HAVANA, July 22, 1864.

Major General J. B. MAGRUDER,

Commanding District of Texas, &c., Houston:

GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt, with much pleasure and satisfaction, of your communication ofthe 8th instant, in reply to my letter of the 24th ultimo, and to say it is just such a note as I expected at you hands when fully advised of all the circumstances to which the correspondence refers, and in dismissing the subject will again assure you that I will do everything in my power to forward such army supplies as you require. Funds, however, are more needed here at this moment than at any previous time, and Texas is expected to contribute largely and promptly, to enable me to supply her with the means of defense, and I respectfully request you to urge this upon those in charge of the Cotton Bureau. The Susanna sails again to- morrow, and takes 600 Enfield rifles (400 on Government and 200 on ship's account), as many as her owners say she can carry. I have the honor to inclose you herewith a dispatch* from the Honorable James A. Seddon, Secretary of War, to General E. Kirby Smith, open to be read by you and forwarded to that general. The dispatch will sufficiently explain itself.

I am, general, with great respect,you obedient servant,

CH. J. HELM.

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. TRANS- MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT, Numbers 57.
Shreveport, La., July 23, 1864.

I. General Orders, Numbers 19, current series,fro these headquarters, is amended to allow to the batteries, one ix- mule forage wagon for every thirty- six animals.

II. Enrolling officers will cause to be arrested and sent to their commands or to camps of instruction, all able- bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty- five years(except artizans, mechanics, and persons of scientific skill) who may be found in the employment of quartermasters, commissaries, ordnance officers, navy agents, provost- marshals, and officers oft he conscript service,a nd will promptly report, through the Bureau of Conscription, such officers as have such persons in their employ, accompanied with the affidavit of some credible person to the fact that charges amy be preferred against them according to the act of Congress. No details from any source, except those from department headquarters specially exempting the parties under the law for a limited time will protect employes from this order. Assessors and collectors of Confederate taxes, officers of the Confederate Treasury, and emoloyes of the Niter and Mining Bureau, and the Adjutant General's Department, will not be interfered with until they can be replaced with competent and creditable persons from the Reserve Corps, or those fund unfit for field service. Nor will this order apply to the parties of herders, drovers, &c. made up by the agent of Major R. A. Howard,until such parties can be completed,and lists of these furnished to department headquarters for approval.

By command of General E. Kirby Smith:

S. S. ANDERSON,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

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*Not found as an inclosure.

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