The fine weather which prevailed till within two or three days past has been succeeded by rain, which usually falls here in sufficient quantities when the winter sets in to make the unpaved roads difficult and for large trains impassable.

With great respect, your obedient servant,

A. S. JOHNSTON,

General C. S. Army.

JANUARY 5, 1862.

Major-General POLK, Columbus:

You need not send forward Campbell's regiment, if in your opinion it is at all necessary to retain it.

I have asked for half of McCulloch's force to be sent to you.

A. S. JOHNSTON.

HDQRS. FIRST DIVISION, WESTERN DEPARTMENT,
Columbus, Ky., January 6, 1862.

Honorable J. P. BENJAMIN,

Secretary of War, Richmond:

I respectfully refer to you two papers, marked 1 and 2, which will explain themselves. The paper marked 3 I desire to call your attention to. It refers to the law of promotion in the artillery corps in the State of Tennessee, and is a paper from Lieutenant-Colonel Haynes, of that corps.*

The law of Tennessee, you will see, in the case of that corps, placed the power of appointment originally and the power to fill vacancies in the hands of the Governor of the State.

The question is, Does the transfer of that army to the Confederate Government transfer the power of the Government to the President? I suppose it does, but to avoid complication I prefer to submit the question to the War Department. If it does, then it becomes necessary that the offices of colonel and major of that corps should be filled, and the exigencies of the service require this to be done without delay.

My opinion is that it would be best to make two corps of these companies, the number being too great to be comprised in one with advantage; there would thus be a brigade of artillery.

A large part of this force is under my command at Columbus and at other forts in my immediate division. At this point chiefly, where I have in fixed and field guns of various caliber 150 in different positions, you will at once see that the control of this large armament and its efficiency of condition demand a specific supervision. It should be under the direction of a single mind, of adequate capacity, resources, and energy. This is indispensable to make that arm tell as it should in our combinations for defense. It was for that service chiefly I nominated James Trudeau, of Louisiana, as brigadier-general. General Trudeau, who you know to be in command of the Louisiana Legion, as a highly accomplished artillery officer, educated in France, and has devoted special attention to the artillery branch of military service. He has been with me now for the last month, aiding in placing the guns and arranging generally all the details necessary for putting this position in its present effective condition. A better appointment could not be made, and the services of such an officer are required to make the

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*Inclosures omitted as of no present importance.

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