and any other force which may be sent against me. In reply to your query, whether I shall be able to hold Natchitoches, I have to state that I shall hold all I can. The force from below has not yet reached Alexandria. The force in that town is a portion of the Sixteenth Army Corps, and perhaps a small portion of the Seventeenth. From the fact that General Sherman has moved the force he had at Vicksburg up the river, I am inclined to believe that the troops in front of me have been transferred to General Banks to supply the drafts on him for garrisons in Texas. I have information upon which I reply that this force, originally destined for a campaign into this valley, did not exceed 13,000 men. It is a large estimate, therefore, to put his whole force, after a junction of the two columns, down at 23,000. If operations in Georgia should cause the withdrawal of General Polk's forces from the Mississippi Valley, Banks' force might be increased somewhat by weakening his garrisons on the east bank of that stream. I have sent two guns to Major Douglas and have requested him to place them in position at the junction of Cane River and the Bon Dieu, nea Grand Ecroe. I examined the position myself last year and deem it favorable for preventing the passage of the enemy's transports up the river. The guns referred to will be manned by the artillerists who made their escape from the water batteries at Fort De Russy.

My inability to decipher General Magruder's dispatches is the more annoying as I am particularly desirous of knowing the movements of General Green.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. TAYLOR,

Major-General.

HEADQUARTERS TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT,
Shreveport, March 19, 1864.

Major General R. TAYLOR,

Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL: I have directed an officer of the Missouri, with thirty torpedoes and a crew of men selected for the purpose, to proceed down the river and obstruct it with torpedoes at some point below Grand Ecore. I will direct the officer to report to you should he find you below, otherwise to report to Captain McCloskey, who is at Grand Ecore, upon consultation with whom he will fix a point at which the torpedoes are to be placed. If practicable I would suggest their being used below Cotile, otherwise the vicinity of the falls below Grand Ecore might be selected. As soon as the torpedoes are placed in position the boat and crew will return to Shreveport. Arrangements should be made by pickets and couriers so that the party on the boat can be notified in time of the passage over the falls of the enemy's gun-boats or the advance of a party of the enemy. I send down by the boat a signal corps under Sergeant Landry, who will assist in notifying the officer in charge of the torpedo-boat of the movements of the enemy. When they get through with this duty they are ordered to report to you.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

E. KIRBY SMITH,

Lieutenant-General, Commanding.