back here, whilst the cavalry and artillery make a push for Benton and the railroad bridge. This will give them another rapid march to the northeast, and when Gardner hears that your force is on the march, his will all be north of Canton, with an enemy sufficiently strong to make it necessary for them to stay there for a few days.

Very respectfully,

N. J. T. DANA,

Major-General.

DEVALL'S BLUFF, November 18, 1864.

Colonel MIZNER,

Commanding:

The guerrilla captains Rayborne and McCoy are said to have left the neighborhood of West Point on the afternoon of the 16th with about seventy-five men for a scout into the prairie country and on the railroad. They will probably hang around and try to steal stock and cut off small parties. Notify Colonels Dye and Geiger.

E. A. CARR,

Brigadier-General, Commanding District of Little Rock.

[NOVEMBER 18, 1864.-For Andrews to Green, reporting scout to West Point, and other matters, see Part I, p. 921.]

FORT GIBSON, C. N., November 18, 1864.

Lieutenant Colonel C. T. CHRISTENSEN,

Assistant Adjutant-General, New Orleans:

I reached this place on the evening of the 16th instant, after a tedious trip of three days from Fort Smith, by the route on the north side of the river. This post is garrisoned by three regiments of Indians, Colonel Wattles in command. I find matters controlled here by the same influence that governs at Fort Smith, and indeed the same that governs the entire District of the Frontier. The troops at Gibson have been for three months on short, allowance, and at the present time are getting the next think to nothing. In addition to the 1,800 soldiers to be fed here, there are about 6,000 loyal refugee Indians, mostly Creeks, that have been driven from home, and the Government has undertaken to feed them while the war lasts. The contract to furnish them supplies is let every six months, and for the first six months of 1864 was taken by A. Mcdonald & Co. It is now in the hands of Carney, Stevens & Co., of Leavenworth. There is no question but that the contractors and the Indians agents have committed great wrongs against these refugees, and are doing so yet. The matter is controlled entirely by the Interior Department, but if some attention is not given to it by the military authorities there will be trouble with these Indians next spring. Colonel William A. Phillips, of the Third Indian Regiment, who is the best officer they have ever had in the Indian Brigade, and who managed matters admirably both for the Government and the Indians while he was in command here, was removed by the influence of McDonald & Co., and after being kept off duty for a month was placed on a court-martial at Fort Smith, where he now is. In my opinion he