[on] Memphis and Charleston Railroad is estimated, from all sources, at 20,000. Every effort will be made to meet this force. Nine thousand cavalry will be all that can be brought to bear. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad is repaired to Moscow. At the urgent and repeated to Moscow. At the urgent and repeated request of General Johnston, General Pillow, with 1,500 men, was sent to strike the railroad between Dalton and Sherman's rear. He started from [Oxford, Ala.,] on Monday.

S. D. LEE,

Major-General.

[First indorsement.]

Respectfully submitted to His Excellency the President.

JOHN W. RIELY,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

[Second indorsement.]

JUNE 23, 1864.

General BRAGG:

The within indicates the propriety of concentrating the force at General S. D. Lee for the defense of his department and for such operations on the enemy as were contemplated before detachments were made to operate on the rear of the enemy in front of General Johnston. The movement of General Polk's infantry alone was authorized, and that was done on the supposition that the enemy would be met at Dalton or in front of it, so as to relieve the danger to Alabama and Mississippi. The retreat of the Army Tennessee has exposed the country for the protection of which General Polk's troops were posted. Under the facts as now presented, General S. D. Lee should get and keep in hand all the force he had left, including that of Pillow and Roddey, and General Johnston should be notified of the condition of things in that department so that he may not count on aid from General Lee, but rather perceive that the drafts upon the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana have been already too great.

JEFFN. DAVIS.

[THIRD indorsement.]

General COOPER:

I think it better the President's indorsement in full should be communicated at once to Generals Johnson and Lee by telegraph in a formal official dispatch from your office.

BRAXTON BRAGG,

General.

MERIDIAN, MISS., June 22, 1864.

Major General S. D. LEE,

Commanding Dept. of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana:

GENERAL: I have in Richmond form the 24th April until the 3rd of May, and had frequent conversations with Colonel W. P. Johnson in relation to the authorities granted Capts. H. H. Johnston and J. C. S. Blackburn by the Secretary of War, and understood from Colonel Johnston that the authorities were in full force, provided it was agreeable to the departmental commanders. Indeed, the authority of Colonel