than had been given by Major Cuney. By him I was directed to exert myself to the utmost to provision the post, and instructed to place if possible, at least 300,000 bushels of corn in store at that place. I reported to Major General M. L. Smith, commanding the district, and informed him of the object of the appointment. He was fully alive to the necessity of accumulating supplies at the post, and readily granted all assistance deemed necessary to the fulfillment of that object. I immediately commenced operations, but was soon checked by the difficulty of getting transportation. Through the efforts of General Smith, this difficulty was partially removed, though considerable quantities of corn and peas were lost on the landing in the city, from exposure to the weather, in consequence of the difficulty of transporting them to the storehouses prepared for them. On the 4th of January, 1863, General Pemberton issued his Special Orders, Numbers 4, forbidding all commissaries to purchase commissary stores, except his chief of subsistence, Major Theodore Johnston. Even after this order, I made many efforts to procure provisions for the district, in which I met with considerable success, but as I found, or thought I found, so much jealousy and opposition to me, on account of my connection with Colonel Broadwell, I relaxed, and took no further prominent part in supplying the commissariat of the district until the 10th of March, 1863, when I was sent for by Major General C. L. Stevenson, then in command of the district. He, knowing of my connection with Colonel Broadwell, and knowing that the stores collected by him were chiefly in Western Louisiana and Texas, desired me to send over to him for aid from that quarter. In the course of that interview with General Stevenson, I understood him to say that he considered the holding of Vicksburg simply a question of subsistence; that his commissaries, under the orders of General o authority to do anything; that General Pemberton would neither provision the post nor give him authority to do so. Acting under his orders, I sent the C. S. steamer Charm to Red River for meat and molasses. I wrote to Colonel Broadwell, telling him of General Stevenson's apprehensions, and informing him of the condition of the commissariat. Colonel Broadwell began immediately to send back into Big Black River provisions for Vicksburg (communication with the city having been cut off by the Federal batteries on the opposite side of the river). Those supplies continued to come in until we had received about 500,000 pounds of hog meat (bacon, pork, and live hogs), a considerable quantity of molasses, some salt beef, some corn, and a large supply of salt, when, by the passage of the Yankee gunboats by our batteries, our navigation of the Mississippi River was stopped, and this source of supplies cut off.

In compliance with you request, I respectfully submit the foregoing as a statement of my connection with the commissary department at Vicksburg, MISS., up to the time of the surrender of that post.

Very respectfully,

W. H. Johnson,

General Agent, &c.

HEADQUARTERS PAROLED PRISONERS,
Demopolis, August 10, 1863.

Major MORRISON:

Aide-de-Camp, Gainesville, Ala.:

SIR: Unless we can arm and drill our men, discipline cannot be fully maintained.