War of the Rebellion: Serial 106 Page 1018 OPERATIONS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. Chapter LXII.

[Inclosure.] SAN JOSE, CAL., October 16, 1864.

Captain A. JONES JACKSON,

Provost-Marshal, Southern District of California:

SIR: I have the honor to lay before you the following report as to the intentiions of the Knights of the Golden Circle in the counties of San Luiis Obispo and Los Angeles. San Luis has 242 members, all armed with revolvers, rifles, or shotguns. The governor is Parker; lieutenant-governor, D. Blackburn. They have a member of their order who belongs to the Union League in every league in the State, who reports to them all that is done and saiid at the meeting of the league. There are also three men who belong to the company of soldiers that is stationed in the town of San Luis, members of thirty-three of the Knights of the Golden Circle. Los Angeles County has 253, of which the town of Los Angeles has fifty-four; El Monte, ninety-two; the San Gabriel mines, twenty-seven; the remainder are scattered around iin different places through the county. The governor is Charles Howard; lieutenant-governor, J. M. Callan. All armed with different weapons. They have pocked out a place about 120 miles from Los Angeles, called Rock Creek, for a rendezvous. It is in the mountains, and has plenty of wood, water, and grass. There are but about four or five there now being ordered and commence a guerrilla warfare. They say there are men organized in Nevada for the purpose of coming into California in case of an outbreak for the purpose of assiisting the Knights. They consist mainly of the sporting class. Ii have triied a good many of the upper class, and but very few of them know anything about the order-that is, about Los Angeles. The most of the people in and around this place are in favor of the South. They would not like to take an active part in anything that would tend to bring about a quarrel with the Federal Government, but they are all willing to furnish the means to do it with.

The organization amongst them consists of three grades, the first thirty-three, the second fifty-four, and the third eighty-two. A party of thirty-two went into Texas on the 12th of August from here by the wayh of San Diego. There is a club organized in San Francisco who send men to Texas by vay of mazatlan on every stteamer that goes down to Mexico. I got it from a man at the Hot Springs, San Luis Obispo County, by the name of Johnson. It is a very difficult matter to find out anything about them, unless a man has got plenty of means to work into their confidence. For the lower clas, they know very little of the intentions of their leaders; if a person is only a member of thirty-three they only let them know what is to be done when the time comes for doing it. If you have any idea of sending any person whom you can put confidence in amongst them, send him to me and I will give hiim all the signs, grips, and passwords of the first grade correctly. It is a most essential point for to know these matters correctly. The gentleman who imparted the same to me, he not being very well posted in their order, came very near getting me into trouble on several occasiions. They are very careful about giving the signs, grips, and passwords to one taking them. Their obligations are: Not to speak the name of any of their order to a stranger; to be ready at any time that the leaders order to put to death any person who may divulge any of their secrets. If you send any person you will have to provide him with money sufficient to move in the highestt circles, then