On the 24th of September, 1862, by order of the War Department Numbers 140, the office of Provost-Marshal-General was created in the following words:

WASHINGTON, September 24, 1862.

ORDER RESPECTING SPECIAL PROVOST-MARSHALS AND DEFINING THEIR DUTIES.

First. There shall be a Provost-Marshal-General of the War Department, whose headquarters will be at Washington, and who will have the immediate supervision, control, and management of the corps.

On the 1st of October, by Order Numbers 148, I was honored with the appointment to that office under the provisions of General Orders, Numbers 140.

At the time I received your commission there had been previously appointed by you twenty-two special provost-marshals in different parts of the country, as follows: James L. McPhail, Baltimore, Md.; Gardner Bailey, Dorchester County, Md.; Major Joseph Darr, jr., Wheeling, Va.; Charles F. Blake, Boston, Mass.; Charles N. Emerson, Pittsfield, Mass.; George B. Raymond, Bordentown, N. J.; Benj. Van Riper, Hudson County, N. J.; John S. Newberry, Detroit, Mich.; Nathaniel B. Smithers, Dover, Del.; Henry C. Maull, Lewes, Sussex County, Del.; James H. Bull, Chester County, Pa.; I. L. Weatherly, Cleveland, Ohio; H. C. Noble, Columbus, Ohio; Wells A. Hutchins, Portsmouth, Ohio; Charles F. Wilstach, Cincinnati, Ohio; M. G. Mitchell, Piqua, Ohio; Charles T. Sherman, Mansfield, Ohio; W. P. Chamberlin, Hartford, Conn.; Levi Melting, Saint Paul, Minn.; Lafayette C. Baker, Washington, War Department; William E. Hamlen, Providence, R. I.; Daniel Elliott, Brunswick, Me.

It was contemplated by the Order Numbers 140 to appoint one or more special provost-marhsals in each State, but that purpose has not yet been fully carried into effect.

Since my appointment as Provost-Marshal-General the following gentlemen have received from you commissions as special provost- marshals:

David G. Rose, Indiana; Mortimer Mulden, for Montgomery County, Md.; David T. Corbin, Vermont; James R. Loffland, for Delaware (in place of Nathaniel B. Smithers, resigned); James Woodruff, for Quincy, Ill., and the district to which it belongs; Walter D. McIndoe, Wisconsin; Jacob H. Ela, New Hampshire.

At the day of my appointment J. L. McPhail, esq., provost-marshal for the State of Maryland, had appointed twenty-one assistant provost-marshals, one for each of the different counties of the State, which number was subsequently, on the 10th of October, reduced to eight and approved by you on the same day.

Since the issuing of Order Numbers 140 there have been seventeen assistant provost-marshals appointed by you, whose acceptances of their offices have been received by me.

No appointments, to my knowledge, have yet been made in the States of New York, Pennsylvania (except one for Berks County and one for Chester County), and only one each in the States of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and none in Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the other States in revolt.

The special provost-marshals appointed by you for the State of Ohio have appointed deputies for each of the counties in the State. I am informed they made these appointments under the advice of the Governor of the State. They have inquired of me whether such appointments were authorized by the War Department. I have