HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF,
New Orleans, May 10, 1865.

Major General P. J. OSTERHAUS,

Chief of Staff, Headquarters Army and

Division of West Mississippi, Mobile, Ala.:

GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your communication of the 5th instant, directing that an infantry force under a discreet and energetic commander be sent to garrison Clinton, La. The Seventh Kentucky Veteran Volunteers and the Second Louisiana Infantry, numbering about 800 in all, under command of Colonel Monroe, of the Seventh Kentucky, will move from Baton Rouge to-day to occupy the place. I would respectfully ask if it would not be advisable to post the force on the Jackson railroad near Osyka rather than at Clinton, La.?

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

N. P. BANKS,

Major-General, Commanding.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF,
New Orleans, May 10, 1865.

Brigadier-General BROWN,

New Orleans:

I inclose to you a copy of a letter from Honorable William H. Seward, Secretary of State, dated November 23, 1863, for your government while in command of the western frontier of Texas. * This dispatch states with clearness and force the rules of conduct to be observed by the officers of the United States as to its relations with Mexico, and you will follow implicitly the instructions there given. The relations of this country with Mexico are of so much interest and importance as to require frequent reports of the condition of public affairs on the border. All the information you may transmit to these headquarters will be forwarded to the Secretary of State at Washington. It is not improbable that active operations will soon be commenced in Texas unless the rebel army shall at once surrender. You will therefore take such measures as may be necessary for the efficient organization of the forces at Brazos Santiago, and such orders will be sent to you from time to time as may be required in the execution of any plan of operations that may be adopted. The transportation of any property from Texas into Mexico, except it be under the authority of the Treasury officers of the United States, is illegal and will be prohibited. As a matter of special and important interest your attention is called to the probability of the passage of Jeff. Davis, the fugitive President of the Confederacy, across the Mississippi into Texas, with a view of entering Mexico by that route. We have rumors here to-day that he is a Shreveport. Other information justifies the belief that he may attempt the passage of the Mississippi in the neighborhood of Fort Adams, that being the place of his former residence. In any event his escape from Texas into Mexico should be prevented if possible. The Government of the United States has offered a reward of $100,000 for his capture. It is not improbable that there may be parties in Mexico who would be both able and willing to prevent his entrance to that country and return him to the United States if such reward were opened to them. A copy of this proclamation is transmitted to you, and you are authorized to take any measures

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*See Vol. XXVI, Part I, p. 815.

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