Mess or smoke beef to the ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pound. . . . 3/4

Flour to the ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . do . . . . . 1

Corn-meal to the ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . do . . . . . 1

Hard bread to the ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . do . . . . . 3/4

Peas or beans, in lieu of rice, to the 100 rations . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quarts. . . . . . . 8

Rice to the 100 rations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pounds . . . . . . 10

Vinegar to the 100 rations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . gallon . . . . . 1

Soap to the 100 rations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pounds . . . . . . 4

Molasses, in lieu of meat, to the 100 rations. . . . . . . Gallons. . 3

Lard, in lieu of meat, to the 100 rations. . . . . . . . . . . Pound. . . . 1/2

When practicable, two-sevenths flour and five-sevenths corn-meal will be issued. DIVISION commanders are charged with the duty of supplying green corn in quantities to make up the deficiencies in the ration of corn-meal. The ration of bacon has been reduced to one-THIRD of a pound by order of the War Department.

III. Inspectors of commissary stores for condemnation or disposal will be made by brigade, DIVISION, or army inspectors, or some officer of the Inspector-General's Department, specially designated by the Inspector-General for that purpose. In cases where delay would cause further damage and loss to the Government, as in cases of condemned flour or meal, bacon or beef, the inspection and recommendation of the brigade, DIVISION, or army inspector shall be sufficient. In all other cases the approval of the Inspector-General of the Army must be had.

IV. DIVISION commanders will require provision returns to be made up for DIVISIONS, based on actual strength present, including officers and authorized servants, with 10 per cent. added for contingencies, and the correctness of same examined and approved by DIVISION commanders. The provision return will then be submitted by DIVISION commissaries to Major W. E. Moore, assistant chief of subsistence, who will compare the same with the morning report furnished him from this office, and, if found correct, will approve and order issue.

* * * * * * * *

By command or General Johnston:

T. B. LAMAR,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

WARRENTON, N. C., August 11, 1863.

Honorable JAMES A. SEDDON, Secretary of War:

SIR: At our last interview I asked for five minutes of your attention, to enable me to speak of my service in Louisiana, which you promised, and I now avail myself of the promise.

The fall of Vicksburg enables me to say that it was not in my power, with less then a thousand men, to have prevented Grant's army (75,000 strong) from landing at Lake Providence, Milliken's Bend, or Young's Point, or from marching through Louisiana as it pleased Grant, and yet I have been denounced for not doing it!

The records of your office and the Adjutant-General's will show that from July, 1862, when I first went too Monroe, I was asking for troops to defend the country, and particularly the railroad from Vicksburg to Monroe, which I regarded as a vital element in the defense. At that time I had (nominally, for sickness was terrible) about 3,000 men, badly armed. It was thought by my superiors that the troops were not needed there, and the Thirtieth [Twenty-eighth] Regiment, Colonel [Henry] Gray, was sent to Southern Louisiana; the Thirty-first Regiment, Colonel [C. H.] Morrison, was sent to Vicksburg ; the Eleventh Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel [J. D. .] Shelley, was sent to Point Coupee, and the