SPECIAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Numbers 356.
Saint Louis, Mo., December 24, 1864.

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11. The emergency retaining the battalion of the Sixth Missouri Cavalry, under command of Major Montgomery, in this department, no longer existing, Major Montgomery will move with his command without delay and join the main portion of the regiment at Baton Rouge, La., in the Department of the Gulf, or whenever it may be serving. The quartermaster's department will furnish the necessary transportation.

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By command of Major-General Dodge:

J. W. BARNES,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,

Saint Louis, December 24, 1864.

SIR: For the purpose of having so far as possible a uniform general policy by the district commanders throughout the department, I submit the following instructions, which will as far as practicable be adhered to in the administration of affairs in your district. It is desirable that during the winter and spring all guerrillas, robbers, murderers, &c., that infest the State be routed and exterminated. They must be hunted down and when caught summarily dealt with, and you must devise means to do this in your district. Local organizations can be rendered useful in this work. Persons returning from Price's army who claim to have been conscripted must be taken into custody and searchingly examined, and it is not safe to let them loose on society on bond oath, unless they prove to you beyond a doubt that they were strictly and undoubtedly loyal before being conscripted; that they were forced away, and that they returned as soon as they could escape. In cases where you have any doubts you had better hold and forward them as prisoners of war. A list of the disloyal persons, aiders of rebellion in your district, should be prepared at once, embracing in classified order: First, families of noted bushwhackers, thieves, and robbers; second, families of persons who voluntarily joined Price during his late raid; third, disloyal families of persons in the rebel army; fourth, harborers, of bushwhackers and noted rebels; fifth, sympathizers with rebellion. The rolls will also show age, number in family, account of real and personal property in their possession. Great care must be exercised no personal enmities or individual piques are reflected in these lists, which should be carefully and quietly prepared without coming to the notice of either the loyal or disloyal. Encourage to the extent of your power and influence the formation of local companies composed of men of undoubted loyalty, who, being thereto disposed, can hold and protect their own counties, and give us the use of our regular troops to guard our lines of communication, and be held as reserves to use against the enemy proper. When such companies are formed, impress upon them the importance of building forts, stockades, and block-houses at their towns or rallying points, the benefits whereof cannot be overestimated. People who will not aid in the defense of their own lives and property cannot expect much aid from us. Whenever