HEADQUARTERS WHARTON'S BRIGADE,* Dr. Frazier's, March 17, 1863-12 m.

Major THOMAS M. JACK,
Assistant Adjutant-General, Shelbyville:

MAJOR: The enemy have retired since yesterday morning from the Salem pike, so that there is no force on that road 2 miles south of Murfreesborough. My scouts report large bodies of the enemy (no definite number), supposed to be 10,000, gone in the direction of Triune. Union citizens are leaving the country above Middleton and Versailles, going to Nashville. I have scouts near Murfreesborough, from whom I will get reports before night, I hope. A wagon train from near Salem went on last evening toward Nashville, by dirt road.

The above information is from Colonel [J. S.] Prather's command.

Very respectfully,

WILL. T. MARTIN,

Brigadier-General.

CHAPEL HILL, March 17, 1863-9 p. m.

Lieutenant General LEONIDAS POLK, Shelbyville, Tenn.:

GENERAL: Yours, directing great vigilance and activity, is at hand this moment. A messenger from my scouts near Versailles says the pickets on the Triune and Eagleville pike fell back from the position they held yesterday. My scouts are bold, energetic men, and have been scouting with me for sixteen months, and I know them to be reliable in everything. They come in thoroughly disgusted with the guides furnished them. They represent that they are led backways and by-roads, such as are never traveled by the enemy, and they think the guides seek only for safe places, &c. You will at once perceive the difficulty under which we labor. I have represented all this to Generals Van Dorn, Wheeler, and Hagan; still, no efficient guides come. I shall use every means in my power, with the greatest industry, to keep you posted in regard to the movements of the enemy.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

P. D. RODDEY,

Colonel.

HEADQUARTERS WHARTON'S CAVALRY, Unionville, March 17, 1863-9 a. m.

Lieutenant General LEONIDAS POLK, Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL: I am just in receipt of the accompanying dispatch from Colonel Prather. I will be able to ascertain the truth of the report to-day. All quiet. No enemy at Eagleville.

Respectfully, general, your obedient servant,
JNO. A. WHARTON,

Brigadier-General.

[Inclosure.]

MIDDLETON, TENN., March 16, 1863.

General WHARTON, Commanding at Unionville:

GENERAL: My scout has just returned, and reports that the enemy have evacuated Salem. The citizens also report that the enemy are

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*Formerly Wheeler's cavalry brigade.

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