command in the western country I have conceived to be to protect and keep open the trade with Mexico, the necessity for which increases with an increased vigilance of the enemy in blockading our ports. When Galveston falls, as it may, it will then, be our only source from which all the articles required to be purchased from abroad can be obtained. The question is, how can this best be effected? So long as the enemy can be kept on Brazos Island it will be too expensive, as well as inconvenient for him, to keep a corresponding force, which can alone be effective in injuring this trade. Should he be allowed to occupy Brownsville or Corpus Christi, he will have by spring excellent grass, and an opportunity of moving as large a portion of his troops as he may deem necessary. His force at present amounts to 1,600 infantry, 250 cavalry, 1 battery of artillery, and I am credibly informed that they are attempting to increase their cavalry force. To hold this force in check my force is about 1,500 effective men; 170 are in Northern Division under Colonel Pyron; a portion stationed at Camp Verde guarding country against depredations of Indians, daily occurring; another portion stationed at Eagle Pass, guarding trade in that direction as also protecting the country against Indians. The disturbed condition of country in Mexico, as well as on this side of the river, will not, in my opinion admit of the reduction of one man from this duty. On the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass to Edinburg a distance of 280 miles, I have a force of 200 men. This force is also engaged in protecting trade and watching bands of banditti in Mexico. From this latter I have been constantly in alarm since my arrival here, for fear they would be induced by the Yankees to make a raid through the country, capturing cotton and carrying it to Corpus Christi or Padre Island, the practicability of which can easily be seen by the map. Deducting the force required for the above and I hn for the purpose of watching this point, Corpus Christi, the coast, and scouting the country for jayhawkers, bands of deserters,&c., west of Guadalupe.

In accordance with orders, I have been busily engaged in ferreting out men belonging to other commands and sending them forward. The difference between the cost of a bale of cotton crossed at Rio Grande City and one brought down on this side is $16. 50. The difference upon imported articles will, of course, be the same. If this position is abandoned no one will be willing to haul on a line as low as Rio Grande City, and the trade will necessarily have to go to Laredo or Eagle Pass, which would almost double this amount, and at the price at which cotton ranges now would effectually put a stop to the trade; besides; if the forces are withdrawn the country will become filled with bands of deserters, jayhawkers,&c., which will require an army to remove, and the number of deserters from the armies in the est joining these hordes will be more than equal to the number of troops drawn from here. It is evident to me that by using my force as above stated I shall do more toward strengthening the army in the interior than by sending the small force here to their assistance. But this a question for the decision of the commanding general, and not for me. I shall therefore issue the order immediately for Giddings' battalion to proceed, to obey his orders. I do not send Showalter's regiment, as I do not know whether it is the general's intention for that to go. The same may be said of the battery, as in letter to General Magruder this regiment never was referred to as a part of Colonel Ford's command. However, no time will be lost, as the roads at present to do not admit of the movement of troops, and by the time they can get off the general will have had time to inform me of