are but fifty men fit for duty. I have given General Kilpatrick four pontoons, and ordered him to cross the Cannouchee and take the fort if possible. If he is unsuccessful I shall march down a division. King's Bridge will be finished to-morrow night, and from there to Fort McAllister there is a good road, without obstructions. We have tried in every way to communicate with the fleet, but have thus has been unsuccessful. I hope that by to-night we shall be able to do so with signal rockets. I find that about 150 feet of the Ogeechee railroad bridge at each end had been destroyed at the first breaking of the road. We find no trains between Way's and Fleming's Stations.

Respectfully,

O. O. HOWARD,

Major-General.

SPECIAL HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT AND FIELD ORDERS,
ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, Numbers 192. Little Ogeechee, near Savannah, December 11, 1864.

I. The scarcity of forage, and the necessity of horses and mules for the cavalry service, necessitates the issuing of the following orders, viz: First, all General, staff, and other officers entitled to be mounted will be allowed only the number of horses prescribed by regulations and orders. Second, officers, officers' servants, clerks, forages, and all other unauthorized persons riding Government horses and mules, will be at once dismounted, and the animals turned over to respective division quartermasters, the serviceable to be turned over, under the direction of the chief quartermaster, for the use of the cavalry, and the unserviceable and worthless to be shot and buried. Third, all horses, and mules captured during the late march must now be properly taken up, branded, and accounted for as public property. Fourth, corps commanders will cause a rigid inspection to be made in their commands, in accordance with this order, and will be responsible that in spirit and intent it is fully carried out. Fifth, orderlies and other soldiers entitled to be mounted while on duty with their commands should be provided with passes, or orders to that effect, to prevent their horses being taken, as provided for in Special Field Orders, Numbers 17 and 129, Military Division of the Mississippi, current series.

II. Major-General Osterhaus, commanding Fifteenth Army Corps, will cause to be detailed from his command one section of Captain De Gress' battery and one small regiment of infantry, to report to Major T. W. Osborn, chief of artillery, at these headquarters to-morrow at 7 a. m., for duty at Cheves' Mill.

By order of Major General O. O. Howard:

SAML. L. TAGGART,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

HDQRS. DEPARTMENT AND ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE,
Little Ogeechee, near Savannah, December 11, 1864.

Major General P. JOSEPH OSTERHAUS,

Commanding Fifteenth Army Corps:

The major-General directs me to instruct you to place two of your divisions in position, facing the enemy, on the right of the King's Bridge and Savannah road, and place one division in reserve, as indicated in