Rush County, in the Fourth Congressional District of this State. The facts, so far as known and reported to me by the provost- marshal of that district, are as follows:

On Tuesday last one of the enrolling officers of Rush County was fired upon from the woods while in the performance of his duties, and returned to the headquarters of the district and reported the fact to the provost-marshal, who proposed to send one of his deputies and a squad of men with the enrolling officer to the same neighborhood where the firing took place. Mr. John F. Stephens one of the deputy marshals for the district, advised, however, that it would be better not to send any force and proposed to go himself, taking with him only one or perhaps to detectives and the enrolling officer. He expressed the opinion that the shooting was done not with the intention of taking the life of the officer, but for the purpose of intimidating him, and insisted on going without any other assistance than that before mentioned.

The provost-marshal agreed that the course advised by Mr. Stephens should be pursued, and accordingly on Tuesday morning he started with the enrolling officer, and I think two detectives. Mr. Stephens and one of the detectives traveled in a buggy and the enrolling officer and the other detective were on horseback.

Yesterday about noon, in the same neighborhood in which the previous shooting had taken place, the party came to a house situated a short distance from the road. The enrolling officer dismounted and went into the house and was making inquiries as to the persons residing there subject to enrollment, when some ten or twelve men rose from their place of concealment in a wheat field and fired upon the two men in the buggy, killing Mr. Stephens immediately and mortally wounding the other man, whose name was Craycraft.

The provost-marshal of the district was on his way to Indianapolis when he was informed of the murder, and after satisfying himself of the truth of the report he came to this city and reported the facts to me. I immediately went with the provost-marshal to see Brigadier-General Willcox, commanding this district, and submitted the facts to him. I also had an interview with His Excellency Governor Morton. The result was that General Willcox immediately detailed two companies of infantry and one company of cavalry to repair with the provost-marshal to the scene of the outrage, protect the enrolling officer, and arrest the perpetrators of the outrage if they could be discovered. This military force started with the provost-marshal last evening.

General Mansfield, of the Indiana militia, a man of great influence and much prudence, at the request of the Governor, accompanies the expedition, with directions to call out any available militia in the district if necessary.

The Governor suggested to me that the leaders of the opposition to the Administration could control those men of their own party who either were, or were in danger of, placing themselves in an attitude of resistance to the Government, and that it was my duty to invite a few of the most prominent of these leaders to meet me, and, when assembled, should explain to them the outrage committed in Rush County, and tell them that the peace of the State was in a great measure in their keeping, and insist upon their exerting their influence in favor of the enforcement of the laws. I acceded to the Governor's suggestion and invited Honorable T. A. Hendricks, Senator in Congress; Honorable S. E. Perkins, judge of the supreme court of this State; Joseph