ciently well informed. I immediately took steps to have competent officers appointed at sub-district and post headquarters as acting assistant ordnance officer to facilitate the collection of the stores, and forwarded to You June 30 a request to that effect; to which You replied that it was not practicable to make such appointments at present, but that officers would be appointed at each post to receive all Government property, including ordnance. Owing to the unsettled condition of the troops and limited means of communication, I have been unable as yet to obtain reports from these officers except from the post of Houston, and the line of the Texas Central Railroad as far as Navasota, where every effort is being made to bring in the stores. I have secured the appointment of an efficient officer, Lieutenant R. E. Martin, Thirty-fourth Iowa, as depot ordnance officer, who has in charge all the defenses of Galveston, and is rapidly collecting the stores. In addition, he has, under my instructions, made requisitions for such stores as will probably be needed by the troops during the present quarter. I would respectfully call Your attention to the fact that requisition on the depot at New Orleans for stores for this district are revised by some chief of ordnance at that point, whether of Department of the Gulf or Military Division of the Southwest I am unable to ascertain, and if deemed too extravagant by them are cut down to much less than the originals, which under my direction have been carefully prepared in accordance with the probable requirements of the service. Having ascertained that much of the light artillery and ordnance was in the vicinity of Shreveport, La., although within the limits of Texas, I forwarded July 7, to the depot ordnance officer at that place a request to render all assistance in his power to secure the property. No communication have yet been received with regard to amount or condition of stores on the Gulf coast. The small arms collected up to this time are mostly in the hands of provost-marshals, and cannot, therefore, be reported on. I respectfully suggest that the ownership of a large quantity of cannon powder, amounting to about 100 barrels, now in the city magazine at Houston, and claimed by the mayor of that place to belong to private parties, be investigated by the provost-marshal's department and the legality of such claim reported on.

I am, major, very respectfully, Your obedient servant,

SEYMOUR HOWELL,

Captain and Chief of Ordnance.

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. MIL. DIV. OF THE MISSISSIPPI, Numbers 4.
Saint Louis, Mo., July 10, 1865.

I. Pursuant to General Orders, Numbers 118, current series, from the War Department, this military division will embrace the following territory, viz:

The Department of the Ohio, consisting of the States of Ohio, Indiana Illinois, and Michigan; headquarters at Detroit, Mich: Major General E. O. C. Ord commanding.

The Department of the Missouri, consisting of the States of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas, and the Territories of Dakota and Nebraska; headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, Kans; Major General John Pope commanding.

The Department of Arkansas, consisting of the State of Arkansas and the Indian Territory; headquarters at Little Rock, Ark; Major General J. J. Reynolds commanding.