[Indorsement.]

T. T. Herridge will forward this to General Chalmers immediately, and if he is absent carry it to General Bragg, as the information is all fully reliable and may be of some importance at headquarters.

Very respectfully,

P. D. RODDEY,

Captain, &c.

P. S.-I think that General Pope's division is on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, or probably now moving in the direction of Iuka.

Very respectfully,

P. D. R.

GRENADA, MISS., June 17, 1862.

ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL,

Headquarters Department, Grenada, Miss.:

MAJOR: In conformity with instructions from the general commanding I have the honor to submit the following information relative to the character of the country lying north of the Tallahatchie River:

By personal observation and by reliable information gathered from various sources the stretch of country alluded to as a theater of defensive military operations is untenable. It is an open and wide-settled country. The plantations are numerous and extensive. Excellent and well-established roads at short intervals intersect each other throughout the country and merge either with the roads leading to Memphis or to the points on the railroads suited to the shipment of the common staple. There is no position of which I am informed that does not admit of a number of approaches, a fact that renders a small force operating against a large one unavailable. Doubtless large quantities of cotton still remain in the hands of the planters, and with the advantages which the enemy posses will be secured. There may be positions at the forks of creeks and at remote and small farms which will be overlooked by the enemy, but the necessities of some and the lukewarmness of others in the cause may possibly induce them to dispose of their staples to the enemy rather than resort to the course which both law and patriotism direct. It may not be improper to remark here that Captain Thomason's company (unattached Arkansas volunteers) is guarding the railroad bridge over the Tallahatchie River under my instructions. It will be for the general commanding to decide whether its services in that direction are any longer required.

I have the honor to be, major, your obedient servant,

B. D. HARMAN,

Colonel, Commanding Harman's Confederate Regiment.

HEADQUARTERS WESTERN DEPARTMENT,
Tupelo, Miss., June 17, 1862.

Colonel J. D. MARTIN,

Colonel Commanding Post, Meridian:

COLONEL: Your several communications of the 16th instant have been received. The general commanding instructs me to reply that he approves of your proceedings in the collection of stragglers, &c. Also in the appointment of Captain R. Y. Rew as provost-marshal. Should you