CUMBERLAND, December 3, 1864-2 p. m.

Brigadier-General STEVENSON:

Cole's cavalry are holding the fortifications at New Creek. I have no troops to relieve them; no orders to do so.

B. F. KELLEY,

Brevet Major-General.

HARPER'S FERRY, December 3, 1864.

Major-General KELLEY:

I was not ordered to send you Cole's cavalry. I did so to relieve you in an emergency, and expect you to return them, as I must have them to hold railroad.

JOHN D. STEVENSON,

Brigadier-General.

CUMBERLAND, MD., December 3, 1864.

Brigadier-General STEVENSON:

I will send Cole's cavalry back to you promptly. Have ordered the transportation.

B. F. KELLEY,

Brevet Major-General.

GUYANDOTTE, W. VA., December 3, 1864.

Major-General CROOK,

Commanding Department of West Virginia:

GENERAL: I most humbly beg to lay before you the condition of affairs in this portion of your command, and suggest the mode and manner by which the public interests may be subserved, in my opinion, in a few words. On my arrival here in July, 1864, I found society so far protected and the people feeling safe that I held courts in this county and Wayne during that year without interruption, but last January Colonel Ferguson, of the Sixteenth (rebel) Virginia, came into Wayne, since which time I have not been able to hold a court in Wayne County, and been restricted and crippled in holding courts here. But these matters, though important to me and the loyal people here, are nothing compared to the national interests that have suffered, and which are daily sacrificed by the present status of affairs here. The rebel guerrillas have held their position in the region between the Guyandotte and Big Sandy Rivers, ready to sally out and plunder when opportunity offered, which they frequently did, on one occasion capturing General Scammon, and which to the public is their object and purpose, but concealing the true object and intent of their determination and tenacity with which they hold that region. A vast quantity of useful and indispensable articles find their way to Dixie through the medium of these guerrillas. The stolen horses are laden with this contraband trade. Sympathizers land large lots of barrels and boxes from steam-boats between here and Sandy. No steam-boat has ever been captured on this section of the river, though there is scarce a night the guerrillas might not capture two or three if they desired to do so. They are too astute to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, and trade restrictions are laughed to scorn as a cure for the evil. While that

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