WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A.,

Richmond, Va., January 26, 1862.d

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Centreville, Va.:

SIR: The accounts which have reached us of the condition of the army in the Valley District fill us with apprehension, especially when connected with the fact reported by you of the movement of large bodies of the enemy to Harpers Ferry. The President, there ore, request that you will, as promptly as possible, examine for yourself into the true state of the case, take such measures as you think prudent under the circumstances, and report to the Department whether any measures are necessary on its part to restore the efficient of that army, said to be seriously impaired.

Your obedient servant,

J. P. BENJAMIN,

Secretary of War.

WAR DEPARTMENT C. S. A.,

Richmond, Va., January 27, 1862.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON,

Commanding Department of Northern Virginia, Centreville, Va.:

SIR: Congress has provided by law for the appointment of field officers of artillery in the Provisional Army in proportion to the number of guns in each command. You are respectfully requested to report, as early as convenient, the number of guns in each of the three armies under your command, and a list of the artillery officers in each army in the order of their merit, so as to assist the President in doing justice to your meritious subordinates by proper promotion. It would be agreeable to us to have a like prepared separately by the commanders of each of the three armies in relation to the officers his command, so as to compare the estimates made of their respective merits, and thus increase the probability of doing exact justice to all.

Your obedient servant,

J. P. BENJAMIN,

Secretary of War.

HEADQUARTERS, Centreville, January 28, 1862..

GENERAL S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General:

SIR: I am informed that General Orders, Numbers 2 [of 6th instant], has been distributed to the "war regiments" of this army.

A recent order of the Secretary of War directs, me to send to Richmond 6,000 of the muskets belong to our absent sick. This deprives the different regiments of the of arming their men who return from the hospitals, even, and of course there are no arms for recruits. I shall not, under such circumstances, permit the expense of recruiting to be without additional orders.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. E. JOHNSTON,

General.