command behaved in a disgraceful manner. I was paroled for forty days, at the expiration of which time I was to report at Richmond, Va. I visited Washington to get to see you in regard to an exchange. You were absent from the city, but the Secretary of War gave me an order to Colonel Hoffman or any U. S. officer having charge of prisoners of war to make a special exchange for me on the basis of the cartel. Major-General Wright kindly took the matter in hand but has received no reply from the rebels. When General Buell was in this city he issued an order restoring me to duty agreeably to article 5 of the cartel, but General Bragg who has not been furnished with the agreement for the exchange of prisoners I suppose declined to allow me to be thus exchanged, whereupon General Buell notified me to continue on parole pending further negotiations in my case. He at once sent a copy of the cartel to Bragg, but since that time I have heard nothing in the case. I am expecting to hear from General Buell every day, but not knowing when I shall hear I have thought it proper to make this statement in order that you may know where I am. General Buell told me that the agreement for the exchange of prisoners requiring all to be exchanged or paroled within ten days after capture would render it unnecessary for me to report at Richmond, Va., agreeably to promise. I am very anxious to get on duty again and if you can help me in this matter I shall esteem it a personal favor. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Major-General GRANT: R. W. JOHNSON, Brigadier-General of Volunteers. CORINTH, October 9, 1862. Paroled now 813 enlisted men, 43 commissioned officers, in good health; about 700 Confederate wounded, already sent to Iowa, paroled; 350 wounded paroled here; cannot tell the number of dead yet. About 800 Confederates already buried; their loss about eight or ten to one of ours. Prisoners arriving by every wagon road and train; will send full reports as soon as possible. No return yet from the hospitals. The woods stink yet with unburied dead. Oglesby shot through the breast and ball lodged in the spine; hope for his recovery. No news from Rosecrans. I understand Hamilton's division, my regiment, and others left Rienzi yesterday at 4 p. m. for the West; nothing authentic from them. Hillyer is here. Shall I send any wounded Confederates to Saint Louis? Our hospitals are full of them. McKean telegraphs me he will be here this night. P. E. BURKE, Colonel Western Sharpshooters, 14th Missouri Vols., Comdg. MILITARY PRISON, Alton, Ill., October 9, 1862. Col. WILLIAM HOFFMAN: The provost-marshal-general at Saint Louis requires of me to make reports every two weeks of all prisoners received and released, and in short everything that you require, and he also claims entire control as I understand of the prison by sending orders by persons for me to let them visit their friends in prison, which orders I have protested against as I have received my instructions from you in print and otherwise, and I hold that yours is the proper authority to make rules and pass orders for the government of said prison. Please inform me in regard to his powers, &c. As to his power to send prisoners here and release them when from his own military district there can be no doubt, but for him to say whom I shall let visit said prison or prisoners I have my doubts. We receive prisoners nearly every day without any charge or charges against them and sometimes without even a roll. Will you please instruct me on this subject? J. HILDEBRAND, Colonel, Commanding Post. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Maj. Gen. T. C. HINDMAN, Little Rock, Ark. GENERAL: Your letter of the 23d ultimo addressed to Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman at Memphis, informing him that you have incarcerated First Lieutenant Hobbs and Second Lieut. John T. Consaul, both of the First Wisconsin Cavalry, in close confinement, the former to be hung if Lieutenant Tolleson be executed and the latter if the murderers of : Samuel Berry be not delivered up, [has been forwarded to me.] I know nothing of Lieutenant Tolleson, but no prisoner has been condemned to be shot or hung in my command in Arkansas. On inquiry I am told some controversy about negroes arose between Mr. Berry, of Council Bend, and the troops and that stragglers on shore shot at him. My informant thinks he is not dead. The facts will be inquired after. The matter occurred in my absence from the command. You have no right to presume, punish and at the same time ask for facts and redress. I protest against a close confinement and threat to hang my officers on a supposed case which you attempt to negotiate under a flag of truce. It seems to discard or distrust the terms sought by the flag. If you hang my officers under such circumstances I will retaliate like punishment on you personally when you are taken prisoner. I have before had occasion to respond to such sentiments as you express regarding your "efforts to induce your (my) army to conform to the usages of civilized war." Since at Pea Ridge your armies inducted savage war by the use of the tomahawk and scalping knife your efforts and that of your army have constantly given examples of cruelty very likely to impair your secession-teaching rites of civilization. I am, general, respectfully, yours, S. R. CURTIS, HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Maj. Gen. T. C. HINDMAN, Helena, Ark. GENERAL: Yours of the 24th of September, concerning Private Peebles taken prisoner by Colonel Fitch and asking that he should be sent in exchange for prisoners which you sent, is received. I sent prisoners which overbalanced all those you sent to me by Captain Noble who delivered them to General Holmes at Little Rock on the 4th ultimo. If Peebles was in Helena he must have gone with that lot. I will make further inquiry after him. Captain Noble took over equivalent to fifty-two prisoners. I owed you twenty-five and Captain 39 R R-SERIES II, VOL IV Noble brought back four. Deducting these from fifty-two leaves you twenty-three privates in my debt, which I trust you will return soon. If you send more than equivalent I will respond as before, as I have a number accumulated. I am requested to intercede for a private citizen, one G. Van Riper, a cotton dealer who was taken in Arkansas opposite Memphis some time ago; he is no doubt a merchant employé and nothing else. I pledge my honor that he was in no way in my employ or in the employ of any officer of my command, and I had command of all the troops in Arkansas when he was captured. I do not know the man, but intercede at the instance of his friends who say his mother depends on his services; that he came out as the agent of a New York house to buy cotton and for that purpose ventured into the lines of your pickets. I am, sir, very respectfully, yours, S. R. CURTIS, Brig. Gen. LEWIS MERRILL, SAINT LOUIS, Mo., October 10, 1862. Commanding Northeast District of Missouri. SIR: I am this moment in receipt of a letter from General Guitar, of which I inclose a copy. I have referred the letter and the subject to Major-General Curtis. I will say, however, that in my letter to General Guitar I expressly disclaimed any intention to interfere, not with your discretion, but his, in the treatment of prisoners. This you will see by a copy of my letter* to him, also inclosed herewith. All question of interference therefore being set aside, I take the liberty of say ing to you in precisely the same manner as if we were discussing orally the best mode of dealing with these prisoners, as a practical measure, that I would strongly recommend the treatment which I named to General Guitar. You will observe that my recommendation to him is very guarded. I am bound to say that my views are also strengthened by the concurrence of General Guitar. The only really delicate matter is the determination of a proper case for the extension of lenity, and this is necessarily (and as far as I am concerned expressly) committed to the discretion of the military commander. The party must have been guilty of no outrage or act of violence; he must have been the dupe of his own misconceptions or of evil counsel to go to the brush, and must have heartily repented and turned from his transgression, voluntarily surrendering himself and giving assurance satisfactory to the officer admitting his parole that he will observe its terms. Surely such a man should not be treated with severity when so many persons, proper subjects of punishment, abound. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, THOS. T. GANTT, Provost-Marshal-General for Missouri and Iowa. [Inclosure.] HEADQUARTERS, Columbia, Mo., October 8, 1862. I Col. THOMAS T. GANTT, Provost-Marshal-General. SIR: Knowing the onerous and laborious position you occupy dislike very much to trespass upon your attention, but the importance of the subject renders it imperative that I should do so. I wrote you and received your response in regard to what disposition should be made of prisoners surrendering themselves voluntarily and who have * Omitted here; see Gantt to Guitar, September 24, p. 553. Deen out in recent raids with Porter, Poindexter and others. My Inderstanding of the instructions contained in your letter is that when he party surrendering has been guilty of no crime or outrage and vhere I am satisfied that he was induced to go out by reason of a 'misconception" of the force and purpose of the orders issued by General Schofield, and am further satisfied that he returns to his allegiance in good faith and with the full intention of respecting and biding by any obligation imposed upon him, that in such cases they should be released upon parole and bond. Such was my understanding of the purport of instructions couched in your letter. After receiving your letter, in addressing General Merrill upon another subject, I incilentally mentioned the fact that I had a number of prisoners of the class above referred to, and that in response to inquiries you had nstructed me to dispose of them as above indicated, which I had already taken steps to do. In response to which I received the following: Do not release any prisoners you have upon any terms. To those who will surrender you may say their lives will be spared. Nothing more will be promised them. Colonel Gantt can give no orders in this district except through these headquarters. LEWIS MERRILL, Brigadier-General, Commanding. It may be that in point of etiquette I should have communicated with you through division headquarters. It may be a misfortune that I am not so punctilious as some men and regard war as rather a thing of substance than form. Now, sir, I have some forty or fifty prisoners of the class referred to above. They are out on parole to report at these headquarters on the 11th instant. My opinion is that all that can be or will be done with them after an investigation before a military commission will be to subject them to the terms as indicated in your letter. The confinement, transportation and subsistence of these men whilst awaiting trial will cost the Government no small sum. It would require at least fifty men to keep guard over them. Hence my convictions are fixed that the sooner they can be disposed of the better for our cause, provided the terms imposed are commensurate with their offenses. I feel greatly embarrassed in regard to this matter. I would trespass upon the prerogative of no man either above or below me. You will be good enough therefore to advise me whether the instructions contained in your official letter of September 24 are authoritative. If not, I desire that you should communicate to me through division headquarters or otherwise such instructions as should govern my action in the premises. You will be kind enough to let me hear from you on this subject by the 11th instant if convenient as I would like to dispose of the cases in question at that time. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, O. GUITAR, Brigadier-General, Commanding. WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Maj. Gen. H. G. WRIGHT, Washington, D. C., October 10, 1862. Commanding Department of the Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio. SIR: I inclose herewith General Orders, Nos. 32 and 67,* in relation to the duties of the commissary-general of prisoners. The provost * Omitted here; for General Orders, No. 32, see Vol. III, this Series, p. 417, and for General Orders, No. 67, see p. 30, this Vol. marshal at Wheeling under direction of the commissary-general has control of all prisoners of war and political prisoners at posts in Western Virginia lying within the late Mountain Department, includ ing the district commanded by Generals Kelley and Cox. He furnishes consolidated rolls of such prisoners to the commissary-general and under instructions received from him direct sends the prisoners from time to time to the general depot. The Secretary of War desires you to afford the provost-marshal such assistance as he may require in the execution of his duties. There is also a provost-marshal-general at Louisville for Kentucky. From that point prisoners are sent to the nearest prison stations in Ohio or Illinois. The commissary-general of prisoners has been ordered to change his headquarters to this city. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General. Same mutatis mutandis to General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.) ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Brig. Gen. J. T. BOYLE, Louisville, Ky.: Send all the paroled rebel prisoners to Cairo. The provost-marshal at Louisville receives orders direct from Colonel Hoffman about prisoners of war. From Cairo they will be sent to Vicksburg. L. THOMAS, RICHMOND, KY., October 10, 1862. Major-General WRIGHT, Commanding Department of the Ohio: In obedience to your orders I left Cincinnati on the 11th of September with a train of forty ambulances for the purpose of transporting our wounded soldiers from Richmond, Ky., to hospital accommodations within our own lines. An order previously obtained from the rebel General [E.] Kirby Smith gave permission for our train to pass the Confederate lines but required us to go and come by the Maysville pike. The scarcity of boats between Maysville and Cincinnati and the low stage of water was a source of some detention. I made three trips with the train to Richmond and brought away 390 patients, mostly wounded, leaving only ten cases who could not bear transportation. These, with the means for their subsistence, hospital stores and nurses, were intrusted to the care of Dr. A. B. Lyman, a highly respectable and loyal physician of the place. Most of the wounded transported from Richmond to Cincinnati were immediately forwarded to their homes in compliance with orders from your headquarters. All of them were paroled by the Confederate authorities except twenty-seven. The failure to parole these was due to a misunderstanding between one of our sur geons and the provost-marshal at Richmond. I inclose a list of their names, which was furnished me by the commandant of the post, who desires me to forward it to you with his request that said soldiers be treated as paroled prisoners. As the request is just I commend it to your favorable consideration. In our passage to and from Richmond we met with no serious interruptions. The Confederate officers treated *Not found. |