now on picket at Jericho Run. There are four companies of negroes now on picket; the remainder of the regiment is about eigh miles below town. The Yankees in town since Friday, when two white men and two negroes rode down to the wharf and returned immediately.

J. L. TOMLINSON,

Lieutenant, Commanding Scouts.

T. L. CLINGMAN,

Brigadier-General.

[33.]

PLYMOUTH, April 19, 1864.

(Via Rocky Mount, 20th.)

The PRESIDENT:

General Hoke has succeeded in carrying two strong outworks. The prospect is good for capturing the place. Captain Cooke is co-operating. The general wishes to know if successful here, whether to still move on New Berne. It will require ten days and 10,000 men.

J. T. WOOD,

Colonel and Aide-de-Camp.

[33.]

HEADQUARTERS FORCES BLACKWATER,
Franklin, Va., April 19, 1864.

General G. E. PICKETT,

Commanding Department of North Carolina, Petersburg, Va.:

GENERAL: I forward copy of dispatch from Confederate agent to General Ransom. The information tallies with all indications that have recently come under my knowledge, and I consider it important.

Respectfully,

JOEL R. GRIFFIN,

Colonel, Commanding Forces.

[Inclosure.]

APRIL 16, 1864.

General RANSOM:

DEAR SIR: I have been informed through a source perfectly reliable that [in] the contemplated attack on Richmond this spring the Yankees intend dividing their forces into three divisions. One division will advance upon the Rapidan, another upon the Peninsula, and the third by the way of Suffolk and Blackwater to Weldon. My informant has ascertained through a person familiar with their programme that the route by Kinston has been abandoned on account of its length and that they have determined to possess the Weldon bridge at all hazards. The attack upon it will be in very large force, so as to capture it if it is possible. If successful, the same army will proceed on to Petersburg and attack Richmond from that direction. My informant was shown maps of all the country around Weldon and Petersburg. The attack upon the Rapidan, my informant thought, would be only a feint. The strong effort would be made in the other two directions. He was also told that Burnside was accumulating a very large force at Annapolis to be in readiness at any moment, and that large quantities of stores and ammunition had already been deposited at Fortress Monroefor a raid simultaneous movement of the army, whenever in readiness for operation. The Yankees have been delayed in their movements by the bad