KANSAS CITY, MO., January 14, 1864.

Major O. D. GREENE,

Assistant Adjutant-General, Saint Louis, Mo.:

Two squadrons Fifth Kansas do not belong to my command. Were relieved and ordered to Lebanon, Mo., by paragraph 10, Special Orders, No. 303, from department headquarters, of November 5, 1863.

THOS. EWING, JR.,

Brigadier-General.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF, New Orleans, January 15, 1864.

Major General H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.:

GENERAL: I have the honor to inclose a dispatch from Major-General Dana, with accompanying papers, relating to affairs at Matamoras that have recently transpired.* I transmitted to General Dana a copy of the letter from the Secretary of State,+ with an indorsement by the Secretary of War thereon,++ in relation to the policy to be pursued by the representatives of this Government on the Rio Grande, and also gave to Major-General Herron, upon his departure from the city, a copy of the same dispatch. These papers were received this evening. General Dana, having been relieved at Brownsville by General Herron, has assumed command of the forces at Pass Cavallo, General Washburn, by permission of the President, having leave of absence for sixty days.

I learn unofficially from Matamoras that the two parties in Tamaulipas have become reconciled and suspended hostilities; that they have raised an army of 1,300 men, who intended marching against the French at Tampico. This comes to me from gentlemen interested in Mexican affairs, and I believe it may be correct.

I have the honor to be, with much respect, your obedient servant,

N. P. BANKS,

Major-General, Commanding.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF, New Orleans, January 15, 1864.

Major General H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.:

GENERAL: I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy of Major-General Reynolds' report on the occupation of Madisonville, the principal town near the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, for temporary purposes. The object of this occupation was the obtaining of timber, lumber, tar, &c., of which the quartermaster's department was much in need, and the prevention of the smuggling of goods and rebel mails across the lake, which it was exceedingly difficult to accomplish by the employment of any force scattered as pickets on the southern shore of the lake, so long as the rebels held a force, however small, at Madisonville.

The force is intrenched, and as gun-boats pass up the Tchefuncta River beyond the town, the position is easily held, and a short time

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*For Dana's dispatch, with inclosures, see Vol. XXVI, Part I, pp.882-886.

+See Vol. XXVI, Part I, p.815.

++ I bid., p.846.

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