1. Redoubt A. -A mortar platform has been laid in the redan of the covered way and a 10-inch siege mortar has been mounted.

2. Redoubt B (Fort Morgan). -The revetment of the covered way has been repaired; a 10-inch siege mortar has been mounted in the redan of the covered way. Two additional guns have been mounted.

3. Redoubt C. -The main work has been completed. Three guns-one a 7-inch, rifled and banded, and two 32-pounder smooth-bores-have been mounted.

4. Redan between Redoubts E and F-situated immediately north of the shell road, between the Spring Hill railroad and Dauphin way-has been commenced and half completed. The work will mount four field or siege pieces.

5. Redout F. -The bastionettes have been completed. A 13-inch mortar has been mounted in the northwest bastionettes. The bomb- proof, posterns, and kitchens have been framed and raised and are ready for being covered with earth.

6. Redan between Redoubts F and G-situated forty yards south of Dauphin way-has been commenced, and like the redan between E and F, half completed. The work will mount four field or siege pieces, with traverses between them. Under two of the traverses small service magazines, 6*6*10 have been constructed.

7. Redoubt G. -The timber for the bomb-proof has been hauled.

8. Redan between Redoubts G and H-situated twenty yards south of Government street-has been commenced.

9. Redoubt H. -The bomb-proof has been covered with earth. The two flank faces have been sodded, the drains been reopened. (This work had been abandoned for nearly three months.) The bastionettes have been finished and one. *

[V. SHELIHA,

Lieutenant-Colonel and Chief Engineer.]

WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A.,

Richmond, Va., August 1, 1864.

General R. E. LEE:

GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of the 28th ultimo, relative to the orders given Brigadier-General Morgan. It only reached me this morning when I was abut to address you on the suggestion of the President in reference to a telegram lately received from General Morgan, stating that he did not consider his department threatened at present, and proposing an expedition to interrupt General Sherman's communication. As the most satisfactory mode of presenting the whole matter, I send herewith a copy of the telegram and the President's indorsement upon it. + It is difficult to reconcile General Morgan's assurance of security with his previous information and the strong representations of danger made to the Department by Senator Haynes and others. It is probable he may have obtained subsequently more reliable information that the enemy had withdrawn or abandoned their threatening designs, but I think the probability is that, acting on your suggestion,, he has obtained General Breckinridge's consent to the retention of Vaughn's brigade with him, and that he deems that force adequate to defend the salt-works. If he could be safely spared for such and enterprise as he proposes it might prove advantageous, but he is only too apt to be seduced off by the prospect of an independent and adven-

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*Balance of report missing.

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+See p. 735.