Gen. Banks At New Orleans

Gen. Banka arrived at New Orleaus Dec. 14th, and after repeated official aud friendly interviews with Gen. Butler, Le assumed command of the department on the 16th, in the following proola raation : HeaJquarters Department of the Gulf', ) New Orlea'ns Dec. 16. J In obedience to order from the President, I have assumed command of the Department of the Gulf, to whioh is added, by his special order, the State of Texas. The duty with which I am charged requires me to assist' iu the restoratioQ of the government of the Uuited States. It is my desire to secure to thé people of every class all the privileges til possession and enjoyment which are consistent with public safety, or which it ia - possible for a boneficent and just government to eonfer. Iu the execution of the high trust with whieh I am charged, I rely upon the co-operation and counsel of all loyal and woll-disposed people, and upon thii manifest interest of those dependeut upon the pursuits of peace, as well as upïm the support of naval and land forces. My iostruetions require me to treat as cncmies thosc who are enemies, -but I shall'gladly regard as friends those who are friends. No restrictions will be placed upon the freedom of individuáis whieh are not imperatively demauded by the cousiderations of pubhc safety, but, while their claims will bc deliburately considered, it ia due also to them to state that all the rights of the government will be unflineliingly maiutaiued. Kespectful consideration and prompt reparatior. will be accorded to fcll persons who are wronged ín body or estato by those under my comniaud. The government does not profit by the prolongatiou of civil strife, or by the public sufferiug whicli atteuds it, and its fruits are not equally distributed. In the disloyal States desolación has empire on the soa and on the land. In the North the war is au abiding sorrow, but not yet a calamity. lts cities and towns are iucreasing in population, wealth and power. The refugoes from the South alone compénsate, in great part for the terrible deoimations of battle. The people of this department who are staking their liyes on rosistance . to the government iniiy wisely refiect upon the immutable conditions which surround them. The Vallcy of the Mississippi is the ohosen seat of populatiou, product and power on this continent. In a few years 25,000,000 people, unsurpassed in material resources aud capacity for war, will swarm upon its fertilarivers. Those who assume to set conditions upoa their exodus to the Gulf count upon a power not given to man. The country washed by the waters of the Ohio, the Missouri and the Mississippi can never be permanently sevorod. If oue generation basely barters away its rights, immortal honors will rcstupou another that reclaims tliera. - Let ït never be said that either the West or tho East may bo separated. Thivty days distance f'rom the markets of Ëuropo may satisfy the wants of Louisiana aad Arkausas, but it will not answer the demands of Illinois and Ohio: The Val ley of the Mississippi will have its deltas on the Atlantic, the physical force of the West will debouch on its shores. With a power as great as its resistless rivers, tliis country cannot be permunently divided. Geaseless wars may 'drain the blood, despotio rulersor foreign foesmay trouble it, but its destiny will remain still unchanged - still uuited. God has ordaioed it. People of the Southwest why not accept thu condition imposcd by the imporious necessities of geographical confiuration and commercial supremacy, and reestablish your ancicut prosperity aud renov.'n? AVhy not become the founders oí' a State which, as the entrepots and depots of your own central and upper valleyS, may stand in the affluenoe of their resources without superior, and in the privileges of the people without a peer, imoiiö' the natious of the earth? N. P. BANKS, Maj-Gen. Commanding. General Butler's Farewell to His Command. IJgAUQÜARTEHS DeP-BTMEnT of llAlttLF, ) Nkw Uhlkaxb, Dec. 15, 1862. j ' GENERAL OUDERS Nq. 1U6. SoWiers of tbe Ariny of the Gulf : - Ilelieved from further dutios n tbis department by the cürections of the President, un der dato of November 9, 1862, I take leave of you by this final order, it being impossible to visit your sicattered outposts, covering bundreds oí' miles of tbe í'rontier of a larger territory iban eoaie of the kingdoms of Europe, ■ I greét you, my brave comrades, and say farewell. This word - endearnd as you are by a cotmnunity of privations, hardships, dangers, ■ victories, suocessoa, military ind civil - iíj tbüonly sorrowful tbought I bave. You havo deserved wcll of your country. Without a munriur 3'ou sustained ao encampment on a aand bar.ío desolate that banishment to it, wilh every care and possiblo, has been the tnost dreaded punishinent inílictcd (pon your bittcrest and raost insultíng uncinies, You had so little transportation that but, a handful oould advánce to compcl ijnbniissi(jt) by the queen city of tho rebcllion, vvhiío olhors waded breastdeep ÍD tbe marehes which Burroumi St. Philip, and íorced tlio surraoder oi a fu'. t detened inipregnablo to land uttayk by the skillful engineers of' your country and her cnemy. i.t your occupation, order, !aw, quiet and peapa sprang to thiö city, tilled vvith tho bravos of all nations, wheru for a jcor.e ol veare, úariog tho foundest peace, human life was scarce]y safe at noonday. BV your discipline you illustra'.ed the best traits of tho American soldier, and enchainud thé admiration oí thoso that carne to scoff. Landing with a military chest contaihing but seventy-iive dollars, from the boards of a rebel government you have given to your country'a treasury nearly a half million of dollars, and so supplied yourselvos with tho needs oí your service that. your expedition has cost your govei nment less by fourfifths than any oilt,e.r. You have fed the starvitig poor, the wives and ehildron of your enemies, so converting enemies iüto iriends that they have sent their representatives to your Congross by a vote greater than your entire Dumbers from diatricts in vvhich, whcn you entered, you were tauntingly told" that there " was no one your to raise flag." By your ' practical philanthropy you have won tho 'contidence of the " oppressed race " and the slave. Hailing you as deliverers, they are ready to aid you as vvilüng servants, faithíul. laborara, or, using the táctica taught them by enemios, to light with you in the" field. By eteady attention to the laws of health you have stayed the pestilen-ee, and, humblü instruments in tho hand of God, you have demonstrated Lbo nocessity that His creatures should obey His laws, and, reaping His blessing in this most unhualthy climate, you have preservod yonr ranks iuller than those of any other buttalions oí the samo length oí servioe. You have met doublé numbers of the enemy and defeated him in the open field,. but I need not iurther enlarge upon this topic. You werë sont hertto do that. I comrueivl you to your nevv comhiander. You are worthy ot his love. Farewell; my comrades - again farewell !