in, and the public property collected and removed. Nothing was abandoned on the field except some tents and fixtures of the field hospital left behind to make room for wounded men, and one wagon, from which the escort (volunteers) had cut the mules and fled to the mountains. With the cavalry as a rear guard the command marched in without confusion or loss.

Besides the superiority in numbers the Confederate Army possessed a great advantage over us in the superior mobility of its force, which was all mounted. Occupying on the morning of the 21st a position which threatened two points of vital importance to us, he was able to evade the attacks directed against him and to concentrate superior numbers at any other point. Our infantry, which in the morning held him in check at the lower end of the mesa, was obliged to march 7 miles and and to ford twice a deep and rapid steam in order to reach the field he had finally chosen. In all the earlier conflicts of the day, as in the final struggle, our troops were always encountered by superior numbers, never less than two and sometimes four to one.

Although defeated, my command is not dispirited. All feel that greater injuries have been inflicted upon the enemy than we have sustained ourselves, and that what we have lost has been without loss of honor.

With deep sorrow I transmit the list of our killed, wounded, and missing, amounting in the aggregate to one-fourth of the effectives we had on the field. On the list ar the names of several accomplished officers and many brave and noble men, who have exhibited the last and highest example of devoted loyalty and patriotism. Their memory is commended to the respect, and their relatives and friends to the sympathy, of our countrymen. Among these, however, is one, isolated by peculiar circumstances, whose memory deserves notice from a higher authority than mine. Pure in character, upright in conduct, devoted to his profession, and of a loyalty that was deaf to the seductions of family and friends, Captain McRae died, as he had lived, an example of the best and highest qualities that man can possess.

I desire to bring to your notice Colonel Roberts, Third Cavalry, for some time past the energetic and efficient commander of the troops at Fort Craig, and on the 21st the immediate commander of the troops at Valverde, until 2.30 o'clock. He was then, as he had always been, distinguished for coolness, gallantry, and efficiency.

The officers whose conduct came under my own observation or is reported by subordinate commanders are Captains Selden, Wingate, and Brotherton, Lieutenants Anderson and Cook, of the Fifth Infantry; Captain Plympton, of the Seventh Infantry; Lieutenant Hall, of the Tenth Infantry; Captains Morris and Howland, Third Calvary; First Lieutenant Bell, Second, and Captain Mortimore, Third New Mexico Volunteers. These names are presented because the officers were isolated by command, by position, or by peculiar circumstances, and I adopt as my own the commendation bestowed by other commanders upon the officers and men of their commands. The names of the noncommissioned officers and men who were distinguished have been called for, and will be presented hereafter.

My thanks are especially due to the members of my staff, Major Donaldson, Captains Archer, Evans, and Nicodemus, and Lieutenant D'Amours, all of whom were much exposed, and exhibited the greatest coolness and zeal in the performance of their duties.

Higher thanks than any I can bestow are due to the medical officers of the command, and especially to Assistant Adjutant Surgeons Norris (medical