CHARLESTON, S. C.,

August 19, 1863-9 a. m.

Colonel J. GORGAS,

Chief of Ordnance, Richmond, Va.:

Several weeks since transferred temporarily two 10-inch columbiads from Savannah to harbor batteries on Sullivan's and James Islands, where they are indispensable. Can they not be replaced from Richmond?

G. T. BEAUREGARD.

HDQRS. DEPT. SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA,
Charleston, S. C., August 19, 1863.

D. B. HARRIS,

Lieutenant-Colonel, and Chief Engineer:

COLONEL: Castle Penckney must now be put in a condition, as soon as practicable, to become an effective part of the interior lines, to which end all labor, and filled sand-bags and other material, should be diverted from Fort Sumter that evidently cannot be applied there to prolong its defense to any material extent, and used for traverses and a protection to the scarp wall of the former work.

Fort Moultrie should be supplied amply with empty sand-bags, for the building of traverses now and hereafter.

The covered way between Fort Moultrie and Battery Beauregard must be put in effective condition as soon as practicable.

Construct a battery for two 10-inch columbiads near the new wharf on James Island.

Three platforms for columbiads will be sufficient for the present in the battery near the Martello Tower, and the same number at the battery ordered near the wharf at Fort Johnson.

Have as many torpedoes prepared as possible, to be sent afloat should the enemy force his way into the harbor.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

THOMAS JORDAN,

Chief of Staff.

(Copy for Brigadier General R. S. Ripley, commanding First Military District, South Carolina, Charleston, S. C.)

WAR DEPARTMENT,

Richmond, August 19, 1863.

R. R. CUYLER, Esq.,

Savannah, Ga.:

SIR: I feel assured I shall be excused for appealing to your sense of patriotic duty to render all the efficient aid in your power to the transportation of necessary supplies in Southern Georgia, on which we must mainly depend for the support of our army, as well in Virginia as in Tennessee and South Carolina.

For the next sixty days here must be great strain on the resources of transportation to give even a moderate support to those armies. Your own energy and ability, as well as the resources of the road under your charge, encourage me to hope that, if you will devote especial attention to the accomplishment of the end, it will be suc-