QUARTERMASTER'S OFFICE, MARINE DEPARTMENT,

Houston, August 23, 1864.

Captain H. E. LOEBNITZ,

Acting Chief Quartermaster, &c., Houston:

SIR: In answer to yours of August 21, for a report setting forth number of steamers, and where running, belonging to the quartermaster's department, and a synopsis of principles contracts, I submit the following statement:

Name of boat. Where running. Charter.

Roebuck. Nueces and Sabine $5,500 month.

Rivers.

Sunflower ..do.. $6,666.66 month.

(repairing)

Uncle Ben. ..do.. Government.

J. H. Bell. ..do.. Government,

repairing.

A. S. Ruthven. Galveston Bay and $6,666.66.

tributaries.

Lone Star. ..do.. $6,666.66.

Diana. ..do.. Government.

Island City. ..do.. Government,

repairing

Colonel Stell. ..do.. Government.

Mary Hill. ..do.. Do.

Bayou City (gun- ..do.. Do.

boat).

Era Numbers 3. Brazos River. $6,666.66.

John F. Carr. Matagorda Bay and Government.

tributaries.

Lucy Gwin. ..do.. Do.

Lizzie Lake. ..do.. $2,500.

Cora (repairing). ..do.. $4,500.

The above list comprises all the steamers employed by this department. There is no contract out save for 1,000 cords of wood, to be delivered on bank Brazos River, at $15 per cord. R & D. G. Mills, contractors.

I have the honor to be, &c., your obedient servant,

J. C. STAFFORD,

Major and Quartermaster, C. S. Provisional Army.

FORT TOWSON, CHOCTAW NATION,

August 23, 1864.

Honorable JAMES A. SEDDON,

Secretary of War:

SIR: I reached the Indian Territory something over a month ago. The difficulty of getting about within its limits, owing to the frequent heavy rains, unusual for this section of the country in summer, has been great, I have, however, managed to visit all those points in the different nations where my business called me. General Maxey, at whose headquarters I now am, was assigned to the command of this district by General Smith on the 11th of December, 1863, and entered upon the discharge of its duties on the 24th of the same month. He has in the district a brigade of Texas troops commanded by General Gano, two or three unattached battalions and companies of Texans, and the Indiana forces under General Cooper. Attempts are now being made to get all the able bodied young Indians, friendly to the Confederate cause, into the service; and there is every reason to believe that these attempts will be successful. It is proposed to organize them into three brigades, to be called the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Creek Brigades; the Cherokee Brigade, composed of Cherokees, Chickasaws, and Osages, has already been organized; the Creek Brigade, composed of Creeks and Seminoles, is about being so, and the Choctaws anticipate no difficulty in being able to raise the number of men required to complete the organization of the Choctaw Brigade.