of the enemy, too large for that infantry to attack, according to the theory upon which you were acting, was the most unsoldierly act ever done by a commanding officer.

You further say, in your report, that you "then withdrew to the saw-mill, where I remained about an hour, and then marched back to our entrenchments;" or, in other words, you withdrew another half mile from the enemy, and waited another hour. Now it turns out that at 1.30, thirty minutes after you withdrew your forces from the enemy, General Kautz made his attack at the point designated, carried the works, penetrated the town of Petersburg, and did very gallantry all that he was required to do, but was obliged to withdraw, receiving no support from you, who was at that time industriously getting General Hinks and Colonel Hawley together by withdrawing from before the enemy's militia.

You say further in your report that "if was no part of the plan to assault the enemy's works on the right as they were known to have interior lines of redoubts." At a single point only is there an interior line, and that is at Jordan's, on the City Point road, and it was fully explained to you that that interior line was failure, being commanded by the outer line, which was higher, and you yourself agreed with me that you would make the real attack on the right while General Hinks made the feigned attack; and in my order of this morning for you to report, you were ordered to say which was to make the feigned and which the real attack, which you have wholly omitted to do. You were also ordered to "give all verbal orders which you sent to General Hinks," which you have failed to do. You were also directed to "state the nearness which your column reached the enemy's works," which you have failed to do. You were also directed to "state how far in advance or rear your were of General Hinks' column," which you have failed to do. You were also ordered to 'give the plan agreed upon between you, if any," which you have failed to do; and to "give the number of men lost in killed and wounded in an attack made, with a description of the attack," which you have failed to do; and you were told that "you need not give any report of the operations of Generals Kautz or Hinks," which you have attempted to do.

For these reasons your report is wholly defective, unsatisfactory, and unapproved of, and your entire action such as requires me to report it to the general commanding the Army of the United States and to the War Department for such action as they may think proper. Certain it is, made so from the examination of prisoners captured since, as well as before, that 4,500 of my best troops under your command were kept at bay without an attempt at attack, so far as you were concerned, by some 1,500 men, 600 only of which were Confederate troops, and the rest old men and boys, the grave and the cradle being robbed of about equal proportions to compose the force opposed to you. Without, at this moment, giving words of characterization of the disobedience of orders and your conduct on the field, I submit this statement of facts in review of your report, as you have requested me to do, most of them known to myself, my chief engineer, my signal officers, and an officer of General Grant's staff, who was here present, hearing the instructions and knowing what was done from your