“General Sherman rode from Marysville to Knoxville, greeted General Burnside, and freely expressed his admiration at the skilful fortification of the place, including Fort ‘Saunders,’ where Longstreet’s assaulting columns had met a bloody repulse. Knoxville being saved, it was obviously best for Sherman’s army, excepting Granger’s two divisions, to return to support the suspended movement against Bragg. But before General Sherman left he received the following letter: KNOXVILLE, _December 7th, 1863_. TO MAJOR-GENERAL SHERMAN: I desire to express to you and your command my most hearty thanks and gratitude for your promptness in coming to our relief during the siege of Knoxville, and am satisfied your approach served to raise the siege. A. E. BURNSIDE, Major-General. “General Sherman now leisurely returned to Chattanooga, his cavalry giving chase for some distance to a rebel wagon-train on the way. On the 14th of December his command reached the banks of the Hiawassee. Four days of easy marches brought them to Chattanooga, after a three-months’ campaign unparalleled in the history of the war. His losses had amounted to something over two thousand men. His official report states that his men had marched for long periods, without regular rations or supplies of any kind, through mud and over rocks, sometimes barefooted, without a murmur. Without a moment’s rest, after a march of over four hundred miles, without sleep for three successive nights, they crossed the Tennessee River, fought their part in the battle of Chattanooga, pursued the enemy out of Tennessee, then turned more than a hundred miles north and compelled Longstreet to raise the siege of Knoxville, which had been the source of anxiety to the whole country. ‘The praises of Confederate generals,’ says the London _Spectator_, in reviewing some of these facts, ‘have been sung abundantly on this side the water: the facts are, that all military skill and military perseverance and courage are not on one side. . . . Such a display of genuine military qualities should not pass without some record; and we offer it to our readers as some proof that, with all their faults, the Federal officers and soldiers are not without great virtues, which soldiers at least should admire.’” General Sherman repaired to Vicksburg to look after the affairs of the widening field of the Union army under his leadership. Here, in answer to inquiries from Adjutant-General Sawyer, at Huntsville, Alabama, he wrote a splendid letter, both in comprehensiveness of views and the clear vigorous style of composition. If you begin it you will want to finish it, though long. It is full of fire, historical knowledge, and yet so plain a child can understand it. The matter discussed, is the treatment of rebels in a conquered territory: