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War Department,
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.
Washington,Jany 18, 1866

Bvt. Maj. Genl. Wager Swayne
Asst. Commissioner &c.

[[stamp]] THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES [[/stamp]]

General,
I am instructed by Maj. General Howard to inform you that a bill has been introduced into Congress, proposing the amendment to the Homestead Act, authorizing the reservation of certain tracts of Public Land in the Southern States to the extent of 3,000,000 acres for the purpose of settling Freedmen in homesteads of their own, and in anticipation of the passage of this Bill, I am directed to request you to examine with a view to preemption for this purpose, the public lands in your District.

You will please send an intelligent officer to make a tour through that portion of the State in which this land is located, with instructions to report upon the general features, and whether it