April 4.
The gunboat Scioto, under the command of Lieutenant Commander George H. Perkins, captured the rebel schooner Mary Sorley. Two hours and a half previous to the capture, the Mary Sorley was seen coming out of Galveston, Texas, in a gale. The Scioto gave chase, and after running south by west about twenty-five miles, made the capture beyond signal distance of any of the blockading vessels. All the official papers were found on board.--Captain Marchand's Report.
By direction of the President of the United States, the following changes and assignments were made in army corps commands: Major-General P. H. Sheridan was assigned to the command of the cavalry corps of the army of the Potomac. [59] The Eleventh and Twelfth corps were consolidated and called the First army corps. Major-General J. Hooker was assigned to command. Major-General Gordon Granger was relieved from the command of the Fourth army corps, and Major-General O. O. Howard was assigned in his stead. Major-General Schofield was assigned to the command of the Twenty-third army corps. Major-General Slocum would report to Major-General Sherman, commanding the division of the Mississippi, and Major-General Stoneman would report to Major-General Schofield, commanding the department of the Ohio, for assignment. Major-General Granger would report by letter to the Adjutant-General of the army. Captain Horace Porter, United States ordnance department, was announced as an aid-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Grant, with rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.--General Orders.
Captain Phelps, of gunboat Number Twenty-six, captured a rebel mail-carrier near Crockett's Bluff, Ark., with five thousand letters from Richmond and other points, and sixty thousand percussion-caps for General Price's army. The letters contained official communications from Shreveport, and a considerable sum of Federal money.--the Metropolitan Fair, for the benefit of the Sanitary Commission, was inaugurated at New York City, with imposing ceremonies.--New York Papers.
T. A. Henderson, Provost-Marshal of the district of Florida, issued the following circular from his headquarters at Jacksonville:
All refugees from the rebel lines, and deserters from the rebel armies, and all persons desiring to become such, are hereby informed that they will not, under any circumstances, be compelled to serve in the United States army against the rebels. This assurance is fully given in General Orders Number Sixty-four, of date February eighteenth, 1864, from the War Department. All such refugees and deserters, who are honest in their intentions of for ever deserting the rebel cause, will be allowed every opportunity of engaging in their usual avocations; or, if they desire employment from the United States, will, as far as expedient, be employed on the government works, receiving proper compensation for their services. All refugees or deserters who may bring horses or mules into the Union lines will be paid their full value.
