of Western Kentucky, has issued an order relieving him from command of said post, and upon his declining to obey the order of General Meredith he was placed in arrest under guard and carried to Paducah, Ky. I beg leave to call the attention of the major-general commanding department to the case, and ask that prompt measures be taken to effect the release of Colonel McArthur from this arrest. I do not wish to involve officers in difficulty by pursuing a course which would lead to conflict of authority and violence, if persisted in, and therefore most respectfully request that the proper authority, vested with the power, will settle all questions of dispute by definite orders. A statement of the authority upon which Colonel McArthur was acting will show how unjust and improper it is that he should be placed in arrest for obeying the direct and positive orders of his superior and commanding officer. General Orders, Numbers 277, from the War Department, dated November 7, 1864, directs that all troops on the east bank of the Mississippi River be detached from the several department and corps commanders and be required to report to Major-General Canby, commanding Military Division of West Mississippi. The official letter of Major-General Canby, of November 27, 1864, attaches the Post of Columbus to Major-General Dana's command, and Special Orders, Numbers 21, from headquarters Department of Mississippi, dated December 26, 1864, requires the Post of Columbus, Ky., to report to the headquarters District of West Tennessee. Being placed in command of the District of West Tennessee, in obedience to the orders referred to above, I required Colonel McArthur, Fourth U. S. Colored Artillery (Heavy), commanding Post of Columbus, Ky., to report to me and obey my orders. On the 28th of December, 1864, I prepared and delivered to Colonel McArthur two letters of instructions relative to his duties as post commander, and directing and commanding him not to obey the orders of any officer who did not derive his authority from major-general commanding Military Division of West Mississippi, Major-General Dana, commanding Department of Mississippi, or from headquarters District of West Tennessee. These instructions were again repeated in official letters from me to Colonel McArthur on the 10th and 16th days of January instant. During this time Brigadier-General Meredith, commanding District of Western Kentucky, was claiming the Post of Columbus, Ky., as a part of his command, and issuing orders to the post commandant in direct conflict with my orders. To remove all cause for any misunderstanding between General Meredith and myself, and to prevent any difficulty which might arise from conflicting orders, I addressed to him an official communication on the 28th December, 1864, calling his attention to the orders above referred to, and asking him for the orders upon which he was claiming command of the Post of Columbus. No answer has been received to that letter. General Meredith has finally asserted his claim by force and has placed Colonel McArthur in arrest and carried him under guard to Paducah, Ky. The Post of Columbus in on the east bank of the Mississippi River, about twenty miles below the mouth of the Ohio River, and it has been repeatedly declared in orders and dispatches from the War Department to be within Major-General Canby's command. Colonel McArthur could not obey the opposite orders of two commanders. In obeying my orders he was compelled to refuse to obey the orders of Brigadier-General Meredith. For this he is made a close prisoner, deprived of his command, and carried under menace of force to Paducah, Ky. I beg leave to call attention to the correspondence and orders referred to in this