SAINT LOUIS, November 26, 1864.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of my efforts to secure the safety of Rolla, and following that my march to Jefferson City:

Having learned from my Arkansas scouts, as well as from information from headquarters of the department, that Rolla would probably be one of the objective points of the rebel army under Sterling Price, in his recent invasion of Missouri, I issued General Orders, Numbers 35, District of Rolla, in which I declared Rolla a military camp. All male citizens of Rolla and adjacent country, including aliens and strangers temporarily present,w ere organized and placed under proper officers and set to work on the defenses of the place. This work was carried on day and night. On the 30th of October [September] General Sanborn reported to me with between 1,500 and 1,600 mounted men. The same day I dispatched Colonel Beveridge with two battalions of the Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry as a reconnaissance party to Saint James and Steeleville. That night, learning that General Ewing had arrived at Leasburg and was closely beleaguered by the enemy, I sent orders to Colonel Beveridge by special messenger to march immediately to General Ewing's relief. This order was most successfully executed by Colonel Beveridge and resulted in the safety of the toil-worn force that had so far successfully retreated from Pilot Knob and their arrival at Rolla, some 700 men and six pieces of artillery being thus rescued from the very grasp of the enemy. For the details of this movement I would respectfully refer you to the report of Colonel Beveridge, inclosed herewith. By the 3rd of October, so assiduously and faithfully had the working parties performed the tasks allotted, for which too much praise cannot be given to Colonel Albert Sigel, Fifth Missouri State Militia Infantry, commanding the post; Major C. Biehle, First Missouri State Militia Infantry, commanding Fort Wyman, and to Captain Dette, First Missouri State Militia Infantry, commander of Star Fort, that I felt assured of the safety of the post, no matter by what force of the enemy it might be assailed. On the evening of the 3rd I became convinced that General Price was pushing for Jefferson City. All communication with Saint Louis being cut off, I was compelled to act in the premises without consultation with headquarters. It also became known to me that one prominent object of the raid on the part of the enemy was the capture of the political capital of the State and the installation of Thomas C. Reynolds as the constitutional Governor of Missouri, and the inauguration of a civil government, that, with the assistance of this rebel army of occupation, would be enabled to arouse the latent spirit of rebellion which still unfortunately existed in the minds of many citizens of Missouri. Determined if in my power to foil this rebel scheme, I marched from Rolla for Jefferson City on the morning of the 4th of October, 1864, taking with me every effective man that a due regard for the safety of Rolla would permit. The force was composed of Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, U. S. Volunteers, Colonel Beveridge commanding; Fifth Cavalry Missouri State Militia, Lieutenant-Colonel Eppstein commanding; one section Battery B, Second Missouri Artillery, Captain Sutter commanding; two sections Battery H, Second Missouri Artillery, Captain Montgomery commanding; one section 12-pounder mountain howitzers, Fifth Missouri State Militia, Lieutenant Hillerich.

I had previously directed General Sanborn, then in camp at Cuba, to join me at Vienna and proceed with me tot he rescue of Jefferson City. Arrived about dark at Vienna and found General Sanborn. It having