A summary of the orders sent to these officers will be sent to you immediately.

It is left optional with you to supersede General Rosecrans by General G.H.Thomas or not.

Any other changes will be made on your request by telegram.
One of the first objects requiring your attention is the supply of your armies.

Another is the security of the passes in the Georgia mountains, to shut out the enemy from Tennessee and Kentucky.

You will consult with General Meigs and Colonel Scott in regard to transportation and supplies.
Should circumstances permit, I will visit you personally in a few days for consultation.
H.W.HALLECK, General-in-Chief.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., October 20, 1868.
Major-General GRANT, Louisville.
GENERAL: In compliance with my promise, I now proceed to give you a brief statement of the objects aimed at by General Rosecrans and General Burnside's movement into East Tennessee, and of the measures directed to be taken to attain these objects.
It has been the constant desire of the government, from the beginning of the war, to rescue the loyal inhabitants of East Tennessee from the hands of the rebels, who fully appreciated the importance of continuing their hold upon that country.