Its success is of the greatest possible importance. Communicate this to General Grant, and in the mean time assist General Steele all you possibly can.*

H. W. HALLECK,

General-in-Chief.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

Washington, September 6, 1863-3 p. m.

Brigadier General JAMES TOTTEN, Saint Louis, Mo.:

General Steele must have every possible assistance from Missouri. General Pope will send south several regiments as soon as he can get them in from the Indian country. They can be stopped in Missouri if necessary. In the mean time Steele should have all the troops that can be spared.

H. W. HALLECK,

General-in-Chief.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF THE BORDER,
Kansas City, Mo., September 6, 1863.

Colonel WILLIAM WEER,

Tenth Kansas Volunteers, Kansas City, Mo.:

COLONEL: You will proceed at once to Coldwater Grove, and take steps to prevent the threatened invasion of Missouri by Kansas men not in the service of the United States; and, in case of such invasion, you will expel the invaders. You will see that the line is thoroughly patrolled, to prevent such movement from Little Santa Fe to the southern boundary of this district.

Under Orders, Numbers 92, Department of the Missouri, the organized militia of Kansas, which has been placed under my command, may enter Missouri if ordered by me to do so. There are two companies of that character now on the line; one at Rockville and one at Potosi. These companies may enter Missouri, if you see fit to order the movement.

You may assure the people of Southern Kansas that, with the additional troops sent me by the major-general commanding the department, and with the militia companies he has authorized me to accept when organized, I can guarantee them greater security from invasion than they have enjoyed since the war began; and that, to give them greater security, I am clearing out of the border counties those rebel families which have for years, by their close proximity to Kansas, been a constant menace to its loyal people. You will urge them to remain obedient to the Government, and not embarrass it with ill-directed and irregular efforts at retaliation, which the military authorities will at all hazards prevent and repress.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

THOMAS EWING, JR.,

Brigadier-General.

HEADQUARTERS EIGHTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY,
Springfield, Mo., September 7, 1863.

Brigadier General JOHN MCNEIL,

Commanding District of Southwestern Missouri:

GENERAL: I have the honor to report that, in accordance with permission from district headquarters, a recruiting party of 14 men, under

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*See Hurlbut to Grant, September 10, p. 522.

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