have found him anxious to be employed and to prove whether he is fit for the command of an artillery company or not.

I remain, sir, very respectfully, your very obedient servant,

G. T. BEAUREGARD,

Brigadier-General, Commanding.

WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A.,

Montgomery, March 15, 1861.

Brigadier General BEAUREGARD, Charleston, S. C.:

GENERAL: Dispatches just received from Washington, of the highest authority, speak of mines in Fort Sumter, and a purpose to destroy it and the garrison rather than be taken. Foster, the Engineer, might be a good guarantee, if kept in the fort.

Give but little credit to the rumors of an amicable adjustment. Do not slacken for a moment your energies, and be ready to execute any order this Department may forward.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

L. P. WALKER,

Secretary of War.

BALTIMORE, MD., March 16, 1861.

General BEAUREGARD, C. S. A., Charleston, S. C.:

MY DEAR SIR: By the authority of the Secretary of War, I have established a recruiting station here, and I am induced to believe that it will meet with decided success. By the time an officer can reach here there will probably be one hundred recruits to examine. The moneyed arrangements are all made. I have concluded that it would be better not to send the men to Charleston until they were examined. We will then avoid the danger of having to pay the passage money for men not fit for service. I was merely requested and authorized to recruit here for the Army of the Confederate States. I have made arrangements for sending them to you, supposing that you would have use for them, or, if not, that you could have them enlisted and drilled till they were ordered elsewhere. Be pleased to confer with the Secretary of War on the subject if you have no orders. The recruiting will go on rapidly, and as I determined this morning not to send men before they were examined, I telegraphed you for an experienced officer. The men will be kept together until he comes. If this shall reach you before you have sent an officer, be pleased to refer him to William T. Walters, of the house of Walters & Co., 68 Exchange Place, with whom I have made the financial arrangements.

Very respectfully,

LOUIS T. WIGFALL.

MONTGOMERY, March 18, 1861.

General G. T. BEAUREGARD, Charleston:

Order Lieutenant Haskell to Baltimore. Inquire for W. T. Walters and Honorable L. T. Wigfall. His duty, superintend shipment of men to Charleston, where they will be enlisted, and see if they are fit. Must conceal his mission except from those in secret. Wigfall has the money. Must go at once.

L. P. WALKER.