Alfred Roman, The military operations of General Beauregard in the war between the states, 1861 to 1865

[164] all our efforts in a last deadly struggle, and, with God's help, we shall yet triumph.

I regret I have not time to pay you a short visit, to present you my views more fully, and to discuss with you our future operations.

Wishing you ample success, I remain, sincerely your friend,

G. T. Beauregard.

Headquarters, Department S. C., Ga., and Fla., Charleston, S. C., Oct. 8th, 1863.
Brig.-General R. S. Ripley, Comdg. First Mil. Dist., etc., etc.:

General,—It is the wish of the Commanding General that you should at once have inquiries made where the fault lies in Evans's brigade not being properly supplied with ammunition.

With the exception of the 22d South Carolina Volunteers, now on Sullivan's Island, none of the regiments are completely supplied with the regulation number of forty rounds.

The 23d Regiment, stationed some seven miles from Brigade Headquarters, is extremely deficient, and has no immediate means of replacing any necessary consumption, as all ordnance wagons and ordnance sergeants are attached to Brigade Headquarters, and not with their respective regiments.

Those regiments that are armed with rifles of 54 calibre say that the ordnance officer of the brigade cannot supply the required ammunition.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

H. W. Fielden, Capt., and Asst. Adjt.-General.

Headquarters, Department S. C., Ga., and Fla., Charleston, S. C., Oct. 28th, 1863.
Major-General J. F. Gilmer, Second in Command, etc., Savannah, Ga.:

General,—On examination I find that General Mercer has now thirty-four companies in his command, on duty as heavy artillery, while the number of companies here, for manning all the batteries around Charleston, does not exceed thirty-eight. Of course, to man all his batteries on the most efficient footing, he has not too many—indeed, not as many as it would be desirable for him to have—but, relatively, it would appear that his force of heavy artillery is too large, and may be reduced without material detriment, when we consider the demands of the service elsewhere in the Department, and the chances for operations, or the risk of any serious movement for the reduction of Savannah, at least without some notice. Accordingly, Company E, 12th Battalion Georgia Volunteers, has been ordered here to join the rest of the battalion, and it will be well to see that it is replaced by a company of Olmstead's regiment (1st Georgia Volunteers), as there is one company of that regiment already there, and it is desirable to have homogeneity in the composition of these garrisons.

There are, moreover, three companies (F, H, and I) of the 54th Regiment (Way's) Georgia Volunteers in the District of Georgia—two at Rosedew, and one at Beaulieu—on heavy artillery duty, which, I have suggested to the General, ought to be brought here for James Island and consolidated with the