is hereby constituted in this department, and will embrace all the territory east and north of the Santee and South Santee Rivers. Brigadier General James H. Trapier is assigned to the command. He will establish his headquarters at or near Georgetown, as he may find practicable.

* * * * * *

By command of General Beauregard:

JNO. M. OTEY,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

HDQRS. DEPT. OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA, Charleston, S. C., November 7, 1862.

Brigadier General H. W. MERCER,
Commanding, &c., Savannah, Ga.:

GENERAL: I am instructed by the general commanding to direct that you call on Commodore Tatnall to suggest some little improvement in connection with the fitting out of the small gunboat (not iron-clad), armed with heavy guns, to be placed in position in a cut near the obstructions especially intended for that defense.

It is that an iron-clad shield be adapted on board to protect the guns; also a levee be thrown up all around the boat sufficiently high and strong as to secure its thorough protection, thus saving time, labor, and expense of laying foundations for land batteries, allowing each gun to fire through one or two embrasures, the latter being as small as possible.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. N. TOUTANT BEAUREGARD,

Aide-de-Camp.

CHARLESTON, November 8, 1862.

Brigadier General THOMAS JORDAN, Chief of Staff:

GENERAL: By Special Orders, Numbers 210, paragraph III, from department headquarters, dated October 31, 1862, I am directed to take charge of the construction of marine torpedo ram, to examine and supervise all accounts for services and material, the disbursement of the funds provided by the State of South Carolina, and to make a weekly report to department headquarters of the progress made with the work.

In obedience to said orders I called to my assistance Mr. F. M. Jones, ship-carpenter, and Messrs. Cameron & Co., machinists. The former gentleman was warmly recommended to me by Naval Constructor Porter as the best person to accomplish the completion of the unfinished vessel transferred by the Navy Department, inasmuch as the work, so far as it had gone, had been performed by him. Mr. Taylor, machinist of the concern of Cameron & Co., having been already thoroughly informed as to my plans, I thought it best to employ the firm of which he is a member to execute all the iron work. The Navy Department having also transferred the engines and boilers for the ram, I obtained permission from department headquarters to send a special messenger to Richmond for the purpose of superintending the shipment of the same. I hope to be able to report the return of said messenger with machinery by the close of the next week.

During the past week Mr. F. M. Jones, ship-carpenter, has been engaged in filling in between the ribs of the vessel frame, rearranging the bow and stein to suit the new purpose to which the vessel is to be