him. Subsequently portions of this abandoned line were reclaimed and used again, but the greater part of it was hopelessly ruined for any purpose whatever.

on the 1st of February the line along the Virginia and East Tennessee Railroad from Knoxville to Charleston, seventy miles, was transferred by me to Captain John C. Van Duzer, assistant quartermaster and assistant superintendent, for the reason that it was found to be much more easily supplied and managed by railroad from Chattanooga than by wagons over the mountainous country between Danville, Ky., and Knoxville, Tenn., and also for the reason that at that time I was unable to keep telegraphic communication open between Cumberland Gap and Knoxville the old route, viz, Tazewell, Bean's Station, and Morristown, because of it were in the possession of the enemy.

Burkesville, on the Cumberland River, thirty miles southwest from Columbia, Ky., had been for some time held as a military post, and communication with it by telegraph was very desirable.

In obedience to an order from General Burbridge, commanding the District of Kentucky, through Captain Sam Bruch, in March I extended the line from Columbia to that point, thirty miles. The line from Columbia to Jamestown, eighteen miles, not having for a number of months been in actual use, although kept in repair, was taken down, and the material used in the construction of the line to Burkesville.

In April, by running a second wire from Danville to Stanford, eleven miles, I was enabled to connect the two circuits of Camp Burnside and Mount Sterling, and throw them into one, thereby lessening the amount of "repeating" done at Danville, and making communication between Camp Burnside and Camp Nelson complete, which was very desirable in view of the great business between those two important points. In that month the line was extended from Cumberland Gap to Knoxville, sixty-three miles, by Captain Van Duzer and myself, his party starting from Knoxville, mine from Cumberland Gap, and a junction formed at Fincastle, thirty miles from Cumberland Gap, this giving Knoxville the advantage of a double northern connection, one through my own department via Cumberland Gap and Danville to Louisville or Cincinnati, the other via Chattanooga, Nashville, and Louisville.

Between Fincastle and Knoxville Captain Van Duzer was enabled to connect at Clinton with the line put up by me in February between Clinton and Jacksborough, about nineteen [miles], thus making the line actually put up between Knoxville and Fincastle fourteen miles. I desire to acknowledge the valuable and timely assistance rendered me by Captain Van Duzer in the construction of this line. The distance, the nature of the intervening country, and the extremely slow means of transportation by army wagons for the necessary material made all my operations laborious and seemingly dilatory.

During the month of May no demand was made upon me for new lines, and my efforts were directed toward repairing such of my lines as had been longest built. Many of the poles-none too good when first put up-had partially decayed, and were easily broken off by the wind and storms, and the insulators, weighted form constant strain and exposure, were fast becoming worthless for purposes of insulation, especially in wet weather.

These defects were remove by replacing the rotten poles and damaged insulators with new ones.

Early in the month of June the enemy, under the notorious, ubiquitous John H. Morgan, entered the State and made their first demon