lines between Strawberry Plains and Bull's Gap were again (for the fourth time) rebuilt, and preapartions mazde to add a second wire to the line between Chattanooga and Knoxville, for the purpose of affording increased facilities for the handling of trains upon U. S. Military Railroads and generally assisting in the military operations. During April this work was completed and the line rebuilt along the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroadas far as Carter's Station, and along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad from Germantown, W. Tenn., to Lafayette. Captain S. Bruch, assistant quartermaster, having died on the last day of March, I was directed by Colonel A. Stager to superintend the preparation and rendition of his accounts, and was assigned to the duties performed by the deceased officer, in addition to those already devolving on me. During the month of May the line a and Charleston Railroad between Decatur, Ala., and Lafayette, Tenn., was rebuilt, giving a connection by telegraph with Memphi, and, by taking possession of the existing lines in Mississippi and Louisiana, opening communication with Mobile and New Orleans and the system of telegraph lines under Captain W. G. Fuller in the Department of the Gulf. The line along the Chattanooga and Atlanta Railroad was also rebuilt from Dalton to the Etowah River, and a short line built between Iuka and Eastport, Miss. In June my lines were extended from Carter's Station to Bristol, Va., at which point I connected with lines establsihed by Major Eckert, and thus completed the connection, via Lynchburg and Richmond, to Washington. A line was constructed from Memphis, Tenn., to Senatobia, Miss., to complete the connection between Memphis and New Orleans, and the line rebuilt from the Etowah River to Atlanta, connecting there with the lines under charge of Captain J. R. Gilmore, closing the labors of the year by closing the last gap in the system of lines which extended by two routes, seaboard and inland, from Washington to New Orleans, and the cross-route from Savannah and Charleston to Louisville, Ky., and Saint Louis.

I submit herewith statements of the quartermaster's stores on hand at the beginning of the year, received anddisposed of during the year, and on hand at its close; the same statement as to clothing, camp and garrison equipage ; the same as to public moneys, and a statement of the number of miles of telegraph line in operation at the beginning of the year, constructed, abandoned, and working at the close of the year.* I have nothing to report upon forms C, CC, D, E, F, or G.

Very respectfully,

JOHN C. VAN DUZER,

Captain and Asst. Qmr. and Asst. Supt. U. S. Military Telegraph.

[38, 39, 44, 45, 49.]

HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
Saint Louis, Mo., August 18, 1865.

Major General M. C. MEIGS,

Quartermaster-General U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.:

GENERAL: In accordance with General Orders, Numbers 39, from your office, current series, I have the honor to make the following annual report for the year ending June 30, 1865. My report for the year ending June 30, 1864, was mailed to your office October 31, 1864, and a

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*Statement omitted. The last mentioned shows an aggregate of 1,121 1/2 miles in operation July 1, 1864; 1,002 miles repaired during the year; 474 miles constructed, and 470 miles abandoned during the same time; and 2,127 1/2 miles in operation June 30, 1865.

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