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Headquarters, Military division of the West, White Oak, S. C., Feb. 19th, 1865:4.15 P. M.General,—General Beauregard directs me to inform you that the trains and infantry will turn off from this place, taking the road via Hazlewood and Rich Hill to Landsford, on the Catawba; thence they will move along the east bank of the Catawba to Belair; thence to Charlotte. He desires your cavalry to conform its movements accordingly, protecting the flanks and rear of the column. Thirty thousand (30,000) rations are still at Chesterville; if not needed by you, let the order be given for their removal. Should the report of the advance of the enemy in this direction be confirmed, the trains and troops will leave here about daylight in the morning. Respectfully, your obedient servant,
Lieut.-Genl. W. Hampton, Comdg. Cavalry:
Have ordered McLaws to move as rapidly as possible by rail to Greensboroa, N. C. Please communicate with him fully, and aid him all in your power. Am obliged to you for your information.
Orders for movement to Cheraw countermanded. Send infantry, with due proportion of artillery, by rail to Greensboroa, N. C., as rapidly as possible. Call upon General Bragg and Governor Vance for all the assistance in their power. Not a moment must be lost in executing this order. Leave your cavalry to protect country north of Santee River.
Headquarters, Petersburg, Feb. 19th, 1865.Sir,—The accounts received to-day from South and North Carolina are unfavorable. General Beauregard reports from Winnsboroa that four corps of the enemy are advancing on that place, tearing up the Charlotte Railroad, and that they will probably reach Charlotte by the 24th, and before he can concentrate his troops there, He states, General Sherman will doubtless move thence on Greensboroa, Danville, and Petersburg, or unite with General Schofield at Raleigh or Weldon. General Bragg reports that General Schofield is now preparing to advance from Newbern to Goldsboroa, and that a strong expedition is moving against the Weldon Railroad at Rocky Mount. He says that little or no assistance can be received from the State of North Carolina; that exemptions and reorganizations under late laws have disbanded the State forces, and that they will not be ready for the field for some time. I do not see how Sherman can make the march anticipated by General Beauregard; but he seems to have everything his own way, which is calculated to
His Excellency J. C. Breckinridge, Sec. of War, Richmond, Va.:
