the Mississippi are chiefly on paper, and that the men are not to be found. I hope the Kentucky recruits are substantial flesh and blood.

EDWIN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War.

SAINT LOUIS, MO., September 20, 1864.

Honorable E. M. STANTON:

Telegram of yesterday received. I know that General Sherman has been and is opposed to the organization of colored troops, but he ought to bear in mind that they guard a long line of his communications, and that on the Mississippi they are greatly relied on for holding the important points. Not a commander on the river but has to confess that they are perfectly reliable. Their fighting qualities are settled beyond a peradventure, and in appearance they are the neatest troops to be found on the river. In Kentucky we are getting the very best class of men, and those reported by me are not only on paper, but they exist in reality. Several of the regiments, 1,000 strong, I have myself seen. Give me a month's drill, and I will put the two regiments of cavalry in competition with any white cavalry in this whole country. I think General Sherman might send me the able-bodied men in and about Atlanta, but his policy seems to be to let them go with their masters. I think he should confine his operations in this respect to the old men, women, and children; burden the rebels with these, but let us have the able-bodied to operate against them. Every man we get takes one from them and adds one to us-otherwise depriving them of two.

L. THOMAS,

Adjutant-General.

CITY POINT, VA., September 20, 1864-11 a. m.

Honorable E. M. STANTON,

Secretary of War:

Please advise the President not to attempt to doctor up a State government for Georgia by the appointment of citizens in any capacity whatever. Leave Sherman to treat all questions in his own way, the President reserving his power to approve or disapprove of his actions. Through Treasury agents on the Mississippi and a very bad civil policy in Louisiana, I have no doubt the war has been very considerably protracted, and the States bordering on that river thrown farther from sympathy with the Government than they were before the river was open to commerce. This is given as my private views.

U. S. GRANT,

Lieutenant-General.

WAR DEPT., PROVOST-MARSHAL-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, D. C., September 20, 1864.

Honorable EDWIN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War:

SIR: Officers and enlisted men who have been honorably discharged after two years" service during the present war are by law exempt from draft. There are many thousands of such men. It is suggested