held ready to take up the march for Reinosa on the morning of the 6th. A section of Lieutenant Bragg's battery will be attached to this command, its officer reporting to Lieutenant Colonel Wil son. Captain Price's company of rangers will accompany the command, and escort the train on its return. The command will be rationed for at least fifteen days. The commissary and quartermaster of the expedition will report to Captain Crosman and Captain Waggaman for instructions. The quartermaster's department will send with the expedition a few intrenching tools. Lieutenant Colonel Wilson will be governed by such special instructions as he may receive from head-quarters. By order of Brigadier General Taylor: W. W. S. BLISS, Assistant Adjutant General. Special Orders No. 85. HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, 1. A subaltern officer of Captain McCulloch's company, to be designated by the captain, will be supplied by the senior assistant quartermaster and the commissary of subsistence, with such amount of funds as may be needed to procure supplies for 'the company on its present route. 2. [Assigns an officer of the medical department to duty in the general hospital, Matamoras.] 3. Captain Porter's company, 1st artillery, is detached from Fort Polk, and will furnish the guards at Brazos island, and for the depot to be established at the mouth of the Rio Grande, the captain taking post at the former place, and detailing an officer's guard for the protection of the latter. A company of Texas foot volunteers, to be selected by the governor, will replace Captain Porter's company at Fort Polk, its captain reporting to Major Monroe. 4. Discharges a soldier.] 5. Grants leave of absence to an officer.] By order of Brigadier General Taylor: W. W. S. BLISS, Assistant Adjutant General. Special Orders,} HEAD QUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, 1. Much embarrasment having resulted from the unequal shipment of subsistence supplies, the assistant commissary in charge of the subsistence depot at Brazos island will hereafter turn over to the quartermaster's department, for transportation up the river, none but complete rations, or such as may be designated by the chief of the subsistence department. 2. [Orders a soldier to Fort Pickens.] By order of Major General Taylor: W. W. S. BLISS, Assistant Adjutant General.. [Special Orders.] HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, Such companies of the Louisiana volunteers, now at the camp at San Juan de Buena Vista, as may be willing to enrol for the period of twelve months, in accordance with the act of May 13, 1846, or during the war, will remain encamped at their present position, where rations will continue to be issued to them, and where they will be mustered into service by the proper staff officer designated for that purpose. By order of Major General Taylor: J. H. EATON, Aid-de-camp. Special Orders,} HEAD QUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, 1. Brigadier General John A. Quitman, United States army, having reported to the commanding general, agreeably to instructions from general head-quarters, is assigned to the command of the brigade of volunteers composed of the regiments of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, and the battalion from Maryland and the District of Columbia, being the 3d brigade of the 2d division. 2. First Lieutenant W. A. Nichols, 2d artillery, is assigned to duty in the staff of Brigadier General Quitman, and will report accordingly. 3. First Lieutenant Leslie Chase, 2d artillery, will proceed with as little delay as practicable to Matamoras, and relieve First Lieutenant J. F. Roland in the duties of depot commissary. On being relieved, Lieutenant Roland will rejoin his company with as little delay as practicable. By order of Major General Taylor: W. W. S. BLISS, Assistant Adjutant General. Special Orders, No. 126. HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, 1. The regiment of Texas foot, commanded by Colonel A. S. Johnston, will be mustered out of service, with as little delay as practicable, by Major Thomas, assistant adjutant general, assisted by Captains Lincoln and Winship, who will report to him without delay for that purpose. 2. Lieutenant Colonel Belknap, inspector general, will inspect the arms and ammunition of the Ohio and Tennessee regiments, and make a report upon their condition and fitness for service. 3. The ordnance department will replace the arms of the 1st regiment Alabama volunteers, lately pronounced by a board of its officers as unserviceable, by as many serviceable arms as it is practicable to furnish. The condemned and unserviceable cartridge boxes and bayonet scabbards will also be replaced by such as are fit for the service of the men.. By order of Major General Taylor: Special Orders, W. W. S. BLISS, Assistant Adjutant General. HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, 1. Captain A. Webster, senior officer afloat of the revenue marine co-operating with the army, having reported in person to the major general commanding, will, in addition to the particular duties of his branch of the service, extend all necessary protection to the depot and anchorage at Brazos Santiago and the mouth of the Rio Grande. He will keep a careful watch along the coast, sending vessels occasionally to Sota Marina, or even as far as Tampico, for the purpose of rendering the blockade more rigid. Captain Webster will despatch his vessels to the proper ports for supplies as often as may be necessary, and from time to time will please report the operations of his squadron to head-quarters. 2. The quartermaster's department will provide transportation to Galveston for a portion of Colonel Johnston's regiment of Texan riflemen, as indicated in a memorandum from this office. The German company will, in like manner, be transported to Indian point. The men availing themselves of this order will proceed to Brazos Santiago by companies, under charge of their proper officers, and will there embark as rapidly as transportation can be provided. While necessarily detained at the Brazos island they will be furnished with camp equippage, and be provided with subsistence, to include their voyage home. 3. The following officers of the subsistence department, appointed under the act approved June 18, 1846, having duly reported, are assigned to duty as follows: Major William F. Johnston to the Ohio brigade. Major Alfred Boyd to the Kentucky brigade. Captain Stephen Z. Hoyle to the Texas division. Captain Jesse B. Stephens to the 1st Ohio regiment. Captain Thomas J. Turpin to the 1st Kentucky regiment. They will report accordingly. 4. Assistant Surgeon G. M. Prevost is assigned to duty with the sick left behind at this place, and will report to Assistant Surgeon Kennedy. By order of Major General Taylor: W. W. S. BLISS, Assistant Adjutant General. Special Orders No. 129. } HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, 1. Colonel Hays will, for the present, remain with his regiment at China, or such other position in that neighborhood as will afford supplies. He will send in his horses to this place to be shod, by companies or larger detachments. The quartermaster's and subsistence departments will furnish the disbursing officer of Colonel Hays's command with funds for the supply of the regiment. 2. Lieutenant Colonel Belknap, inspector general, will muster into service for three months, unless sooner discharged, a company of foot volunteers that will be presented by Captain Shivers, late of Colonel Johnson's regiment. The company will have the strength of sixty-four privates, if practicable. 3. For the benefit of his health, and on the certificate and recommendation of the surgeon, leave of absence for sixty days is granted to Major C. H. Fry, 2d regiment Kentucky volunteers. At its expiration, if his health permit, he will rejoin his regiment. By order of Major General Taylor: W. W. S. BLISS, Assistant Adjutant General. Special Orders No. 189. HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, 1. The Mexican prisoners of war who may be yet at Matamoras or Fort Brown will be conducted under a proper escort to Brazos island, where they will be joined by such as may be within the command of Major Gardner, and the whole will then be shipped, under his direction, to Vera Cruz, the quartermaster's department furnishing the necessary transportation. On reaching the squadron off Vera Cruz, the prisoners will be turned over to the senior officer of the navy, who is requested to deliver them to the military authorities at that place. The party will be rationed for the voyage, and will receive such other supplies, including clothing, as may be necessary for its health and comfort. Major Gardner will cause to be taken an exact nominal list of the prisoners, expressing the name, rank, and regiment of each; one copy of which will be forwarded to the senior naval officer off Vera Cruz, and one to this head-quarters. 2. An officer Md. and D. C. volunteers having tendered his resignation, permitted to repair to Washington.] 3. [Discharges three officers of volunteers, on the tender of their resignations.] 4. [Leave of absence to a volunteer officer.] 5. [Remits portion of the sentence of a soldier.] By order of Major General Taylor: W. W. S. BLISS, Assistant Adjutant General. G. Synopsis of "special orders" issued by Major General Z. Taylor since the "commencement of hostilities with Mexico," to wit: April 24, 1846, that being the day when General Arista, on the part of Mexico, announced said commencement; furnished in compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of February 1, 1847. (Those not marked F are unimportant, and not copied.) SPECIAL ORDERS No. 57. HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, Camp near Matamoras, Texas, April 27, 1846. Paragraph 1. Transfers certain soldiers from one regiment to another. Par. 2. Assigns recruits to companies. Par. 3. Remits portion of the sentence of a soldier. SPECIAL ORDERS No. 58.-April 29, 1846. Par. 1. Assigns an officer to duty in the quartermaster's and commissary's departments. Par. 2. All the disposable wagons to haul fuel for the fort [Brown.] Par. 3. Transfers a soldier to another regiment. SPECIAL ORDERS No. 59.-May 3, 1846-Point Isabel. Par. 1. Changes the stations of medical officers. Par. 2. Orders all persons at Point Isabel in the employment of government to be furnished with medical attendance. SPECIAL ORDERS No. 60.-May 6, 1846. Par. 1. Changes the stations of medical officers. Par. 2. Authorizes the engineer officer in charge of the works at Point Isabel to hire laborers, not to exceed one hundred, to assist in completing the defences. |