The bakery and other culinary arrangements have just been completed, and they are creditably conducted.

The rations are the same as issued to our soldiers in the field: Beef, one pound, or in lieu of, one-third pound of bacon; meal, one and one quarter pounds, with occasional issue of rice and bean, molasses, vinegar, and soap. The prisoners I found entirely without shelter, except the sick, and the number furnished them is entirely inadequate and of the most miserable kind. Immediate arrangements should be made by which the prisoners may be sheltered from the rains and protected from the heat of the sun. Buildings should be commenced as soon as practicable for the winter, and in the meantime tents should be furnished for their use during the summer. Without this they will die off by hundreds, and will be a dead loss to us in the way of exchange.

By a recent order from the War Department all regular troops have been ordered from the Andersonville prison, and troops from the Georgia Reserve Corps (General Howell Cobb's command) have to fill their places. These are offered principally by men that have seen some service, are to some extent soldiers, and can be relied upon.

By a recent order, however, from the War Department, I understand

that these officers, numbering in all about 250 men for they whole State, are to be conscripted and sent to the field. If this order is enforced the Reserve Corps will be almost entirely disorganized; they will have to elect new officers, and there is scarcely one man out of a hundred who knows the manual of arms or who is capable of marching a company a square. If this order is enforced I should have serious fears for the safety of the prisons at Andersonville and Macon, Ga. Eighteen thousand or 20,000 trained soldiers (prisoners), with 1,500 educated officers, courageous and desperate, cannot, in my opinion, be safely guarded by such an organization with which it is now proposed to guard these prisons. The Florida line is scarcely seventy-five miles from Andersonville, and the Yankee forces not far from this line, and by some preconcerted arrangements between the prisoners and the enemy, and with 2,000 or 3,000 raw recruits, without officers, undisciplined and totally disorganized, a successful outbreak on the part of the prisoners would, in my opinion, be entirely practicable.

I wish to say one word in regard to the command at Andersonville. Great confusion and serious difficulties have existed in regard to rank among the officers, quarrels and contentions as to who ranks and commands, all tending to disturb the good order, discipline, and proper conduct of the post and prison. I beg leave to suggest that if the commandant of the post is to command the prison he should be of such rank and experience as to silence all contentions; otherwise the commandant of the prison should be independent of the post commandant, and he himself should be of such rank as to control those who report to him from day to day for duty. I wish to add a word in relation to the officer commanding the interior prison (the prison proper), Captain Wirz, who, in my opinion, deserves great credit for the good sense and energy he has displayed in the managements of the prison at Andersonville. He is the only man who seems to fully comprehend his important duties. He does the work of commandant, adjutant, clerk, and warden, and without his presence at Camp Sumter at this time everything would be chaos and confusion; in my opinion, at least two commissioned officers should be assigned to duty to assist him.

In conclusion, I beg leave to state that I was detained in Macon, Ga., for the purpose of establishing prison for Federal officers, and all mail communication being cut off from Richmond, I could not make my report sooner.