the troops from Harper's Ferry and other matters authorized in your letter just received.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. E. JOHNSTON,

Brigadier-General, C. S. Army.

HEADQUARTERS,
Richmond, Va., June 16, 1861.

Colonel J. B. MAGRUDER, Commanding, Yorktown, Va.:

COLONEL: Your letter of the 14th, directed to General S. Cooper, has been received. The result of your examination of the James River is different from the conclusion arrived at by the engineer and naval officers to whom that duty was assigned. They supposed that a battery at Day's Point would not command the passage of James River, and therefore established it at Jamestown Island. A battery at Day's Point was considered to be advantageous in other respect, but, as it would require a larger covering force for its security than could then be assigned it, its construction was necessarily postponed. Since the concentration of troops at Suffolk has become possible, arrangements have been commenced for its erection, and it is hoped it will not be too late for the benefit proposed.

Respectfully, &c.,

R. E. LEE,

General, Commanding.

HEADQUARTERS,
Richmond, Va., June 16, 1861.

To the COMMANDING OFFICER YORKTOWN, Va.:

Colonel D. H. Hill's letter of the 15th instant has been received. The advantage to the enemy of his possession of Yorktown will be sufficient to induce him to adopt every means to take it. It is hoped that every precaution will be adopted to prevent its carried by surprise. Should it be besieged, measures will be taken for its relief. There are no siege guns at present available for your post. Re-enforcements will be sent to Yorktown as rapidly as the arrival of available troops at this point will permit. Should the works at Yorktown be too extensive for defense by the troops now there, it will be advisable, if possible, to contract the lines, so as to render them defensible by the force you can command for that purpose.

Respectfully, &c.,

R. E. LEE,

General, Commanding.

HDQRS. DEP'T OF NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA,
Laurel Hill, 12 miles beyond Beverly, June 16, 1861.

General S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General:

SIR: I have the honor to report that the troops under my command now occupy this pass and the pass over Rich Mountain, leading to Buckhannon. These troops consist at present at this place of a regiment of Virginia volunteers, organized by him [?] yesterday at Huttonsville, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Jackson, Captain Shumacke-