being contraband of war, and not being needed in the public service - permitted to pass the pickets of this command northward, and - forever emancipated from a master who permitted- to assist in an attempt to break up the Government and laws of our country.

By command of Major-General Curtis:

A. HOPE,

Lieutenant and Aide-de-Camp.

[Indorsement.]

I have taken several such papers as this from the negroes down here.

J. R. ARNOLD.

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT, Numbers 5.
Little Rock, Ark., August 20, 1862.

The Trans-Mississippi Department is divided into district as follows:

I. The District of Texas, composed of the State of Texas and the Territory of Arizona, Brigadier General P. O. Hebert commanding.

II. The District of Louisiana, composed of all the State of Louisiana west of Mississippi River, Major General Richard Taylor commanding.

III. The District of Arkansas, composed of the States of Arkansas and Missouri and the Indian country, west thereof, Major General T. C. Hindman commanding.

By command of Major-General Holmes;

R. C. NEWTON,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

HDQRS. ARMY OF THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DISTRICT,
Little Rock, Ark., September 8, 1862.

Honorable GEORGE W. RANDOLPH,

Secretary of War:

SIR: I desire to place before you a brief statement of the existing condition of affairs in the military district, and respectfully to request that you would direct such action in reference thereto as the necessities of the case urgently demand:

1. There are no funds on hand pertaining to the pay department to disburse to the troops, large numbers of whom have not received a dollar for six, eight, and ten months, and are now becoming clamorous for their pay.

2. The quartermaster's department is nearly drained of funds and stores, and if not speedily furnished with means will be unable to provide for even the least of the requirements of the army in this district.

3. The commissary, ordnance, and medical departments are likewise in a similarly crippled condition.

4. The troops are in a great measure destitute of clothing, with no prospect of supply from abroad, and dependent almost entirely upon local and domestic manufactures, which must be promptly paid for, as the people who furnish them are generally poor and cannot extend a credit.