opinion on these subjects, and therefore beg to refer you to the recent letter of Colonel Leadbetter, which I left with you, and which I desire you will forward to me at Mobile, that I may lay it before Colonel Maury and Colonel Gardner at an early day. I have examined Forts Morgan and Gaines with all the care I could, and it seems to my uneducated eye that with the large guns which they are prepared to receive no vessel could enter the channel to Mobile. Then the first thing to be done, it seems to me, is to see that a sufficient number of large guns be sent forward to their destination to enable these forts to reach with certainty everng to pass, and to return an effective fire upon every vessel of war that may attempt to throw shot and shell into them from a distance, out of range of the present armaments of these forts, one of which at least (Gaines) does not pretend to be bomb-proof. It strikes me that the importance of Fort Gaines rests mainly on the fact that there is a channel near it which will admit of vessels of considerable size, and that this channel is so far from Morgan as to render the fire of the guns from Morgan on a moving object unreliable. If Gaines were destroyed, as it can be by a fire thrown from out of the range of its guns, I see no certainty of preventing armed vessels of light-draft from passing into Mobile Bay. To make the direct approaches to Mobile by water perfectly secure, it seems to me there should be a light battery at Choctaw Point and one at the entance to Spanish River. Supposing the enemy prevented from coming to the city or within a few miles of it by water, and yet supposing him desirous of taking it, the reasonable conjecture is that he will land a force below and march to the city. The various channels from the Gulf into Mississippi Sound and the number of excellent landing-places on the sound would enable him to do this without encountering any other obstacle than such as he might meet with from the main coast. Once on land, he would find a sparsely populated country, with excellent roads to the city. Or, should Grant's Pass not be defended, he could by light vessels come to Mobile through this pass. But I learn that Grant's Pass is defended; and if not, it can be so easily done that I pass this matter without further comment and return to the question of repelling the enemy should he attempt to come into the sound and land and march on the city.

At present I know of no available force to prevent this, and yet the matter is of easy and cheap attainment. It does not strike me, however, that this is to be done by planting batteries along the coast, for these cannot be placed all along the shore, and hence the enemy would select some point for landing where you had no batteries and turn around the defenses. The coast then must be defended by a movable force of artillery, infantry, and cavalry, and it would not require a large one of either. What are the means at hand to obtain these? First. There is an excellent cavalry company now doing duty as scouts on the coast which I think would be sufficient for this arms. It is in service under General Twiggs. My idea is that we only want cavalry enough to keep a sharp lookout for the approach of the enemy by sea, so that the land forces may have timely warning of when and where to act. The company of light artillery in Mobile may need a gun or two, and a few horses, carriages, and caissons to make it complete. It needs mustering into service and drilling. The members of it would not probably go into service for the war, nor without some assurances that they were to serve near home, for the members are men of family, and generally are not in a condition to go far from home for a long time. The horses necessary, as well as the other equipments named, can be easily and quickly procured in Mobile at moderate cost. There are