their places, and that yesterday about a division move to their right, I am led to believe that the enemy have extended their lines toward the South Side Railroad, probably on some rumor of an intended movement on you part. This would account for the movements reported by Terry, as they would naturally expect operations on both flanks and move accordingly. I have had no information of any part of Hill's corps going north of the Appomattox, except when deserters reported the withdrawal of some of Mahone's brigades, as previously stated. They said a rumor was prevalent that the division was going north of the James. Subsequent deserters, however, have not confirmed this, and troops, instead of being seen going into Petersburg, have been reported coming out. General Gregg reports one of his scouting parties yesterday encountered a scouting party of the enemy-guerrillas-and he had two men wounded. He reports numerous guerrillas outside his picket-line. He has been directed to take measures to capture or drive them away.

GEO. G. MEADE,

Major-General, Commanding.

OFFICE OF THE PROVOST-MARSHAL-GENERAL

ARMIES OPERATING AGAINST RICHMOND, VA.,

City Point, November 12, 1864.

Brevet Major-General TERRY,

Commanding Army of the James;

GENERAL: I. M. Hatch, one of the men employed in this department, who was sent into the enemy's lines on the 18th of September last, in the guise of a deserter from our army, for the purpose of ascertaining what disposition was made of such persons, returned to these headquarters yesterday, and makes the following statement in regard to his journey: After entering the enemy's lines he was taken to Petersburg, thence to Richmond, where he was placed in Castle Thunder. He was not subjected to a very rigid examination, but was merely asked in what command he belonged, a few questions regarding the general location of our troops, &c. He was kept in Castle Thunder three weeks, waiting for a sufficient number of deserters to be collected to make it an object to send them away. On the day of his arrival in Richmond 105 deserters from our army were sent off. Nine came in on the day of his arrival, seven of whom were sailors from the Commodore Morris. He also learned that 500 deserters had been run through the blockade and shipped to some foreign port, nearly all of them being foreigners by birth. While there, he also saw a number of our negro soldiers confined in Castle Thunder, who were compelled to do all sorts of menial duty about the streets of Richmond, work on the fortifications, &c. At the expiration of three weeks a party of 137 had been collected, and on the 10th of October they were sent to Lynchburg and thence to Abingdon, Southwest Virginia. From there they were marched, under guard, to the Cumberland Mountains, on the border of Kentucky, where they were liberated and divided into small parties, each one taking its own course. At Pound Gap, in the Cumberland Mountains, the party was joined by twenty other deserters from General Sherman's army, and at this point thirty of them joined the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Prentice, of the Confederate Army, who had a body of partisan rangers in that vicinity. The principal incentive these men seemed to have in joining Colonel Prentice's command was for the purpose of getting