entirely from keeping any portion of my promises to you in regard to furnishing you with further aid. I am left in a condition that I cannot even send the cavalry force with I intended to clear out the country between the Mississippi River and the New Orleans and Jackson road as far south as Port Hudson. The brigade which I ordered from West Tennessee never came, but, in lieu of it, General Hurlbut sent parts of three regiments, numbering about 1,000 men.

I have sent to Rosecrans' aid one entire army corps from here and a part of the Sixteenth from West Tennessee. This leaves me a force of little over 16,000 men of all arms to guard the whole country from Helena to your lines. I have in my immediate front four brigades of rebel cavalry that I know of, and some twenty or more pieces of artillery. I assure you, general, this is no less a disappointment to you than to me. I was anxious to give you the aid to make your expedition a certain success. But my orders from Washington were peremptory to send every man I could east from Corinth. I informed the General-in-Chief that you had made a call upon me to furnish one division more, but received no reply.

I am very gland to say that I have so far recovered from my injuries as to be able to move about on crutches. It will probably be some time yet before I will entire recover.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

U. S. GRANT,

Major-General, Commanding.

HDQRS. SECOND DIVISION, THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
Morganza, October 3, 1863.

Brigadier General CHARLES P. STONE,

Chief of Staff:

I have not been able to obtain any more information of the enemy than is contained in my dispatches to the headquarters of the Thirteenth Corps, copies of which I have presumed were sent to you.

My cavalry force is reduced below 100 effectives, and, considering the strength of the enemy and the number of his cavalry, it would require four times that many to enable me to scout well and command the country. I have found it necessary to be very strict in allowing access to my position, as I discover that the principal effect of free and easy passage to the "good and loyal citizens" through the lines has been to furnish the rebel commander with the minutest details of our force and its supplies and localities. I have reasons to believe that rebel soldiers have very often, in the guise of citizens, been in our camp here, and have even broken bread with our men.

I send down to-day a lieutenant-colonel, who is communicative, and 10 soldiers, prisoners of war. You will find some of the men intelligent. The two citizens, Sweeny and Mulholland, whom I send, with papers and a package of gold taken from the latter, are a precious pair of scoundrels. I am more firmly convinced than ever that they are spies, or partake of that character. I find that they are well known to the rebel officers, and have been among them lately. A rebel officer, during the truce, stated "in his cups" that they, and other cotton-seekers, were "damned bores;" that they were very troublesome. He also stated that their orders were not to burn any more cotton, as they could do better with it.

My reconnaissance of yesterday appears to confirm the belief that

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