J. H. Hammond to Washington, D. C, December 3, 1862

December 3, 1862.

No. 6. Wyatt, Miss., December 3, 1862.

The general commanding having observed with pain and regret the non-observance on the part of many of orders promulgated to this command before leaving Memphis, directs that the following instructions be issued for the government of all parties concerned, and the officers to whom they are directed are held rigidly responsible for their strict observance :

I. Division quartermasters will immediately obtain the exact number of ambulances in their respective divisions, and will thereupon meet and make an equitable division, one to each regiment, massing the remainder into division trains. The artillery and cavalry are alone excepted.

II. Hereafter every morning, when the army moves at any early hour, the division surgeons will inform themselves of the number of sick who of necessity must be transported, and will thereupon see to the placing of them in the division train, leaving the regimental ambulances empty for service during the day with their respective regiments. They will hold regimental surgeons to a strict accountability that none are permitted to ride who are improper cases for this indulgence. Men who are temporarily exhausted must, when rested, give place to others, as it is not intended to transport this army to the scene of action in ambulances. No knapsacks or muskets or forage must be pat into the ambulances, which will be kept strictly for the uses declared by Army Regulations and general orders, viz, transportation of the sick and wounded. To secure a strict observance of these orders, division surgeons will make from time to time on the march personal inspection, and will detail an assistant surgeon to take charge, under their direction, of the division train of ambulances.

III. Ambulances, medicine wagons, pannier mules, and teamsters are in the charge of regimental and division quartermasters respectively, who are responsible for the condition of the vehicles, teams, and drivers, and they will be under the orders of the regimental and division surgeons respectively, who are responsible that they are made to subserve tbe interests of the service in the manner prescribed by regulations and general orders.

IV. It will not be practicable to send sick to the rear as a general rule, and none will be sent when opportunity occurs without a report of their number, their regiment, and the circumstances rendering it necessary. Itis not intended that this command shall melt away and be permitted to stay behind to serve out their time in general hospitals without a record of their whereabouts and precise information at these . headquarters as to the causes of their absence. Regimental surgeons

are instructed that they are to treat the sick in their regiménts, and none must be sent away merely to get rid of them. Any want of attention or dereliction of duty, if reported to these headquarters, will be promptly noticed, and officers so reported will be recommended for dismissal from the service. Thé success of our arms depending so largely upon the healthy condition of the troops it is expected that medical officers will use every effort to secure and maintain the highest possible state of health and efficiency in their respective commands.

Strict conformity to these instructions is enjoined upon all parties concerned.

By order of Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman :

Assistant Adjutant-General.

December 4, 1862—7.05 p. m.

OFFICER CompDG. AT GRAND JUNCTION, MISS. [TENN.]:

You will immediately take the parole of J. C. Van Duzer, superintendent of telegraphs, and release him if he is in confinement and report

to this Department.