Colonel Shaw, which after several days' duty in Battery Wagner outside of the bomb-proofs, and all the while exposed to the enemy's shot and shell, with no other protection except that offered by the comparatively low parapet on the right of the work, was obliged to spend the eighth day in the sand between Battery Wagner and Fort Gregg, and there, with a portion of the Fifty-fourth Georgia Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Rawls, and part the Sixty-first North Carolina, under Captain Mallett, was exposed to an extraordinary fire from the fleet. Induced doubtless by the presence of a large number of our troops there, the Ironsides, monitors, and some of the wooden vessels of the enemy kept up a most rapid asnd dangerous fire for many hours at close range. This fire was sustained by the men and officers with as much coolness and courage as any troops ever exhibited.

Very respectfully,

T. L. CLINGMAN,

Brigadier-General.

[28.]

SPECIAL ORDERS,
ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL'S OFFICE, No. 248.
Richmond, Va., October 19, 1863.

* * * * * *

XVIII. The commanding generals at Charleston, S. C., and Wilmington, N. C., will afford to the late acting British consuls in their respective departments the necessary facilities for holding communication with any of Her Majesty's ship arriving at ports within their command.

By command of the Secretary of War:

John WITHERS,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

[28.]

WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A.,

Richmond, Va., October 22, 1863.

His Excellency M. L. BONHAM,

Governor of South Carolina, Columbia, S. C.:

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge your letter, inlosing resolutions of the General Assembly of South Carolina asking that a force "be placed within convenient distance of the gaps of the mountains by which the State may be entered from Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina."* The resolutions of the General Assembly shall receive early and respectful consideration, with every disposition on my part to afford all the means of defense against the incursions of the enemy which the more pressing needs of the general service will allow. The General Assembly, as well as Your Excellency, must recognize that permanent security in any locality can only be obtained by success in the larger arenas of conflict, and that for such success concentration of our armies is essential, notwihstanding the liability which may result to many districts of exposure to the raids of the enemy. It is hoped, therefore, that the inability of the Department to afford the defense requested will be ascribed only to deficiency of adequatere resources, and not to insensibility to the wishes of your State.

With high esteem,

JAMES A. SEDDON,

Secretary of War.

[28.]

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*See duplicate, transmitted to General Beauregard, VOL. XXVIII, Part II, p.422.

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