HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NEW ENGLAND,
Boston, February 6, 1862.

Major General GEORGE B. McCLELLAN,

Commanding Army of the United States, Washington, D. C.:

GENERAL: I have the honor to report the following matters existing at Ship Island, as reported by Brigadier-General Phelps, which will bear upon the necessities of our expedition, and which may be of interest to the Commanding General.

General Phelps reports that seventeen 9-inch guns upon navy carriages arrived at Ship Island from the Tortugas on the 18th of January, from he has taken enough for the fortifications.

He further reports that the health of the troops is good, and that the intercourse through the sound between Mobile and New Orleans has been stopped.

I would desire respectfully to inquire when the Seventeen Massachusetts Regiment, the Fift New York Regiment, and Nims' battery will be at Fortress Monroe ready for embarkation.

The steamer Constitution can be ready to take these troops, with good fortune, in ten days from to-day, if this meets the approbation of the Commanding General. All other transportation has been and will be provided for.

I have the honor further to report that the Fourteenth Maine Regiment sailed on Saturday, and that the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Maine Regiments will sail within seven days from this date. The Twelfth Connecticut Regiment is expected to sail on hoard the steamer Fulton this week, and the Western Bay State Regiment upon the steamer Mississippi also within a week.

I take the liberty to urge the subject of the Maine cavalry. The regiment except to be disbanded and there are now applications for a courtmartial upon some of the officers. The keeping up of the regiment is attended with large expense, and it is very desirable, if the horses are to be turned over to me, that they should be shipped as soon as possible, that they arrive out in season for training and use. These circumstances make it desirable that such orders as may be considered necessary should be given at the earliest possible moment.

Very respectfully,

BENJ. J. BUTLER,

Major-General, Commanding.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NEW ENGLAND,
Boston, February 6, 1862.

To the ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE ARMY:

GENERAL: In compliance with the order from the War Department of the 24th of January, 1862, that General Butler report without delay-

1st. The present state and condition of the expedition now under his charge;

2nd. The amount of expenditures made and liabilities incurred, specifying in detail the nature and amount of each expenditure;

3rd. The potable expenditure required to place the expedition at its contemplated destination;-

General Butler has the honor to make the following report, which he prepared himself to do immediately upon his return to New England as soon as the necessary documents could be copied:

1st. There are now at Ship Island, in Mississippi Sound, the Twenty.