stated in this communication may contribute to procure the adoption of the necessary legislation. The cotton and tobacco, in my opinion, should be taken for the use of the Government.

R. E. LEE,

General.

[Third indorsement.]

ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE,

March 4, 1865.

Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War.

H. L. CLAY,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

[Fourth indorsement.]

WAR DEPARTMENT,

March 9, 1865.

Respectfully submitted to the honorable Secretary of the Treasury.

JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE,

Secretary of War.

[Fifth indorsement.]

MARCH 21, 1865.

Respectfully reported.

Every effort has been made, and will be continued, to convert cotton and tobacco into money. The agents in Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas have been instructed to make every effort by this means to supply Colonel Cole with more funds, though the pounds 50,000 furnished December 7 have furnished, I believe, no fruits yet from that distant region.

G. A. TRENHOLM,

Secretary of the Treasury.

SPECIAL ORDERS,
HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE C. S., Numbers 2.
February 20, 1865.

The command of Lieutenant-General Early is extended to embrace the Department of Southwestern Virginia and East Tennessee, and the department thus formed will hereafter [be] designated the Department of Western Virginia and East Tennessee.

By command of General R. E. Lee:

W. H. TAYLOR,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

[Indorsement.]

FEBRUARY 24, 1865.

General COOPER:

This paper presents the matter of jurisdiction. It is the province of the War Department alone to make and unmake commands. I do not think that General Lee's new position confers power upon him in this respect.

Better have this matter clearly understood, so as at the outset to avoid confusion.

This order is in law illegal, and I would suggest should be repeated from your office at once.

MELTON.

[FEBRUARY 20, 1865.- For abstract of strength from the return of the Army of Northern Virginia, see Part I, p. 387.]