down the officer of the party who demanded his surrender. Skirmishing began on our left and in front of the bridge on the railroad. At 4 p. m. General McLaws arrived from Savannah with orders from General Hardee to assume the command. At 5,30 p. m. General McLaws, having learned the position, directed me to withdraw the troops quietly during the night and fall back to Numbers 1 1/2. At 7 p. m. enemy ceased skirmishing and began intrenching in our front.

Monday, December 5, 2 p. m., troops withdrawn and in march for [No.] 1 1/2 Central railroad. Arrived at [No.] 1 1/2, adn while examining for a line received orders to fall back still farther and take up a position within three miles and a half of the city of Savannah.

Tuesday, December 6, arrived at the lines within three miles and a half of Savannah at 2 a. m. At 10 a. m. examined the line to occupied by the State troops. it extened from the Central railroad to the Savannah River. Batteries were erected at the Central railroad, at The Augusta road, and at Williamson's plantation on the river, but no lines for infantry; nearly three-quarters of a mile had been thrown up.

Wednesday, December 7, General Smith returned to duty, having been temporarily unwell, and turning over to him his own division and Major Capers' battalion, I reported to General Hardee for any assistance I could render him.

Remaining in Savannah until Monday, the 19th of December, when General Hardee informed me that he had orders to evacuate the city, I left with my staff in the evening, and riding up on the South Carolina side reached this place again on Tuesday, the 27th of December, and resumed my office duties as adjutane and inspector general of the State.

In concluding this repot I take the opportunity of bringing to the notice of Your Excellency and of officially expressing my thanks to Majors Hartridge and Capers and to the officers of my staff, improvised for the occasion, viz: Major John O. Ferrell, assistant adjutant-general; Messrs. S. P. Myrick of Baldwin, Charles J. Harris of Bidd, Benjamin Myrick of Baldwin, Honorable Francis L. Gue of Chatham (member of the Legislature), R. L. Hunter of Baldwin, and Captains Bridewell and Darling, C. S. Provisional Army, for their valuable counsel, confidence, and active assistance at all times and under any circumstances. My thanks are also due to the gallant officers and men whom I had the honor to command, and to whom I am indedted for support. I would conspecuously mention Majors Hartidge and Capers, and Captains Talbot, Pruden, Austin, and Warthen. The gallantry of these gentlemen cannot be surpassed. To Major Capers I am under the greatest obligations. His qualifications for military command are of the highest order, and entitle him to a prominent position. They have been briliantly illustrated by the Corps of Cadets, whose gallantry, discipline, and skill equal anything I have seen in any military service. I cannot speak too highly of these youths, who go into a fight as cheerfully as they would enter a ball-room, and with the silence and steadiness of veterans. The Washington Country and Emanuel County militia (forty-days' men) deserve commendation, consisting, as they did, of gentlemen advanced in life, to whom the hardship of camp must have been severe, whose homes were being overrun by the enemy, and yet who, from the purest incentives of patriotism and of duty, offered their lives in defense of their State. My thanks are also dute to Drs. S. D. Brantley and James R. Smith, of Washington County, who volunteered their surgical skill and instruments during our contest on the banks of the Oconee. The Roberts Guards (convicts) generally