their papers, and even upon the publication of his order assuming command, I considered it a stratagem to attract our attention here, while he was left unmolested in dealing us a blow from the West. It may be so still, but if their papersk are to be believed, he returned to Washington City on the 22nd instant, and was to repair to the Rappahannock on the 23d. One of our scouts even reports that he did come up in the train of the 24th, all the cross-roads, stations, &c., having been strictly guraded to prevent the train being molested. If he is really going to operate here, we may expect a concentration of troops in this region. It is stated that Burnside is collecting his corps at Annapolis. That looks as if a movement on our flank, either by the Peninsula or through North Carolina, was intended. It is stated that the Ninth and Second Corps are assembling under Burnside. I have seen it stated in the Philadelphia Enquirer and Washington Chronicle that certain Pennsylvania regiments were at Harrisburg and certain Indiana regiments were en route to Annapolis, said to belong to the Ninth Corps. The Second Corps, as far as I know, is in our front. You would know whether the Ninth has been withdrawn from before you. It behooves us to be on the alert, or we will be deceived. You know that is part of Grant's tactics. He deceived Pemberton when he turned him, and in this last move of Sherman threw dust in Polk's eyes. If a good move could be made before they are ready to execute their plans, we would confound their schemes and break them up. I have read attentively your letter to the President.* Either of the plans there stated will answer if they can be carried out. You and Johnston can alone judge of their feasibility. If one or the other can be executed, it should be commenced at once. If not, we shall be obliged to conform to their plans and concentrate wherever they are going to attack us. The great obstacle everywhere is scarcity of supplies. That is the controlling element to which everything has to yield. See what you have before you. Endeavor to ascertain plans of enemy, and thwart them. If you can ascertain that any troops from the West are coming East, let me know.+

Very truly and sincerely, with earnest aspiration for your welfare,

R. E. LEE.

[32.]

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. 2nd DIV., FORREST'S CAVALRY, Numbers ---.
Mayfield, Ky., March 28, 1864.

The general commanding returns to the officers and troops of this division his congratulations upon the success which has thus far attended the campaign into Kentucky. The hardships yyou boreon a march, almost unprecedented, from Tibbee Station, Miss., to Paducah in a week; the devotion you have exhibited to the cause of freedom; the valor your skirmishers displayed in their attack upon the fort at Paducah, call forth the highest admiration and praise of your commander. At the very doors of their homes, some of your comrades laid down their lives to rescue Kentucky from the iron heels of abolition, despotism, and the rule of the negro. Among those brave ones whose faces are gone from us forever, we are forced to pay a lasting regret to the memory of one, brave, courteous, and beloved, whose merit we all felt and appreciated. He fell as a soldier desires to fall,

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*See VOL. XXXII, Part III, p. 637.

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+For probable reply, see VOL. XXXII, Part III, p. 737.