Early and his troops had gone down the Valley. Ewell, as you are aware, is disabled and commands in Richmond. The Richmond Examiner of yesterday urges that no prisoners should be taken from raiding parties. Richmond is suffering for want of vegetables, butter, and milk, all owing to the drought.

10 a.m.-After another examination of the angle in the rebel lines in front of Warren, General Barnard yesterday telegraphed* his former recommendation that it should be assaulted. He had satisfied himself that the necessary position for artillery could not be obtained.

C. A. DANA.

Hon. E. M. STANTON.

Secretary of War.

CITY POINT, VA. July 6, 1864-1.30 p.m

Ricketts is not yet embarked, but will be started in two or three hours. His division numbers 4,500. General Meade thinks the dismounted cavalry will make as many more, but we have no precise report yet.

C. A. DANA.

Honorable EDWIN M. STANTON.

Secretary of War.

CITY POINT, VA., July 7, 1864-8 a.m.

(Received 6 p.m.)

A change in the commander of the Army of the Potomac, now seems probable. Grant has great confidence in Meade, and is much attached to him personally, but the almost universal dislike of Meade which prevails among officers of every rank who come in contact with him, and the difficulty of doing business with him felt by every one except Grant himself, so greatly impair his capacities for usefulness and render success under his command so doubtful that Grant seems to be coming to the conviction that he must be relieved. The facts in the matter have come very slowly to my knowledged, and it was not until yesterday that I became certain of some of the most important. I have long known Meade to be a man of the worst possible temper, especially toward his subordinate. I do not think he has a friend in the whole army. No man, no matter what his business or his service, approaches him without being insulted in one way or another, and his own staff officers do not dare to speak to him, unless first spoken to, for fear of either sneers or curses. The latter, however, I have never heard him indulge in very violently but he is said to apply the often without occasion and without reason. At the same time-as far as I am able to ascertain-his generals have lost their confidence in him as a commander. His order for the last series of assaults upon Petersburg, in which he lost 10,000 men without gaining any decisive advantage, was to the effect that he had found it impracticable to secure the co-operation of corps commanders, and therefore each one was to attack on his own account and do the best he could by himself. Consequently each gained some advantage of position, but each exhausted his own strength in so doing, while for the want of a general purpose and a general commander to direct and concentrate the whole it all amounted to nothing but heavy loss to

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*So in copy on file, but it should probably read-withdrew his former recommendation, &c., or, telegraphed withdrawal of his former, &c.

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