COMMERCIAL BANK OF TENNESSEE, Memphis, Tenn., December 10, 1863.

Major General S. A. HURLBUT,

Commanding Sixteenth Army Corps:

DEAR SIR: Quite a number of the British subjects in the city are continually calling on me for advice, &c. I would most respectfully ask of you the favor of answering a few questions, which I hope will enable me to advise them as to the necessary steps to take, and thereby relieve you probably of a number of visits upon the same business.

Your reply in answer to the letter of Mr. Wilkins, Her Britannic Majesty's consul, settles the matter as to the liability of bona fide foreigners to military service for the United States.

1. Is a certificate of nationality from a duly accredited consul sufficient to enable the holder to pass without molestation from the guards after the expiration of General Orders, Numbers 96?

If not, what certificate is necessary, and to whom shall we apply for such certificate of exemption?

I am, very respectfully, yours truly,

JNO. AINSLIE.

[DECEMBER 10, 1863.-For General Hurlbut's General Orders, Numbers 169, explaining that General Orders, Numbers 157, do not requite performance of enforced military duty by persons who owe allegiance to foreign friendly powers, see Series I, Vol. XXXI, Part III, p. 375.]

WAR DEPT., PROVOST-MARSHAL-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, D. C., December 11, 1863.

Governor J. A. GILMORE,

Concord, N. H.:

A dispatch to the Secretary of War, purporting to be from you, and in the following terms, has been received, to wit:

If you will order your red-tape officers out of New Hampshire, except so far as is necessary to take care of the men after they enlist, I will see that our quota is filled in good shape. Captain Colby, provost-marshal for this district, is a first-rate man. The only drawback is the interference of officers that Government has place dare, which is all wrong. Give us the power to manage in our way, and I pledge myself that New Hampshire shall furnish without a draft the men that the President has called on us to raise. Please answer.

The tone and language of this dispatch indicate that there are abuses going on in your State which demand instant correction. I therefore, in the temporary absence of the Secretary of War, ask that you will tell me by name what officers are interfering with the raising of troops and in what manner they interfere. Please also state definitely what further power you desire in the premises. I believe the only power the Government now reserves in the matter of raising the volunteers called for from New Hampshire is to muster them in and pay them. The Government has endeavored to do everything that Your Excellency desired to enable you to raise your quota, and it therefore has a right to claim that the charges you make against it and your further wishes as to more power may be made so specifically as to enable it to take further action. If, therefore, the above dispatch is genuine, or written by your authority, will you please give specific information by telegraph.

JAMES B. FRY,

Provost-Marshal-General.