[CHAP. XXXVIII.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF TEXAS, &C.,
Houston, Tex., October 29, 1863.

Brigadier General HENRY E. McCULLOCH,

Commanding Northern Sub-District:

GENERAL: I am instructed by Major-General Magruder to inform you that you have furloughed nearly half of the State troops in your district for the purpose of proceeding to their homes to sow wheat. The orders issued from these headquarters on the subject of furloughs he presumed would have prevented any exercise of this authority by officers inferior in rank to the major-general commanding, and he can only suppose, under such circumstances, that the orders in question never reached you, copies of which I herewith send.*

He cannot recognize in the circumstances of these State troops the necessity of details when troops from other portions of the State are held to service, and all applications for such details have been uniformly and firmly declined by himself, and he is not without apprehension that some embarrassment may result to him by this large diminution of the State troops which these details appear to have created. Another serious inconvenience resulting from this line of policy is the great dissatisfaction produced among the other State troops when they are informed of it, which you will readily concede to be in some measure just. You will take such steps as may be necessary to recall these men, with the least possible delay, as their services in the field are absolutely necessary at this crisis, the enemy being officially reported as advancing by way of Red River Valley.

I am, general, &c.,

STEPHEN D. YANCEY,

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT,
Shreveport, La., October 29, 1863.

Brigadier General P. O. HEBERT,

Commanding, &c., Vienna, La.:

GENERAL: I have the honor to inclose you an extract from a letter of Colonel [Isaac F.] Harrison's,# and am directed by the lieutenant-general commanding to call your attention to the same, and say he must hold you responsible, and you Colonel [W. H.] Parsons, for such conduct as that stated, and that, when outrages are committed, the parties, whether officers or enlisted men, must be put in irons and sent to department headquarters, with the proper evidence of their guilt.

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

S. S. ANDERSON,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

HOUSTON, TEX.,

October 29, 1863.

Lieutenant General E. KIRBY SMITH,

Commanding Trans-Mississippi Department:

GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 25th instant, inclosing copies of letters from Major-General

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*Not found.

#Not found; but see Anderson to Hebert, October 31, p. 375.

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