ing he left the enemy in possession of wounded, dead, artillery, and trains, and, worst of all, leaves Steele in danger. General Banks writes me that all is well there, but facts do not sustain him.

General Prince will go to Columbus, and you had better give Washburn command of all the river from Cairo down, to include the Memphis district. Grant thinks him a man of action. I will send your pontoon train down, and I think you had better have it at Scottsborough with orders to follow as soon as facts demonstrate that Johnston will not fight us this side of the Coosa. Until that fact is demonstrated we should be as little encumbered as possible. Yours, &c.,

W. T. SHERMAN,

Major-General, Commanding.

HDQRS. DEPARTMENT AND ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE,
Huntsville, Ala., April 24, 1864.

Brigadier General P. J. OSTERHAUS,

Commanding First Div., 15th Army Corps, Woodville, Ala.:

GENERAL: Yours of 22nd instant received. In relation to the class of people you speak of within your lines, if they are acting in bad faith and secretly giving assistance to the enemy, you can send them across the line. You need not wait for positive proof of the facts. When this can be obtained the parties will be arrested and tried before a military commission for harboring guerrillas. The fact that the parties are strong rebel sympathizers, and that their conduct is suspicious, will be sufficient to warrant you in sending them across the river.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JAS. B. McPHERSON,

Major-General.

OFFICE OF CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER,

DEPARTMENT AND ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE,

Huntsville, Ala., April 24, 1864.

Lieutenant Colonel W. T. CLARK,

Assistant Adjutant-General:

COLONEL: I have the honor to state for the information of the major-general commanding that a reconnaissance of the country bordering on the Tennessee River between the mouth of Paint Rock Creek, 16 miles above Whitesburg, and Triana, 14 miles below that point, has been made by Lieutenant Sam. S. Sample, acting signal officer. He states in a report made last evening that a line of stations may be established between those two above-mentioned points, which shall be in communication by signals. These stations may be occupied as stations of observation, and will be situated upon elevated points along the river and commanding a view of the enemy's country bordering on the river and of the enemy's movements. This line may be extended to Decatur, and may be done, Lieutenant Sample thinks, with the signal force at my disposal in this vicinity.

He says:

To select the locations will occupy five days, and to build the stations will take 50 men of the pioneer corps five days more. As soon as the pioneer work is done