a distance of 148 miles. The road to Monroe, 52 miles, has been in operation, but some portions of it have been destroyed. The remainder has been graded. The labor, with the exception of skilled mechanics, can be procured, and will be mainly done by the troops. Mechanics must be sent from above. I propose to place Colonel Bailey, now chief engineer of the Nineteenth Corps, and represented to be in every way competent, in charge, unless some other officer should be designated. A report of the actual condition of the road is expected in a few days, and detailed information will then be given you, but provisions for the running stock, rails, &c., should be commenced at once.

ED. R. S. CANBY,

Major-General, Commanding.

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,
Vicksburg, Miss., May 28, 1864.

His Excellency R. YATES,

Governor of Illinois, Springfield, Ill.:

I am advised from the Headquarters of the Army that five regiments of the Illinois militia have been ordered to Columbus, Ky., and five to Memphis, Tenn. None had reached either of these points at the latest dates I have received. Will you please advise me how soon I may count upon their arrival. The Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry will be sent to Memphis if they have not already gone.

ED. R. S. CANBY,

Major-General.

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,
Vicksburg, Miss., May 28, 1864.

Major General W. T. SHERMAN,

Commanding Div. of the Mississippi, via Nashville, Tenn.:

I have sent the detachment of the Seventeenth Army Corps under General T. K. Smith to Memphis, and have authorized General Washburn to detain at that place, if necessary, troops that have been ordered to report to me from the Western States and from the Department of Missouri. I will return the division of General A. J. Smith in a few days. If the line of the Arkansas is not threatened by a superior force, I will send to General Washburn any re-enforcements that he may require to keep the enemy occupied in your rear, as that is more important than any new operations that can be undertaken immediately in the country west of the Mississippi.

ED. R. S. CANBY,

Major-General, Commanding.

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,
Vicksburg, Miss., May 28, 1864.

Major General H. W. SLOCUM,

Commanding District of Vicksburg, Vicksburg, Miss.:

GENERAL: The commanding general desires that the staff officers at this depot be instructed to make immediate estimates for supplies for an army of 40,000 men, independent of the garrisons of the posts