The medical director, chief quartermaster, and chief commissary will act only as inspectors of their respective departments until further orders.

All communications to the headquarters of this military DIVISION will be addressed to this place until further notice.

G. T. BEAUREGARD,

General.

HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE WEST,
October 17, 1864.

In assuming command, at this critical juncture, of the Military DIVISION of the West, I appeal to my countrymen of all classes and sections for their generous support and confidence.

In assigning me to this responsible position the President of the Confederate States has extended to me the assurance of his earnest support; the Executives of your States meet me with similar expressions of their devotion to our cause; the noble army in the field, composed of brave men and gallant officers, are no strangers to me, and I know that they will do all that priors can achieve.

The history of the past, written in the blood of their comrades, but foreshadows the glorious future which lies before them. Inspired with these bright promises of success, I make this appeal to the men and women of my country to lend me the aid of their earnest and cordial co-operations. Unable to join in the bloody conflicts of the field, they can do much to strengthen our cause, fill up our ranks, encourage our soldiers, inspire confidence, dispel gloom, and thus hasten on the day of our final success and deliverance.

The army of Sherman still defiantly holds the city of Atlanta; he can and must be driven from it. It is only for the good people of Georgia and surrounding States to speak the word, and the work is done.

We have abundance of provisions, and there are men enough in the country, liable and able for service, to accomplish the result. To all such I earnestly appeal to report promptly to their respective commands, and let those who cannot go, see to it that none remain at home who are able to strike a blow in this critical and decisive hour.

To those soldiers of the army who are absent from their commands without leave, I appeal in the name of their brave comrades, with whom they have in the past so often shared the privations of the camp and the dangers of the battle-field, to return at once to their duty. To all such as shall report to their respective commands in response to this appeal within the next thirty days an amnesty is hereby granted.

My appeal is to every one, of all classes and conditions, to come forward freely, cheerfully, and with a good heart, to the work that lies before us.

My countrymen, respond to this call as you have done in days that have passed, and with the blessing of a kind and overruling Providence the enemy shall be driven from your soil, the security of your wives and daughters from the insults and the outrages of a brutal foe shall be established, soon to be followed by a permanent and honorable peace. The claims of home and country, wife and children, uniting with the demands of honor and patriotism, summon us to the field; we cannot, dare not, will not fail to respond.