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Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.
Office Assistant Commissioner
FOR STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
Vicksburg, Miss., November 13th 1865.

Major General O.O. Howard,
Commission BR.F & A.L.,

General,
I regret very much that I failed to see you while in this State. I had not heard from you since you were on the South Carolina Coast; the newspapers reported that you were to return in a short time, and letters from Washington said you would not visit the Mississippi valley. On your arrival at Vicksburg, it was my misfortune to be at Yazoo City, where I could not be reached by telegraph, and could not return till you had been gone two days.

Failing to have a talk with you about affairs in this State is an irreperable loss to me at this time, when it is so difficult for me to tell the course I should pursue.

The progress made by the Civil Authorities in assuming their natural functions has compelled me to