marching fro that purpose. He was, when my route was changed, at Hazel Green, and will, I think, attempt to escape by the Sandy.

I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,

C. L. STEVENSON,

[16.] Brigadier-General, Commanding.

TUPELO, September 28, 1862.

General PRINCE:

MY DEAR GENERAL: As soon you determined to place yourself and your army under command of General Van Dorn I determined to ask, upon the happening of that contingency, to be relieved from duty with the Army of the West. Accordingly, when you reached Baldwyn the other day, I after mature reflection and, with very sincere sorrow, wrote my application for such relief, and, after reading it to General Polk and one or two other friends, started to your headquarters with it. When I got there I found you harassed by so many anxieties that I could not consent to increase them by even so trivial a matter as the tendency of my application to leave you. I did this a second time with the same result, and even wrote a third letter of the same tenor to you. All of these I destroyed rather thatn add to your troubles, and finally resolved to stifle my unwillingness to serve any longer with your army because of my regrd for you and my aversion to retiring from it in the face of the enemy. I give my reasons candidly. They were these: I had once before, jsut four months ago, at that very place quit the army rahter than serve under General Van Dorn, and his staff. I could not endure the incompentency and rashness of the one, nor the inefficiency of the other. I could not consent to be any longer the instrument in their hands of doing gross injustice to the Missouri and other Trans-Mississippi troops of your division. I foresaw that what had happened before was going to happen again. I foresaw from the correspondence that was passing between you that General Van Dorn, as soon as he got control over you would take away your wagons and teams and give them to this own unprovided troops, unprovided by want of his own foresight and the inefficiency and carelessness of his officers. I foresaw in the same way that he would take away the arms that your foresight had provided for your exchanged prisoners. I foresaw that he would, after doing this, take away your men. As I have already said, I nevertheless resloved to remain and endure everything for the sake of aiding you and rether tan resign in face of the enemy. But my apticipations are being realized so rapidly that my indigantion against General Van Dorn is too intense, and my aversion to serve under him too great, to permit me to hesitate any longer. You will see from the inclosed note that General Van Dorn has invaded your district and in the most insulting terms ordred one of his seregeants to go, even to your headquarters, and take away, not ask for, the arms which are now in the hands of your troops. The same thing will be done with the bounty to the wagons and teams which you have been buying with the bounty money sent expressly fro the Missouri troops, and with the pay funds which are justly due to the Army of the West. The same thing will be done with the exchanged prisoners, and finally with your army. Foreseeing all this and being unwilling to endure these wrongs and indignities, I ask to be relieved form duty with the Army of the West and for premission to repair to General Bragg's headquarters in order to ask a transfer to some other position.