but the will telegraph again. General Lee is expected to-morrow night. I send your dispatch to the governor.

R. S. GARNETT,

Adjutant-General.

MANASSAS, VA., May 29, 1861.

Colonel R. S. GARNETT:

Number of troops six thousand. Should be ten. Returned from Fairfax Court-House. All right.

R. E. LEE.

HEADQUARTERS VIRGINIA FORCES,
Richmond, Va., May 29, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON,

Commanding Harper's Ferry, Va.:

GENERAL: In the absence of General Lee, who is on a hasty visit to Manassas Junction, I have requested Colonel Dimmock to send to your command, with all practicable dispatch, one hundred thousand cartridges, five-eighths of them for smooth-bore muskets, and the remaining three-eighths equally divided between the minie musket and Harper's Ferry rifle. In the absence of a requisition, specifying the caliber, I have adopted these proportions upon consultation with Lieutenant-Colonel Deas. Your letters will be submitted to General Lee as soon as he arrives, which will not, perhaps, be until to-morrow. President Davis arrived this morning, and I shall submit your papers to him.

I am, sir, very respectfully, &c.,

R. S. GARNETT,

Adjutant-General.

WILLIAMSBURG, VA., May 29, 1861.

Colonel JOHN A. WASHINGTON,

Aide to General Lee, Commanding Virginia Forces:

SIR: The receipt of your communication, relative to the defenses of the peninsula formed by the York and James Rivers, is respectfully acknowledged. As to their state of forwardness, the works have not yet been fully planned by the engineers. One very important has been and is progressing rapidly. A large number of the hands (nearly or quite five hundred), including a part of the volunteer force, are at work. I see no occasion for further delay. I beg you to call the attention of the Commanding General to the fact that the force now here is not sufficient to repel a serious attack. If Yorktown, Jamestown, or the defenses below Williamsburg fall, the way will be open to Richmond. To defend them, more troops are necessary, well supplied with artillery. Colonel Magruder is well convinced of all this. So far as he has mentioned his opinions to me, his views coincide with mine, and thus I am more fully convinced of their correctness.

With high respect, your obedient servant,

BENJ. S. EWELL,

Lieutenant-Colonel, Virginia Volunteers.