Chariton Counties. Direct him to suspend the liquor traffic in Linn. Direct Colonel Smart to guard all bridges with his own men, and relieve Colonel Krekel's Enrolled Missouri Militia as soon as Colonel Smart can keep the bridges.

CLINTON B. FISK,

Brigadier-General.