MAY 3, 1863.

Captain CHARLES D. MYERS,

Commanding Officer, Petersburg, Va.:

Send forward during the night, as far as possible, not only the troops coming from North Carolina, but likewise the returned prisoners, with such arms as they have.

J. A. SEDDON.

WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A., Richmond, Va., May 3, 1863.

Captain CHARLES [D.] MYERS,

[A. A. G. to General French,] Petersburg, Va.:

Do not delay the North Carolina Troops by sending others. Prefer the former.

J. A. SEDDON,

Secretary of War.

WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A., Richmond, Va., May 3, 1863.

H. T. PARRISH,

Provost-Marshal, Farmville, Va.:

Raise the force, and be prepared. It is not believed, however, that the enemy is approaching Farmville.

J. A. SEDDON,

Secretary of War.

MAY 3, 1863.

Mr. R. H. VAUGHN,

Farmville, Va.:

Let Colonel Minor take command. It is not believed the enemy are moving in that direction. I have information that they turned down the river on this side.

J. A. SEDDON,

Secretary of War.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF WESTERN VIRGINIA, Dublin, May 3, 1863.

Brigadier General JOHN ECHOLS,
Commanding, &c., Monroe County, Va.:

GENERAL: Your telegram and letter were received late last evening. The electricity in the atmosphere delayed the telegram. Your message, telegraphed by Major McLaughlin from the Narrows, was received very soon after the first telegram, and put the Lewisburg affair in a very different light. I trust the second telegram gave the true version. If so, Edgar and his battalion behaved most nobly. But I am very uneasy for their safety.

I telegraphed you last night of the directions I had given to meet the difficulty. If it is only a cavalry raid, and that checked in the beginning at Lewisburg, we have but little to apprehend. The Forty-fifth [Virginia] must be in position by this time to support Edgar, and Derrick battalion is moving for the same purpose.