GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. MIL. DIV. OF WEST MISSISSIPPI, Numbers 26.
New Orleans, La., March 1, 1865.

Under War Department General Orders, Numbers 21, of the 10th of February, the following directions are given:

I. The headquarters of the Department of Mississippi will be established at Vicksburg, Miss., and the department staff and records will accordingly be transferred to that place.

II. The troops in the District of West Tennessee, except such as are temporarily within the limits of that district by detachment from other departments, will be transferred to the Department of the Cumberland, but the troops belonging to this division will not be removed from that district until the commander of the Department of the Cumberland can replace them, if he should deem it necessary.

III. The troops on the west bank of the Mississippi, in the District of Vicksburg and Natchez, will be dropped from the returns of the Department of Mississippi as transferred to the Department of the Gulf.

IV. The troops in the Districts of West Florida and South Alabama and of Key West will be dropped from the returns of the Department of the Gulf, as transferred, and the commanders of those districts will report direct to division headquarters.

V. The existing arrangement of districts on the Mississippi River is continued, and the commanders of those districts that are beyond the present limits of the division will be governed, for the purpose indicated in the War Department order, by the provisions of division General Orders, Nos. 3, 4, and 6, of 1864.

VI. Special returns of the troops on both banks of the river subject to their control will be made by the commanders of the Districts of Columbus, West Tennessee, Vicksburg, and Natchez direct to these headquarters. These returns are in addition to the stated returns required at the headquarters of the department in which these troops are serving.

VII. General Orders, Numbers 6, of 1864, from these headquarters, is published for general information and observation:

Commanders of districts will hold themselves at all times in readiness to empce may be necessary to keep open the navigation of the Mississippi River, keeping in reserve for this purpose a sufficient force and a sufficient number of boats to enable them to act promptly. They will keep themselves in communication with the commanders of naval districts, give them any information in relation to the movements of the enemy that they may be possessed of, and co-operate with them whenever necessary. The authority of commanders of districts on either bank of the Mississippi is so far extended as to include the military posts on the opposite bank. This extension will not change the relation existing between post and department commanders, or authorize any permanent change, but is intended to give the senior in command the authority to control the resources on both banks of the river, in keeping it open, or in meeting other emergency.

By order of Major General E. R. S. Canby:

C. T. CHRISTENSEN,

Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General.

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. MIL. DIV. OF WEST MISSISSIPPI, Numbers 28.
New Orleans, La., March 1, 1865.

Bvt. Major General B. H. Grierson, U. S. Volunteers, is hereby assigned to the general command of all the cavalry in this military division, and to the special command of the cavalry forces designated for service in the field.

By order of Major General E. R. S. Canby:

C. T. CHRISTENSEN,

Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General.