was pushed forward to the Upper Cumberland. On the 19th of January he encountered the forces of Zollicoffer, and after a severe battle at Mill Springs defeated and utterly routed them. On the evacuation of Bowling Green and Nashville, General Buell's army pursued the enemy to Murfreesborough and Columbia, and from the latter place the main body was marched to Savannah and Pittsburg Landing.

The great mass of the enemy's forces in the Southwest being at this time concentrated in the vicinity of Corinth, the division of General Mitchel advanced to Decatur, in Alabama, and afterward occupied most of the country in the direction of Chattanooga. The column of General G. W. Morgan, after several engagements with the enemy in the vicinity of Cumberland Gap, took possession of that important place. The latter operations in the West are described in the report of the General-in-Chief.

Four military department sare now organized in the territory where these operations were carried on, viz, the Department of the Ohio, of the Missouri, of the Tennessee, and of the Cumberland, and their present military condition will hereafter be noticed.

In the Department of North Carolina the successful expedition of Major-General Burnside, by the occupation of Roanoke Island, New Berne, and the reduction of Fort Macon, struck a heavy blow; and under a military governor, the Honorable Edward Stanley the protection of the laws has been extended to the loyal inhabitants of that State, and facility afforded for organizing a civil government and casting off the rebel yoke.

In the Department of the South active operations have been for a time suspended by the presence of yellow fever and by the death of Major-General Mitchel, the later gallant commander if that department. A premature attack upon Charleston against the orders of the then commanding general resulted in the failure that was apprehended by him. The capture of Fort Pulaski by Major-General Hunter has effectually closed the port of Savannah, and the Government securely holds Hilton Head and Beaufort. The enemy was forced to abandon the siege of Fort Pickens, and other portions of Florida are in our occupation. A recent expedition along the coast was attended with success, detailed in the report of the General-in Chief.

In the Department of the Gulf the operations of Major-General Butler have been distinguished by great energy and ability. The occupation of New Orleans and the control of the mouth of the Mississippi have been among the most brilliant and important results of the war. The period is believed to be not far distant when all the rebel forces will be driven from the banks of the Mississippi and the navigation of that river rendered secure.

The recent operations in the Department of the Missouri are detailed in the report of the General-in-Chief.* The State of Missouri is believed to be secure against any aggression by the enemy, and in the State of Arkansas the dispersion of the rebel forces will enable the military governor of that State to take proper measures for the restoration of the civil authority of the United States within its borders.

The Department of the Northwest, embracing the States of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Territory of Dakota, was organized for the emergency occasioned by an Indian outbreak and placed

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* See p. 869.

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