AUGUST 11, 1864.

Colonel J. C. IVES, Aide-de-Camp to the President:

COLONEL: The following is a correct statement of the armament of Fort Morgan on the 1st of January, since which time no very great changes have been made. I have been unable to get any later report:

10-inch columbiads (one added afterward during

General Gilmer's visit). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

8-inch columbiad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

32-pounder smooth-bore guns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

24-pounder smooth-bore guns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

24-pounder flank casemate howitzers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

12-pounder field howitzers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

8-pounder Blakely rifled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

6. 4 rifles (32-pounders, banded). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

5. 82 rifle (8-inch columbiad pattern, without bands) 1

5. 82 rifles (24-pounders, not banded). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3-pounder rifled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

10-pounder sea-coast mortars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Very respectfully, &c.,

A. L. RIVES,

Colonel, &c.

ENGINEER OFFICE, DISTRICT OF THE GULF,

Mobile, August 11, 1864.

Colonel GINDRAT:

COLONEL: The construction of a work on the Blakely Heights having been decided upon, Mr. Fitz will proceed to make the necessary reconnaissance. The most desirable point for the location of the work appears to be the one proposed by you yesterday at our near the old Spanish Fort. A sufficient number of hands have arrived to justify us in making the most earnest endeavors at securing that important position permanently, and, if time be allowed, there can be no doubt of our success. I propose to countersink our guns commanding the river, and to protect the battery by a bastion line in rear. Time is everything to us now, and we have to make the best use of the short respite the enemy seems willing to grant. You know our wants as well as I do. Please push the work and call for any assistance you may require. Colonel Withers has left to-day for Tensas with a fine body of troops. Call on him for the necessary pickets.

Yours, very respectfully,

V. SHELIHA,

Lieutenant-Colonel and Chief Engineer.

MOBILE, August 12, 1864.

(Received 13th.)

Honorable J. A. SEDDON:

Mail courier to Fort Morgan could not get through. Reports enemy's land force operating against Morgan. Skirmishing going on. No firing of heavy guns yesterday. Forrest reports heavy force of enemy at Abbeville. We occupy Oxford.

D. H. MAURY,

Major-General, Commanding.

[AUGUST 12, 1864. - For Hood to Maury and Maury to D. W. Adams, in relation to operations on Sherman's rear, see Vol. XXXVIII, Part V, p. 959.]