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Gen. B. H. Grierson, Jacksonville, Ill. Dearest General: I have your letter of the 7th unclear, with enclosure, asking for my aid in procuring for you the appointment of Brigadier General in the regular army on the retirement of Gen. McDowell. It will be impossible for me to make the recommendation you desire, because long ago, immediately on my return from abroad, and also since the incumbency of the President by General Arthur, I recommended when a vacancy should occur that Gen. McKenzie should be advanced to the Brigadier Generalcy. To make any other recommendation now would be as a matter of course impossible, having made the former recommendation voluntarily, and believing it to be for the best interests of the public service. Gen McKenzie is an officer who, although