RICHMOND, September 18, 1863.

Major S. P. MITCHELL:

(Care of Colonel Branch, quartermaster, Petersburg.)

All orders for the shipment of artillery horses by rail are by order of the Secretary of War countermanded, and none of the battalions with the exception of Alexander's will be sent west until further orders. The horses of Alexander's battalion will be retained here. Communicate this dispatch to Major Dearing.

J. B. WALTON,

Colonel and Chief of Artillery, Commanding.

[29.]

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPT. OF NORTH CAROLINA, Numbers 1.
September 24, 1863.

I. In accordance with Special Orders, Numbers 226, Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, Richmond, September 23, 1863, the undersigned assumes command of the Department of North Carolina, the limits of which embrace all the district between the Appomattox and Cape Fear Rivers. The headquarters of this department are established at Petersburg.

II. The following is announced as the staff of the major-general commanding: Major Charles Pickett, chief of staff; Major Walter Harrison, assistant adjutant and inspector general; Captain E. R. Baird, aide-de-camp; Captain W. Stuart Symington, aide-de-camp; Captain R. A. Bright, aide-de-camp; Captain S. G. Leitch, chief of ordnance; Major R. T. Scott, chief quartermaster; Major H. W. Jones, chief commissary of subsistence; Surg. M. M. Lewis, chief surgeon; Captain Raymond Fairfax, chief of pioneer party; Lieutenant John R. Gossett, provost-marshal; Lieutenant J. S. Morrison, engineer.

G. E. PICKETT,

Major-General, Commanding.

[29.]

HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY CORPS,
September 25, 1863.

[General R. E. LEE:]

GENERAL: I have received from my scouts in the rear some additional items. A prisoner from Sedgwick's corps says he had in that corps eight days' rations issued on the 22d; that a general move will take place in two days from the 23d. The enemy have moved from El Dorado up to Stone House Mountain. Sedgwick's corps is estimated at 9,000. An officer of Second North Carolina Cavalry reports being compelled to shoot one of our deserters who would not surrender. The deserter gave his name as Thomas Fletcher. An intelligent scout from near Manassas says on the 20th three trains of flats loaded with troops came up toward Culpeper. About 5,000 marched up the same day from Centerville toward Bealeton. Three trains came up on the 21st and on the 22nd with conscripts. A train of twenty pontoon wagons with bridge fixtures and boats passed up (probably the same Mosby reported). General Fitz. Lee has received the substance of the above from other sources. The 5,000 is probably Heitzelman with his City Defense troops.

Most respectfully,

J. E. B. STUART,

Major-General.

[29.]

49 R R - VOL LI, PT II