II. Commanders of armies and department are hereby charged with the faithful execution of this order, and will issue such instructions under it as in their opinion will best secure the object in view. Troops be discharged and remustered will be reported by the proper commanders, through army or department headquarters, to the Paymaster-General. The reports will be made at a date such as will avoid delay in the payments being made.

By order of the Secretary of War:

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

LOUISVILLE, July 27, 1864.

Honorable EDWIN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War:

I am satisfied that authority should be given for mounting tow regiments of colored troops. They will greatly aid recruiting and act most efficiently against guerrillas.

L. THOMAS,

Adjutant-General.

LOUISVILLE, KY., July 27, 1864. Colonel S. M. BOWMAN, Numbers 24 Holliday Street, Baltimore, Md.:

SIR: I have receiver your communication of the 23rd instant, dated at the Galt House, at this place. I had previously seen the special order directing you to report to me in person, and of course expected to see you as I had heard of your arrival at this place. How you could have understood that I had left the State I cannot conceive, for I thought it was generally known here that I had gone to Lexington to confer with General Burbridge.

When I was ordered to this State to recruit negroes some friend in Washington recommended you to me as a suitable person to aid me in this important business, and I mentioned your name to the Secretary of War, but at that time I understood you could not be spared. i came here and organized the service, putting it under the superintendence of Brigadier-General Chetlain, a most excellent officer for such purpose. General Burbridge, however, who had commenced the recruiting, desired that he might be permitted to carry it on under my direction, and handed me a letter from Washington desiring such an arrangement. This was contrary to my judgment, as I knew the commander of the District of Kentucky must have enough to do in the affairs of his command; still I yielded to his wishes and relieved General Chetlain, and the recruiting is going on very well. The plan I adopted was, to place at prominent points in the State a regiment, or a very large detachment, so as to give ample protection to all negroes who might come to these places of rendezvous. Likewise, detachments sufficiently strong to protect themselves were from time to time to pass through the entire State, so that the negroes, seeing protection afforded them, would in numbers attach themselves to these bodies of troops. This, you will observe, does not interfere with the system of enlistment by provost- marshals, who still carry on their work, and indeed all negroes gathered by the troops, al to be taken to the provost-marshals for enlistment, in order that the several