here for men, money munitions of war, arms, wagons, mules, harness, and, in short, everything necessary to carry on the war. From the very extent of the country, these immense resources are in danger, and unless energetic and judicious preparations are made in anticipation of attack by the enemy, many of them may be destroyed, when probably all might be saved by timely action. It is for this reason that I laid before the War Department, in January last, a plan for the defense of Texas, a duplicate of which I send with this.*

This plan provides for four geographical sub-districts, with a brigadier-general to each and a major-general to each two, one of the latter to be stationed at San Antonio and the other at Houston, the headquarters of the major-general commanding to be wherever the exigencies of the service require.

Since the arrival of Lieutenant-General Smith, he has ordered the establishment of a third sub-district in the north, in order to protect the wheat crops, now threatened from Kansas and Arkansas. Three additional sub-districts should be established on the coast, viz, one from the Rio Grande to the Nueces, one from the Nueces to the Colorado, one from the Colorado to the Sabine, and one sub-district in Northern Texas. I recommended Brigadier-General Bee to command on the Rio Grande; Brigadier General Tom Green, if appointed and not ordered elsewhere, to command between the Nueces and Colorado; Colonel X. B. Debray to command the Eastern Sub-District, from the Colorado to the Sabine, and to be made brigadier-general for that purpose; and Colonel S. P. Bankehad to be made brigadier-general, and to command the Northern District of Texas, to which he is now assigned. This officer, I am officially in formed, has been recommended to the War Department for the commission of brigadier-general by General Bragg and Lieutenant General L. Polk. He is well qualified.

The promotion of Colonel Luckett to the Arizona Brigade would not interfere in the least with this arrangement.

The number of troops under my command aggregate, including those-some 4,600-sent to Louisiana, is about 15,000 present and absent; that would require five brigadiers, at 3,000 men to each brigade; besides, it will be seen by the inclosed correspondence between the Governor of this State and myself that 10,000 State troops will be organized for service in a short time, and they will be called out when necessary, but always without brigadiers, and they will be attached to the brigade already formed.

I request particularly that Colonel S. P. Bankhead, chief of artillery in this district, be made brigadier-general of artillery, which can be done in accordance with law, as there are a sufficient number of guns here to authorizent; or that he may be made a brigadier-general in the line, and ordered to report to me, so that I may be able to maintain him in the command of the wheat region. One of the colonels under him ranks him as colonel, but is not competent to the discharge of the difficult duties which will devolve upon Colonel Bankhead; therefore, I have been compelled to place this officer on other duty, so as to remove for the moment the obstacle to Colonel Bankhead's command. This cannot last, and I beg that the honorable Secretary of War will act upon my recommendations without delay, otherwise it will be impossible to administer this district with success.

The number of officers asked for by me may appear large, but when the circumstances above detailed are taken into consideration, it will be

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*See Series I, Vol. XV, p. 932.

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