HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES FORCES, Suffolk, Va.,
June 18, 1863.

Major-General DIX, Fort Monroe:

Colonel Spear is returning, his attempts to cross having been ineffectual. he proposed to make another effort below South Quay, but relinquished it, in accordance with orders predicated upon a dispatch from General Peck, received last evening.

MICHAEL CORCORAN,

Brigadier-General.

HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES FORCES, Suffolk, Va.,
June 18, 1863.

Major General JOHN A. DIX, Fort Monroe:

General Foster has returned with the infantry of the expedition. he concurs with me in the opinion that the river is now held by not more than two regiments of infantry. Colonel Spear found the fords all blockaded and guarded, with their opposite banks generally so steep that crossing, unless by bridges, was considered impracticable. The casualties of yesterday were 2 killed and 11 wounded. The battery, Sixteenth New York, started at 4. 30. Two regiments leave about 7.

MICHAEL CORCORAN,

Brigadier-General.

CHARLESTON, VA., June 18, 1863-9 p. m.

Major-General BUTTERFIELD,

Headquarters Army of the Potomac:

At the Blackwater only one brigade of North Carolina troops and one battery-in all, not over 2, 500 strong. Fifteen miles on the railroad to Petersburg, one company, doing picket duty-Fifty-fifth North Carolina-with one brigadier-general (Jenkins) commanding. At Petersburg, only one battalion, doing guard duty; no artillery that is manned. The guns are our 32-punders (long), and a few brass pieces-General D. H. Hill commanding. In North Carolina the whole force does not exceed 5, 000-General French commanding. Our advance on Richmond would be contested at South Anna; fortified pretty strongly. At Richmond, nothing but City Battalion. At Drewry's Bluff, two regiments; at Chaffin's, one regiment; at the Rocketts, one gunboat, iron-clad, General Elzey commanding land forces. General Hood's division is composed of Texas and Arkansas troops-First Texas and one division-about 7, 000 strong. Pickett's division is composed of Mississippi and Alabama troops. The First, Second, Eleventh, Eighteenth, and Forty-second Mississippi, Seventh Georgia, and Fourteenth Alabama, are the only numbers I could get. General Lee's whole force is 85, 000, and does not exceed that number. The present move is to divide our forces and dash into Washington. My authority is Colonel [W. B.] Lowry, of the Eleventh Mississippi, and Captain [W. N.] Starke, [assistant] adjutant-general, of A. P. Hill's staff.

M. P. HUNNICUTT,

Sergeant.