tenant Phelps in Tennessee is cheering. Victory seems to crown all our efforts. THOMAS A. SCOTT. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Brig. Gen. D. C. BUELL, Louisville: Three or four gunboats will be ready to ascend the Cumberland by the last of the week and more can soon follow. Get no advices from those up the Tennessee to destroy bridges. Have stopped all transports at Paducah to go up the Cumberland. Paducah is perfectly safe. Can't you come with all your available forces and command the column up the Cumberland? I shall go to the Tennessee this week. GENERAL FIELD ORDERS, H. W. HALLECK, HDQRS. DISTRICT OF CAIRO, The following changes and additions are made to present brigade organizations: The Thirty-second Illinois Volunteers will be added to the Third Brigade, First Division; the Fifty-second Indiana will be transferred to Third Brigade, Second Division; and Seventh Iowa from the Third Brigade, Second Division, to the Fourth Brigade, Second Division. The Second Iowa Regiment will be attached to this brigade immediately upon arrival. By order of Brig. Gen. U. S. Grant: JNO. A. RAWLINS, Assistant Adjutant-General. GENERAL FIELD ORDERS, No. 11. HDQRS. DISTRICT OF CAIRO, The troops designated in General Field Orders, No. 7, will move tomorrow, as rapidly as possible, in the following order: One brigade of the First Division will move by the Telegraph road directly upon Fort Donelson, halting for further orders at a distance of 2 miles from the fort. The other brigades of the First Division will move by the Dover or Ridge road, and halt at the same distance from the fort, and throw out troops so as to form a continuous line between the two wings. The two brigades of the Second Division now at Fort Henry will follow as rapidly as practicable by the Dover road, and will be followed by the troops from Fort Heiman as fast as they can be ferried across the river. One brigade of the Second Diviston should be thrown into Dover to cut off all retreat by the river, if found practicable to do so. The force of the enemy being so variously reported, it is impossible to give exact details of attack, but the necessary orders will be given on the field. By order of Brig. Gen. U. S. Grant, commanding : HDQRS. DISTRICT OF CAIRO, SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS, Fort Henry, Tenn., February 11, 1862. No. 6. 2. Brig. Gen. L. Wallace, having been designated to remain behind during the expedition against Fort Donelson, will assume command of all the forces at Fort Heiman and Fort Henry. He will encamp all troops arriving to the best advantage for self-defense. By order of Brig. Gen. U. S. Grant: JNO. A. RAWLINS, Assistant Adjutant-General. FEBRUARY 11, 1862. General WOOD, Lebanon: Trains will be in readiness to transport your division (Twentieth and Twenty-first Brigades) to Bacon Creek, as follows: 10 o'clock a. m., tomorrow (the 12th), two regiments, baggage and train; 3 o'clock a. m. (the 14th), three regiments, &c.; 11 o'clock a. m. (the 13th), two regiments, &c.; total, seven regiments. The utmost punctuality and order must be observed. The baggage must be on the wagons, ready to be rolled at once on the cars. Under no circumstances must the baggage be thrown on loose, and the cars must be released as soon as they reach their destination. Encamp your division at Bacon Creek until further orders, and be always ready to move at a moment's notice. D. C. BUELL, ORDNANCE OFFICE, Washington, February 11, 1862. General D. C. BUELL, Louisville, Ky. : SIR: Your telegram to General McClellan of the 10th instant has been referred to this office. In answer I have to state that on Lieutenant Edson's requisition of November 24, 1861, 10,000 small-arms of the kind designated at Army Headquarters (Austrian rifle muskets) were ordered to be sent to you. These were represented to be good arms. On receipt of information from Lieutenant Edson that they were defective in the cone-seats and required new ones, which he could have fixed to them, he was authorized to have the alteration made. On a recent requisition for 5,000 revolvers and 5,000 carbines the whole of the pistols were ordered, and as many of the carbines as were on hand or could possibly be obtained were ordered to be sent to Louisville, to be followed by the residue of the 5,000 as soon as possible. Although we have out contracts and orders for a large number of carbines, their deliveries are not sufficient to meet the many calls for this kind of arm, and all that can possibly be done is to supply them as fast as received. Those purchased in Europe to meet immediate demands (by Mr. Schuyler) have turned out unserviceable. All the muskets made at Springfield Armory are ordered to be sent here as fast as finished, and requisitions for other places can only be Such filled by arms not made by the Government, of the best kind and quality it is possible to procure by purchase or contract. This Department is desirous of filling all requisitions with the best supplies, and has used and is using all the means within its control to do so. supplies are not always to be had on any terms or by any exertions to procure them as rapidly as they are called for. Respectfully, your obedient servant, JAS. W. RIPLEY, Brigadier-General. HEADQUARTERS. DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, THOMAS A. SCOTT, Saint Louis, February 12, 1862. Assistant Secretary of War, Cairo: I am re-enforcing General Grant as rapidly as possible. A large force is coming down the Ohio. Where can I communicate with you by letter to-night or to-morrow? . H. W. HALLECK, Major-General. · LOUISVILLE, KY., February 12, 1862. Major-General HALLECK, Saint Louis: I shall determine on my ultimate movements the moment I have something in regard to your position on the Tennessee River. In the mean time I am advancing in some force on Bowling Green, and preparing the rest of my force for either alternative. It seems to me you cannot well direct your re-enforcements up the Cumberland River. Is it certain that they can form a junction by that route? They certainly can by the other. D. C. BUELL, HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Brigadier-General BUELL, Louisville, Ky.: Gunboats have destroyed everything on the Tennessee to Florence, in Alabama. They could not get past the Muscle Shoals. Expedition started up the Cumberland last night, led by three gunboats, under Commodore Foote. It is reported that 40,000 rebels are at Dover and Clarksville. If so, they have all come from Bowling Green. If you conclude to land the column on the Cumberland, come at once, with your spare forces. H. W. HALLECK, LOUISVILLE, February 12, 1862. Major-General HALLECK, Saint Louis: Your dispatches just received. Will move on the line of the Cumberland River or Tennessee River, but it will take ten days at least to effect the transfer of my troops. They are moving now as fast as possible to the railroad. Why is it necessary to use the Cumberland? Where are the re-enforcements to land, where form a junction, and by whom are they commanded? Have you any map of the ground? If so, please send it to me. D. C. BUELL, HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Brig. Gen. D. C. BUELL, Louisville, Ky.: General Grant has invested Fort Donelson on the land side, but he cannot transport his siege artillery from Fort Henry. Half of the country is under water. Sending the forces around by the Cumber land was a military necessity. There was some risk, but it could not be avoided. We must make the attack before the enemy has time to strengthen their works and increase the armament. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, February 12, 1862. Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War: SIR: I have the honor to subjoin a telegraphic dispatch from FlagOfficer Foote, from the tenor of which you will perceive that the matter demands immediate attention. I am, with high respect, your obedient servant, G. V. FOX, Assistant Secretary of the Navy. CAIRO, ILL., February 11. I trust that the 600 sea-faring men will immediately be sent to us. I am off again to-night with other gunboats, and have to transfer the men again, which causes the greatest dissatisfaction among them, and 30 have run from one steamer to avoid transfer. We suffer for want of men. Brig. Gen. U. S. GRANT: A. H. FOOTE, CAIRO, ILL., February 12, 1862. Like yourself, I am most too busy to write a word. I am now sending everything up the Cumberland by General Halleck's direction. FlagOfficer Foote left at 9 last night with three armored gunboats, and must now be on the way to Fort Donelson, which, with their aid, I hope to hear you have taken in a few days, and the backbone of secession broken. I am sending re-enforcements up very fast. Let me know your wants. I will write Lieutenant-Colonel McPherson in a short time. G. W. CULLUM. Brig. Gen. D. C. BUELL, Louisville: FEBRUARY, 13-7.15 p. m. How many batteries have you fully equipped and ready for the field? What number of cavalry, armed, equipped, and mounted? How many infantry? Watch Fort Donelson closely. I am not too certain as to the result there. GEO. B. MCCLELLAN, Major-General, Commanding. General HALLECK: NEAR FORT DONELSON, February 13, 1862. Send all troops to arrive to Fort Henry. They can be transferred here, if required, and there is now appearance that that point is in danger. One gunboat should be there. U. S. GRANT, HEADQUARTERS, ETC., February [13th or 14th], 1862. MARKLAND, Special Mail Agent: Send the mail steamers as soon as possible after receiving this. All is well here, but we have a powerful force [in front of us]. Johnson, Buckner, Floyd, and Pillow are all said to be here. U. S. GRANT. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Brigadier-General CULLUM, Cairo: General W. T. Sherman is assigned to the command at Paducah. One regiment and battery leave here to-day and two more will follow immediately. They will touch at Cairo and Paducah. Stop them, if you fear an attack and want them. H. W. HALLECK, HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Brigadier-General BUELL, Louisville: The attack will be made on Fort Donelson to-day by the joint land and naval forces, or if not to-day certainly to-morrow. Would it not be possible to make a cavalry demonstration on Bowling Green? A mere feint might help. I have no maps other than the general ones in book-stores. Why not come down and take the immediate command of the Cumberland column yourself? If so, I will transfer Sherman and Grant to the Tennessee column. H. W. HALLECK, FEBRUARY 13, 1862. Colonel BRUCE, Commanding Brigade, Bardstown: March for Louisville with all the effective men of your brigade tomorrow morning. You must reach here early on Sunday without fail. 39 R R-VOL VII |