"WASHINGTON, January 1, 1864. "I hereby tender my resignation as a major general of the United States volunteers. "SIR: Your resignation has been accepted by the President of the United States, to take effect this day. "I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "Major General FRANCIS P. BLAIR, "Assistant Adjutant General. "U. S. Volunteers, care of Hon. M. Blair, Washington, D. C." "General McPherson having been assigned to the command of a department, could not General Frank Blair, without difficulty or detriment to the service, be assigned to command the corps he commanded awhile last autumn? "Lieutenant General GRANT, "A. LINCOLN. 66 "Nashville, Tennessee." [Copy of telegram.] "UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH.-WAR DEPARTMENT. "In cipher.-Received 6 p. m., March 16, 1864. NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, "10 a. m., March 16, 1864. General Logan commands the corps referred to in your despatch. I will see General Sherman in a few days and consult him about the transfer, and answer. "His Excellency the PRESIDENT." "U. S. GRANT, 66 Lieutenant General. "UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH.-WAR Department. "General Sherman is here. He consents to the transfer of General Logan to the seventeenth corps and the appointment of General F. P. Blair to the fifteenth corps. "His Excellency A. LINCOLN, "President of the United States." [Copy of telegram.] "U. S. GRANT, "Lieutenant General. "Received 3.15 a. m., March 27th. "HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, "I understand by the papers that it is contemplated to make a change of commanders of the 15th and 17th army corps, so as to transfer me to the 17th. I hope this will not be done. I fully understand the organization of the 15th corps now, of which I have labored to complete the organization. this winter; earnestly hope that the change may not be made. "JOHN A. LOGAN, Major General. "OFFICE UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH, "The following telegram received at Washington 9 a. m., March 31, 1864, from Culpeper Court House, 11.30 p. m., dated March 30, 1864. "General F. P. Blair will be assigned to the seventeenth (17th) corps, and not the fifteenth (15th.) Assign General Joseph Hooker, subject to the approval of the President, to any other corps command you may have, and break up the animosity of one general commanding two (2) corps. "U. S. GRANT, "Lieutenant General, Commanding. "Major General W. T. SHERMAN, Nashville." From a long despatch of April 2, 1864, from General Sherman to General Grant, presenting his plan for disposing the forces under his command, the following extracts, (being the only parts pertinent to the subject now under consideration,) are taken; "After a full consultation with all my army commanders, I have settled down to the following conclusions, to which I would like to have the President's consent before I make the orders:" "OFFICE UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH, "The following telegram received at Washington 3 p. m., April 10, 1864, from Culpeper Court House, Virginia, 10 p. m., dated April 9, 1864 : "Will you please ascertain if General F. P. Blair is to be sent to General Sherman; if not, an army corps commander will have to be named for the 15th corps. "U.S. GRANT, "Major General H. W. HALLECK, "Lieutenant General. "Chief of Staff."" "WASHINGTON, April 20, 1864. "You will do me a great favor by giving the order assigning me to the command of the 17th army corps immediately, as I desire to leave Washington the next Saturday to join the command. I also request the assignment of Captain Andrew J. Alexander, of 3d regiment U. S. cavalry, as adjutant general of the 17th corps, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. The present adjutant, or rather the former adjutant, Colonel Clark, has, I understand, been retained by General McPherson as adjutant general of the department, and the place of adjutant general of the corps is necessarily vacant. "I also request the appointment of George A. Maguire, formerly captain, 31st Missouri volunteer infantry, as major and aide-de-camp, and Lieutenant Logan Tompkins, 21st Missouri volunteer infantry, as captain and aide-decamp on my staff. "The PRESIDENT." "Respectfully, [Indorsements.] "FRANK P. BLAIR. "APRII. 21, 1864. "Please have General Halleck make the proper order in this case. "A. LINCOLN. "MY DEAR SIR: According to our understanding with Major General Frank P. Blair at the time he took his seat in Congress last winter, he now asks to withdraw his resignation as major general, then tendered, and be sent to the field. Let this be done. Let the order sending him be such as shown me to-day by the Adjutant General, only dropping from it the names of Maguire and Tompkins. Yours, truly, "WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., April 23, 1864. "I respectfully request to withdraw my resignation as major general of the United States volunteers, tendered on the 12th day of January, 1864. "Respectfully, "I. Major General F. P. Blair, jr., is assigned to the command of the 17th army corps. "II. Captain Andrew J. Alexander, 3d regiment United States cavalry, is assigned as assistant adjutant general of the 17th army corps, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, under the 10th section of the act approved July 17, 1862. "By order of the President of the United States. "E. D. TOWNSEND, "Official. "Assistant Adjutant General." "E. D. TOWNSEND, "Assistant Adjutant General." The foregoing constitutes all sought by the resolution so far as is remem-bered, or has been found upon diligent search. MAY 2, 1864. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The same having been read, Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee of Elections and printed. Mr. Dawes moved that the vote last taken be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to. Mr. Cobb, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee had examined and found truly enrolled a bill of the following title, viz: H. R. 371. An act for the relief of the settlers upon certain lands in California. When the Speaker signed the same. The morning hour having expired, The Speaker announced as the special order reports of the Committee on Indian Affairs. When Mr. Windom, from the said committee, to whom was referred the bill of the House (H. R. 377) making appropriations for the payment of the awards made by the commissioners appointed under and by virtue of an act of Congress entitled "An act for the relief of persons for damages sustained by reason of the depredations and injuries by certain bands of Sioux Indians," approved February 16, 1863, reported the same with an amendment in the nature of a substitute therefor. The House having, by unanimous consent, proceeded to its consideration, The said amendment was agreed to, and the bill ordered to be engrossed and read a third time. Being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed. Mr. Windom moved that the vote last taken be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to. Ordered, That the Clerk request the concurrence of the Senate in the said bill. Mr. Windom, from the same committee, to whom was referred the bill of the Senate (S. 198) to aid the Indian refugees to return to their homes in the Indian territory, reported the same without amendment. Ordered, That it be read a third time. It was accordingly read the third time and passed. Mr. Windom moved that the vote last taken be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to. Ordered, That the Clerk acquaint the Senate with the passage of the said bill. Mr. Wilder, from the same committee, to whom was recommitted the bill Being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed. Pending which, After debate, Mr. Morrill moved the previous question; which was seconded and the main question ordered to be put. When Mr. Denison moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. |