CHARLESTON, S. C., December 28, 1862.

S. R. MALLORY,

Secretary of Navy, Richmond, Va.:

General Cobb requests gunboat Chattahoochee be ordered down to defend obstruction in Apalachicola River until batteries are completed.

G. T. BEAUREGARD,

General, Commanding.

CHARLESTON, S. C., December 28, 1862.

Brigadier General W. H. C. WHITING, Wilmington, N. C.:

War Department informs me Charleston will be attacked this week; must therefore recall my troops. After departure of Forty-sixth Georgia send regiment of troops from Savannah, then a Carolina regiment,

and so on. Select between 42-pounder and 10-inch columbiad from Richmond, and send other gun here. Answer.

G. T. BEAUREGARD.

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPT. OF S. C., GA., AND FLA., Numbers 132.
Charleston, S. C., December 28, 1862.

I. Paragraph I, General Orders, Numbers 21, current series, from these headquarters, dated May 28, 1862, is revoked, and the following are announced as the existing sub-divisions of this department:

1st. The First Military District of South Carolina, Brigadier General R. S. Ripley commanding, embraces the works for the defense of the harbor and approaches to the city of Charleston, limited on the east by the South Santee River and on the west by the Stono and Rantowles Creek.

2nd. The Second Military District of South Carolina, Brigadier General Johnson Hagood commanding, extending from the western limit of the First District to the Ashepoo River.

3rd. The Third Military District of South Carolina, Brigadier General W. S. Walker commanding, is limited on the east by the Second Military District and on the west by the Savannah River.

4th. The Fourth Military District of South Carolina, Brigadier General J. H. Trapier commanding, is bounded on the southwest by the South Santee River and on the northeast by the boundary line between the States of North and South Carolina.

5th. The District of Georgia, Brigadier General H. W. Mercer commanding, embraces the State of Georgia, excluding the defense of the Apalachicola River and its main affluent.

6th. The District of East Florida, Brigadier General Joseph Finegan commanding, including all that portion of the State of Florida lying east of the Suwannee River.

7th. The District of Middle Florida, Brigadier General Howel Cobb commanding, to embrace that portion of Florida between the Suwannee and Choctawhatchee Rivers, and including all works for the defense of the Apalachicola and its main affluent.

II. Each military district will be regarded as a division organization and command, and the several staff departments therein will be organized accordingly.

By command of General Beauregard:

THOMAS JORDAN,

Chief of Staff and Assistant Adjutant General.