ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, December 17, 1861.

Major General H. W. HALLECK, U. S. Army,

Saint Louis, Mo.:

The General-in-Chief says send 1,100 men, taken from unarmed regiments in Missouri and Illinois, for service in gun-boats. sailors cannot be shipped fast enough.

L. THOMAS,

Adjutant-General.

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, December 17, 1861.

Lieutenant Colonel E. BACKUS,

Mustering Officer, Detroit, Mich.:

COLONEL: In reply to your letter of the 9th instant, I am instructed to direct you not to muster into service any recruits who may have been imported from Canada for the purpose of filling up the regiments now organizing in your vicinity, and not to muster in the men of any regiment unless satisfied that all its recruits have been enlisted within the limits of the United States.

I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

Washington, D. C., December 18, 1861.

Governor YATES,

Springfield, Ill.:

We have arranged to send 10,000 stand of arms to you, and 1,000 for Mulligan's regiment, in addition to the 8,000 sent to Cairo. We will do all that is possible for you in the way of cavalry equipment.

THOMAS A. SCOTT,

Assistant Secretary of War.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,

Albany, December 18, 1861.

Brigadier General J. G. TOTTEN,

Chief of Engineers, &c., Washington, D. C.:

GENERAL: On the 15th of November I had the honor of addressing you on the subject of the port and harbor defenses of this State. As I then said, the Honorable the Secretary of State had invited my co-operation with the Government in carrying into effect proper measures for State. I immediately assured him of my great willingness to aid in the matter to any required extent, and requested him to select a proper agent of the Government to confer with me in relation to a system of defense as he had proposed. In his reply Mr. Seward informed me that the correspondence on the subject had been referred by the Department of War to the military engineers. I then wrote you as above stated. In your answer under date of the 27th ultimo you informed me that you would respond to any communication without unnecessary delay. I had also the honor of a personal interview with you on my late visit to Washington.