Yorktown. Wise has been chafing for a change and I am glad he has got it. He knows the country thoroughly and no doubt will do well.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,

ARNOLD ELZEY,

Major-General.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
April 6, 1863.

Major General ARNOLD ELZEY,

Commanding at Richmond, Va.:

GENERAL: General Longstreet contemplates a move across the Blackwater and thinks he may require more infantry and artillery than he now has. In that event, can you spare him either Wise's brigade or your artillery battalion, armed as infantry, with a light battery or two? As he will be in front of Richmond, and as there are now no Federal troops on the James River, except those in his front, I think you could re-enforce him with advantage. Please see the Secretary on the subject and communicate with General Longstreet.

I am, with great, respect, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE,

General.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
April 6, 1863.

Lieutenant General JAMES LONGSTREET,

Commanding, &c., Petersburg, Va.:

GENERAL: I have received your two letters of the 4th instant, inclosing one from General D. H. Hill, of the 2nd instant. General Hill seems to be operating judiciously and you have given him all that he requires. I hope therefore he may be successful and may not be obliged to storm the enemy's intrenchments, which might cause the loss of many of our brave men. I was in hopes he might have had enough troops in the Department of North Carolina for his military operations, and regret that he has to use Kemper's and Garnett's brigades for such work. You know how much depends on your divisions, and I wish to reserve them as much as possible. As to your own operations you must push them according to your own judgment, and I would recommend careful reconnaissances before attacking Suffolk or any other fortifications of the enemy, and that you endeavor to draw his forces out by threatening his communications. I think you will find none of Burnside's corps opposed to you. The troops in your front are those which have been at Norfolk and Old Point. Burnside's corps has certainly gone West. At the first intimation of its departure from Newport News a scout was dispatched to watch the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He proceeded as far as Ellicott's Mill and learned that the troops had been brought up the bay and were encamped around Baltimore. He saw them on their way over the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and counted some fifty-seven trains. He conversed with the men at some of the stations, who expressed great dissatisfaction at being transferred West; were fearful of the climate, their health, &c., and deserted on every opportunity that offered. The troops conveyed over this road were altogether infantry. If any artillery was taken West it was carried on the Pennsylvania Central road, which, I learn from other sources, was also used in the transportation of Burnside's corps.