HEADQUARTERS TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT,
Shreveport, March 9, 1865.

Major General J. G. WALKER,

Commanding District of Texas, &c.:

General Smith wishes to know which is the best route and what depots can be relied upon for the march of Forney's division from Natchitoches to Houston. He proposes to send them to Woodville, and refers particularly to the routes by Liberty and Swartwout, or would it be advisable to move by Jasper to Beaumont?

W. R. BOGGS,

Brigadier-General and Chief of Staff.

HEADQUARTERS TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT,
Shreveport, La., March 11, 1865.

His Excellency JEFFERSON DAVIS,

President Confederate States:

SIR: Your letter of December 24, 1864, was received through the hands of Brigadier-General Harrison. * In regard to the military operations connected with the campaign of last spring in this department, the great distances marched, the deficiencies of transportation, the exhausted condition of the country, and the great difficulties encountered have not, I think, been fully appreciated. Especially is this the case int eh exhausting effects of that campaign on both men and material. Immediately after the evacuation of Alexandria by the enemy I determined to push the advantages gained and to operate with my whole disposable force in Arkansas and Missouri. The larger proportion of that force was under General Taylor's command in Louisiana. His letter of May 24, 1864 (transmitted to you with his correspondence), represents the exhausted condition of his command and the impracticability of operating against the enemy in Arkansas and Missouri before fall. Our artillery was without horses, our transportation used up. The bullets of the enemy and long marches through a country without supplies had decimated our animals and left us unable to move. This applies equally to all the troops engaged in that campaign. With the limited means at our disposal time was absolutely essential to prepare us for taking the offensive. I immediately applied myself to the task of preparing for active operations late in August. The order directing the crossing of the troops to the east side of the Mississippi, received about the middle of JULY, broke in upon my lines, and my whole attention was then turned to its successful execution. The months of July and August were consumed in fruitless efforts to cross the river. General Taylor reported the transfer of troops to the other side impracticable, and on the 23rd August General Buckner was ordered from department headquarters to suspend the crossing, and General Magruder was instructed to push preparations as rapidly as possible for operations in the valley of the Arkansas. The concentration not being effected until the season was far advanced, and heavy rains making movements slow and difficult, nothing was accomplished beyond a demonstration against Pine Bluff in favor of Price's advance into Missouri. The cavalry expedition into Missouri was directed by me after the receipt of the order transferring the infantry of my command east of the Mississippi. It was intended as a diversion in favor of our army in Georgia,

---------------

*See Vol. XLI, Part I, p. 123.

---------------