can dispose of them. You will invariably take duplicate lists of paroles this given, retaining one yourself, and sending the other to my inspector- general. I wrote two weeks ago to General Buford in regard to lieutenant Casteel, of which I then informed you, and you can now inform General Buford, if you desire, that if he gives up John Yerby, or any other of our officers or men to be murdered, a stern and immediate retaliation shall be enforced in return. General Buford says in his communication, however, that your officers and men are treated as prisoners of war, only they are very securely guarded.

Very respectfully,

JO. O. SHELBY,

Brigadier- General, Commanding.

[JULY 18, 1864.- For Cooper to Smith, ordering Taylor to the east side of the Mississippi, see Part I, p. 117.]

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. TRANS- MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT, Numbers 54.
Shreveport, La., July 18, 1864.

I. Surgeons' certificates of disability for the discharge of soldiers must be made in duplicate, and after being completed the duplicates will be forwarded to these headquarters. The authority for and the date of discharge must be clearly shown on these papers.

II. Captain Charles C. Greene, Corps of Artillery, Provisional Army, C. S. is announced as assistant to the chief of ordnance, Trans- Mississippi Department.

By command of General E. Kirby Smith:

S. S. ANDERSON,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

MARSHALL, TEX., July 18, 1864.

General S. PRICE,

Camden, Ark:

MY DEAR GENERAL: A close scrutiny of the meager intelligence we have from Northern and Southern sources would lead to the apprehension that our affairs i the eastern half of our Confederacy are in a critical condition. Major Cabell writes me that the President and Secretary of War are impatient for an advance into Missouri. This would indicate a similar apprehension on their part. On the retreat of Steele I understood we were getting up a large supply train for an advance on Little Rock, and I have been impatiently awaiting intelligence that the train had been completed; but whether owing to want of energy in the proper officers or to other causes this preparation seems to progress slowly. Your campaign in the summer of 1861 showed that an advance into Missouri powerfully aids in relieving Tennessee. When here in March last you expressed the opinion that the recovery of the Arkansas Valley ought to precede an advance to reoccupy our State. But could not a powerful diversion be made by cavalry alone without awaiting the recovery of Little Rock! Even if compelled to return, it might gain time for us in Georgia or avert an attack on mobile by compelling the enemy to send large forces to missouri. If successful