permission to visit the regiments to recruit the men. Care will be had not to take more than a fair proportion of men from each regiment.

II. Too much laxity prevails with regard to soldiers leaving their regimental camps and wandering beyond the limits of their commands. Hereafter not more than two men of a company at a time will be granted passes to leave camp. Provost guards will arrest all absentees from camp without proper permits.

III. The reports of recent inspections exhibit shameful neglect of duty on the part of many officers, of the higher as well as the lower grades, in this army, in those lesser details of discipline, failure to attend diligently to which will produce the demoralization of any body of troops. Inspections in many organizations are rarely made; drills poorly attended and infrequent; cleanliness disregarded; the care of arms and ammunition but little attended to, and the instructions of officers in tactics and regulations entirely neglected. Brigade and division drills, in some cases, are laid aside. The general orders published from time to time by the War Department and at these headquarters for the instruction and guidance of the troops are not promulgated to the regiments and batteries.

The prompt distribution and promulgation of orders is one of the first duties of staff officers, and commanding officers are made responsible that staff officers are not neglectful in this respect. The commanding general is convinced that some examples of summary dismissals of officers are necessary to insure attention to this point of duty before the importance of the subject will be fully realized. He gives notice, therefore, that any neglect in this respect of staff or commanding officers that comes to his notice will secure his immediate recommendation for the summary dismissal of the delinquent.

IV. Hereafter a semi-monthly return will be made at each brigade headquarters of the general orders and circulares received from the War Department and these headquarters during the fortnight. This return will exhibit the signature of every regimental, battery, and detached company commander, certifying to the fact that the orders received have been promulgated to his command and when. These returns will be forwarded through division and corps headquarters to these headquarters.

Division commanders will forward a similar semi-monthly return of general orders received from the War Department and these headquarters during the fortnight, exhibiting the signatures of brigade and other commanders or staff officers, as evidence of the fact that the orders have been distributed to them.

Corps commanders will prepare and forward similar semi-monthly returns, and exhibit similar evidence that the orders which they may receive have been distributed to division commanders.

Post and independent commanders will prepare similar returns, exhibiting the fact of the complete distribution of the general orders they receive. Such returns will be punctually sent forward each fort-night.

Commanders to whom special orders are sent are made responsible that they are promptly distributed.

V. In future, every brigade commander, and every commander of division artillery, will inspect his command once each week. Division commanders will be present at the brigade inspections in such manner as that once a month they will have had a full view of the condition of every regiment, battery, and detached company of their division. Corps commanders should frequently review their corps, and, either through