SPECIAL ORDERS, ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL'S OFFICE, Numbers 23.
Richmond, February 24, 1864.

General Braxton Bragg is assigned to duty at the seat of government, and, under the direction of the President, is charged with the conduct of the military operations in the armies of the Confederacy.

By order:

S. COOPER,
Adjutant and Inspector General.

SPECIAL ORDERS, ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL'S OFFICE, Numbers 45.
Richmond, Va., February 24, 1864.

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XIII. Major General G. E. Pickett will immediately dispatch to Lexington, N. C., a sufficient force to repress the mob and to protect the public property at that place.

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By command of the Secretary of War:

JNO. WITHERS,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

SURGEON-GENERAL'S OFFICE, C. S. ARMY,

Richmond, Va., February 24, 1864.

Honorable JAMES A. SEDDON,

Secretary of War:

SIR: I beg leave to state that the letter of the general commanding the Army of Northern Virginia, respecting the discontinuance of certain hospitals, has received due attention. Owing to the excellent health of the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia, many of the hospitals have been closed, and others temporarily, especially those in the city of Richmond. (See letter to Medical Director Carrington on this subject, which is inclosed.) The general is under the impression that the detailed nurses (soldiers) are able-bodied men. This is a great mistake; they are all disabled by reason of disability, and have been detailed for hospital duty on this account. To show that proper measures have been taken by this bureau to return even these soldiers to their commands, I refer to inclosed circular from this office, dated August 11, 1863. In accordance with this circular, 376 detailed hospital attendants have been returned to their commands. The law requiring examining boards to furlough soldiers who will to be fit for duty in thirty days is another cause for the small number of patients than are at present in hospitals. If medical officers are required in the Army of Northern Virginia, it is the duty of the medical director to notify me of his wants; they have heretofore received prompt attention. The general must be aware there are other armies that require hospital accommodations. The medical director of General Longstreet's army, for instance, has asked me for 10,000 beds. Where are they to be had if the larger hospitals enumerated by general Lee are closed? I appears to be the impression that hospitals can be put