Bragg's army have no heart in the cause. Their own officers appear to distrust the fidelity of the enlisted men, and as they have no discipline like that in Lee's army, they will retire as soon as a forward movement is made by our troops.

Before the battle of Lookout I had opened communication with Cheatham's division holding the summit of the mountain, and had good reason to believe that I would have succeeded in bringing in all of the enlisted men, with some of the officers, but for their untimely removal. They were relieved by Stevenson's division. The only conditions I required were that they should give themselves up to me with arms in their hands and take the oath of allegiance;; theirs, that they should be permitted to return to their homes, or go where the conscription should not reach them. You will remember that when Bragg retreated from Tennessee, he was compelled to march the Tennessee troops under guard. Among the deserters there are also a good many Georgians and Alabamians. The disaffection in the armies of the South proper, as Jefferson Davis calls the Cotton States, must fill the minds of the rebel authorities with cruel apprehensions. Bragg has since been displaced, but I look for no great change, no matter who may be named for his successor. The hospitality to the rebellion and to the leaders has become a part of their nature. The poor white men of the South had so long been accustomed to being led and governed, that in the incipiency of the rebellion they had no inclination to follow their instincts, and now only venture to assert their independence when impelled to it from the sternest motives of self-preservation. Only yesterday one of them said to me that in case the Confederates succeeded, of what benefit could it be to him. They tell me that their money is good for nothing except to gamble with. A year's pay will not by them a pair of boots, and it is to the worthlessness of their money, not the scarcity of food, their high prices must be ascribed. I judge that they have the necessaries of life sufficient for their purposes. I learn that where Longstreet has gone, at Rogersville, he will have no difficulty in supplying his army through the winter from the country. I regret that Sherman should have returned from Knoxville, until Longstreet was driven so far into North Carolina that return would be impossible. I am of opinion that he will rejoin Bragg's army by the road through the mountains leading from Raleigh., which he will have no difficulty in striking at Asheville. This will surely be his course if an advance is looked for from this direction. But we are in no condition to advance, and with the data in my possession I cannot conjecture when we will be; if no improvement can be made in our communications, I do not hesitate to say, never. Rely upon it, our depots must be nearer, and we must have more regular communications with them. Since our arrival here we have been on but little more than half supplies, and it is telling fearfully on men and animals. The great embarrassment lies between Bridgeport and Nashville. The capacity of the road is insufficient for present wants. The continuation of that road is insufficient for present wants. The continuation of that road from Bridgeport to Chattanooga is yet unfinished, and will remain so for weeks to come. Nothing appears to admit of completion within a reasonable. For instance, two months ago, when in Bridgeport, I was told that the bridge over the Tennessee would be completed in a week, and it its not yet finished. How can you make calculations and project future operations without a basis? the road from this to Atlanta is remarkable for its great number of bridges. All, of