CITY POINT, July 1, 1864-10.30 a.m.

(Received 8 p.m.)

I arrived here an hour since, the boat having lain by last night and night before. The army occupies about the same lines as when you were here. The Eighteenth and Ninth Corps are alone engaged in anything like siege work, their effort being to get possession of a knoll before them. If they succeed in this the enemy will have to abandon this side of the Appomattox. On the left of the Ninth Corps the Fifth is posted, extending nearly southward across the Jerusalem road, but at so great a distance from the rebel fortifications as to have no immediate effect upon them. The Second and Sixth Corps are both well protected. No attempt has been made to establish intrenchments toward the Appomattox on the left since the failure of the Second and Sixth Corps on Thursday night of last week. It seems that the rebels are very strongly fortified there, also, and that if we were to attempt to envelop them for the whole distance, we should not only render our lines weak from their great extension, but should have no free infantry force to operate with elsewhere. Our batteries of heavy guns are used with much effect on Smith's front. He keeps silent the rebel fort, Clifton, which you will recollect is on the west side of the Appomattox, and, as he thinks, has much damaged the railroad bridge. To this he is directing special attention. Grant thinks all the railroads are well broken up. The Weldon road Wright has pretty thoroughly destroyed with his infantry. On Butler's front at Bermuda Hundred al is substantially as when you were here. I have in the most informal way communicated to Grant the substance of what you said respecting Rosecrans and Curtis. He thinks the most useful way to employ Rosecrans would be to station him at some convenient point on the Northern frontier with the duty of defecting and exposing rebel conspiracies in Canada.

C. A. DANA.

His Excellency the PRESIDENT,

Washington.

CITY POINT, VA., July 1, 1864-11 a.m.

(Received 8.30 p.m.)

Grant thinks the difficulty between Meade and Warren has been settled without the extreme remedy which Meade proposed last week. Butler is pretty deep in controversial correspondence with "Baldy" Smith, in which Grant says Butler is clearly in the wrong. A report is here that Wilson has been surrounded and destroyed, but it is improbable. Grant does not believe it; besides, he thinks Wilson to be as likely as any other man to get safely out of a tight place. All that is certain is, that Kautz got separated from him, and that some men of Wilson's division came in with him. It appears that Wilson had not the sort of roving commission which Grant supposed, but that Meade gave him explicit instructions as to every part of his course. That portion of them which related to the Danville railroad he had fully executed, except that it is not yet satisfactorily ascertained whether he succeeded in destroying the bridge over the Stauton River and had got back upon the Weldon road, near Stony Creek, when he was attacked by the whole body of the rebel cavalry. This had been set free by Sheridan crossing the James River and stopping to rest, and was all at once pitched upon Wilson. No doubt he had has hard fighting and heavy losses, but I think he will bring in the mass of his division