co-operation, or, if necessary, that of the executive and council, to enforce the supply of labor which General Ripley may require.

I am, &c.,

J. C. PEMBERTON, Major-General, Commanding.

RICHMOND, VA., March 13, 1862.

Brigadier General J. H. TRAPIER,

Commanding, &c., Tallahassee:

GENERAL: In my letter to you of the 1st instant, from Savannah, it was my purpose, under the instructions that I had received from the Secretary of War, to indicate to you the measures that would necessarily be adopted under the emergency of the occasion. Colonel Dowd's Mississippi regiment was to be sent with the least practical delay to report to General A. S. Johnston. Colonel Davis' regiment had been previously directed to do so. Both orders, I hope, have been executed. The Secretary, in his instructions, directed that the only troops to be retained in Florida were those employed in the defense of the Apalachicola, and I wished you to understand that our necessities might limit us to the defense of that avenue through Florida into Georgia. But I did not intend that you should send from your department immediately any troops but Dowd's and Davis' regiments, retaining the rest to secure the public property, guns, &c., until you saw what arrangements you could make for the defense of the State generally, after withdrawing from those points of the seaboard which in your judgment could not be maintained. It was with this view that I asked to be informed what arrangements you could make for local defense. It was then to be determined, under the instructions from the War Department, what other forces could be spared to reinstate our operations in the West. My own opinion and desire is to hold the interior of the State, if your force will be adequate, the Saint John's River, as well as the Apalachicola. I do not think you will be able to hold Tampa Bay, and the small force posted at Saint Augustine serves only as an invitation to attack; but on these points you must judge, and I desire your opinion.

I am, &c.,

R. E. LEE,

General, Commanding.

RICHMOND, VA., March 14, 1862.

Major General J. C. PEMBERTON,

Commanding, &c., Pocotaligo, S. C.:

GENERAL: You will receive from the Adjutant and Inspector General's Office an order placing you in command of the military department composed of the States of South Carolina and Georgia. General Trapier will command the Department of Florida.

Being assigned to duty at the seat of government, I shall require certain members of my staff left at my headquarters at Coosawhatchie. I desire you to send to me at once Major T. A. Washington, assistant adjutant-general, with such official books and papers not appertaining to the Department of South Carolina, &c. Captain Memminger may continue on duty with you, as you will require additional assistance in your office. Major Long and Captain Ives, having in charge certain operations in the vicinity of Savannah at the time of my leaving the department, I am