HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA,
Goldsborough, February 15, 1862.

General S. COOPER,

Adjutant and Inspector General, Richmond, Va.:

GENERAL: I have the honor to report that Colonel Leventhorpe, with the Thirty-fourth Regiment North Carolina troops, is at this time on the Lower Roanoke, to prevent the boats of the enemy ascending that stream; that Colonel Hoke, with the Thirty-eighth North Carolina troops, is in the vicinity of Weldon, to protect the bridge and railroad at that point; and that Boulders section of a light battery has just left for the letter place. I hear from persons passing that Colonel Clarke's regiment and other troops are at Weldon, sent from Virginia, but cannot credit the statement, inasmuch as I have received no intimation of the movement of these troops into this department from your office, nor have the commanders reported to me.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. C. GATLIN,

Brigadier-General, Commanding.

FEBRUARY 15, 1862.

WELDON N. EDWARDS,

President of North Carolina Convention, Raleigh:

Your dispatch received. The defense of North Carolina occupies my anxious attention. I am sending there all the aid I can procure. I prefer not to send back the North Carolina troops referred to. The exigency which caused them to be sent to South Carolina is not less pressing now than at the time of their assignment to the defense of that locality, and they could only be withdrawn by substituting others. To be successful, the common means must be employed for the common defense, as its necessities require.*

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORFOLK,
Norfolk, Va., February 16, 1862.

General S. COOPER,

Adjutant and Inspector General:

SIR: I submit for the consideration of the Secretary of War a proposed arrangement of the brigades of this division, rendered necessary by the movement of the enemy.

I had sent the Sixth Virginia Regiment, Colonel Corprew, to the Currituck Bridge, with orders to hold that point and prevent the enemy from passing through the South Branch of the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal.

General Wise, on his retreat from Nag's Head, came to Currituck Bridge, assumed command, removed the battery of three 23-pounders erected there, and began abandoning the place before any enemy appeared. Soon after two or three gunboats came up, fired a few rounds, which fell short, and our troops left. The enemy have not advanced since, and our cavalry pickets are still there.

I had no report from General Wise for two days, but heard he was

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*See Davis to Avery, February 18, p. 435.

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