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PERMANENT CAMP, KNOWN AS CAMP PORTER, AT BUFFALO, N. Y.

The rations have been furnished, cooked and placed on the tables by contractors who find their cooking utensils and supply the table furniture at 27 cents per ration. The guard-house is entirely too small, being 30 by 18 feet, and contains one small prison room 8 by 12 feet. The sinks are miserable and not sufficient in number. The officers' quarters consist of a stone building two stories, or rather one and a half stories high of 70 by 70 feet, with an L part 30 by 25 feet occupied by the laundresses. This is also of two stories. A large hall 10 feet wide extends through the building on the first floor. It has here five rooms, four of 25 by 35 and one of 25 by 25. At right angles with the L part is a shed used for washing, 70 by 15 feet, and on the same line with it a stable 30 by 20 feet. These buildings are of hewn stone. The quarters have but one room fit for use in the second story and this is 20 by 30 feet.

North of this camp is a square redoubt 60 by 60 feet with crenated walls for musketry, a ditch, parapet and glacis. It is two stories in height with a shelter, half tower roof 30 feet square, upon which are traverse circles for four 32-pounders. The ditch basement story consists of a hall 8 feet wide extending through the building, on one side of which are two rooms 20 by 28 feet. On the other side are two rooms 20 by 12 feet each and one of 20 by 24. This latter room has been used as a kitchen and contains a large fireplace but no cooking arrangements. The ceilings on this floor are 12 feet high. The second floor is connected with the terre-plein by a drawbridge. It has a hall extending through it 8 feet in width. On one side of this are two rooms 28 by 20 feet each. Each of these rooms has three casemates 8 feet deep and 8 feet wide. On the other side of the hall are four rooms. Two of these are 12 by 20 feet each and are connected by a small interior door. The third is a magazine room 12 by 20 feet and the fourth, of the same size, has two casemates 8 feet by 4. The tower room has been described. It is accessible from the hall by a staircase and would serve very well for a guard-house for troops quartered in the building. The redoubt is of hewn stone. The ceilings are all 12 feet in height. It contains but about twenty bunks and no linen ticks for straw. Owing to the great thickness of the walls the room is much more limited than it would otherwise be, and for this reason not more than 200 men could be well quartered in this building. Even then the ventilation would be very incomplete. There are two reservoirs in the redoubt and a well in the ditch outside, all provided with pumps, not one of which is of the slightest service. Lumber may be purchased here for 8 and 10 cents per foot.

The grounds and buildings entire at this place are unsuitable for the reception of over 1,200 men. Accompanying this description is a ground plan of the permanent camp and redoubt and a projected plan of each floor of the latter, with the references and dimensions for all, to which I respectfully invite your attention.

With the highest respect, I am, colonel, your obedient servant,
H. M. LAZELLE,
Captain, Eighth Infantry.

NASHVILLE, June 25, 1862.

Brigadier-General NEGLEY, Columbia, Tenn.:

Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett is on parole and is traveling under the protection which the laws of civilized warfare afford. If he has been guilty of imprudence only it is an exhibition of bad taste for which the

proper punishment is a dignified rebuke. If he has violated his parole you would be justified in arresting him. Under all other circumstances his person is sacred. Report in detail what Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett has done. What can be sworn to is what I want to know, not what irresponsible parties say.

COMMANDING OFFICER, Camp Chase.

OLIVER D. GREENE,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

WHEELING, June 25, [1862.]

SIR: All prisoners sent from this department to your post will be held until released by Secretary of War or by order of commander of this department. Any application or order from any other civil or military authority for release of prisoners sent from this department will be referred to Maj. R. M. Corwine, department judge-advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio, or to myself.

In general all prisoners should be held subject only to the order of the Secretary of War and the commander of the department from which the prisoners are forwarded. In the case of the Kentucky prisoners, General Boyle should direct the transfer to Lexington. Notify me of the release by Secretary of War of prisoners sent from here.* Papers in case of Stover referred to Secretary of War. By order of Maj. Gen. J. C. Frémont:

JOS. DARR, JR.,

Major and Provost-Marshal-General.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, June 26, 1862.

Col. MARTIN BURKE,

Commanding Fort Lafayette, N. Y. Harbor:

Representations are made to this Department that Soulé has been and is now sick. Are these representations true, and if so to what extent is he or has he been ill?

By order of the Secretary of War:

C. P. WOLCOTT, Assistant Secretary of War.

FORT HAMILTON, June 26, 1862.

Hon. C. P. WOLCOTT, Assistant Secretary of War:
Mr. Soule's health is good.

MARTIN BURKE,

Lieutenant-Colonel Third Artillery.

FORT HAMILTON, N. Y. Harbor, June 26, 1862.

Hon. C. P. WOLCOTT,

Assistant Secretary of War, Washington City, D. C.:

In answer to your telegraph dispatch of this day I have the honor to state that Mr. Soulé from all I can understand is in good health, and if at any time he should be indisposed the attending surgeon of this post

*This order, with an additional paragraph, under date of June 26, will be found at p. 98.

will be promptly sent to him. Inclosed you will receive the report of my officer, Lieutenant Wood, in charge of Fort Lafayette, respecting this matter.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

MARTIN BURKE, Lieutenant-Colonel Third Artillery.

[Inclosure.]

FORT LAFAYETTE, N. Y. Harbor, June 26, 1862.

Lieut. Col. M. BURKE, Third Artillery, Fort Hamilton.

COLONEL: In auswer to yours of this date I have the honor to reply that Mr. Soulé has made no complaint of being unwell since he has been confined here and I have seen nothing which would lead me to suppose that he was not in perfect health. I have just made inquiry of him as to the state of his health and he states that it is good.

I have the honor to be, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, CHAS. O. WOOD,

First Lieutenant, Ninth Infantry, Commanding Post.

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, June 26, 1862.

Lieut. Col. MARTIN BURKE, Fort Hamilton, N. Y.:

The permission for Hon. Reverdy Johnson and for Mr. Soulé's servant Jules to visit Mr. Soulé is hereby revoked. Permit no one to visit him. L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General.

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, June 26, 1862.

Lieut. Col. W. HOFFMAN, Eighth Infantry, Chicago, Ill.:

General Negley reports finding at Columbia, Tenn., a number of escaped rebel prisoners from Camps Chase and Douglas, and that a young man named Smith, living in Chicago, assists them to escape, and the sutler at Camp Douglas sells them clothing for disguises. Ascertain the facts and make prompt report.

GENERAL ORDERS,
No. 13.

L. THOMAS,
Adjutant-General.

HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF KANSAS,
Fort Leavenworth, June 26, 1862.

Whereas, a system of warfare has been inaugurated known as bushwhacking in which all the rules governing belligerents among civilized nations are discarded, and whereby rebel fiends lay in wait for their prey to assassinate Union soldiers and citizens; it is therefore ordered and all commanders of troops and detachments in the field are especially directed that whenever any of this class of offenders shall be captured they shall not be treated as prisoners of war but be summarily tried by drum-head court-martial, and if proved guilty be executed (by

hanging or shooting) on the spot, as no punishment can be too prompt or severe for such unnatural enemies of the human race. By order of Brig. Gen. J. G. Blunt:

THOS. MOONLIGHT,

Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General.

OFFICE COMMISSARY-GENERAL OF PRISONERS,

Detroit, Mich., June 26, 1862.

Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.

SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a letter received last evening from Maj. W. S. Pierson, commanding the Sandusky Depot, reporting disclosures made to him by two of the medical officers recently discharged pursuant to recent orders from the Adjutant-General's Office. Being satisfied that there are turbulent and desperate spirits among the prisoners who would be glad to bring about a collision with the guard even without a hope of ultimate escape from the island, reckless of consequences to themselves and others, I thought it advisable to call on Governor Tod for a company from Camp Chase to re-enforce the guard. It is scarcely possible that the majority of the prisoners would be willing to engage in a hopeless attack on the guard, but it might be brought about by the acts of individuals in spite of the better judgment and better feelings of the mass of them. The presence of a stronger guard will overawe the reckless and encourage the well-disposed to insist on submission where resistance could only lead to a useless sacrifice of their own lives.

In anticipation of a large increase of the number of prisoners at the depot I would respectfully suggest that a fourth company be added to this guard to take the place of the one called for from Camp Chase. It may become necessary to employ a detective agent in Canada to watch the movements of those who sympathize with the rebellion and I respectfully ask authority to employ such a person. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. HOFFMAN,

Colonel Third Infantry, Commissary-General of Prisoners.

[Indorsement.]

WAR DEPARTMENT, June 30, 1862. Referred to Adjutant-General, with instructions to provide a force sufficient in any probable contingency to prevent any rising among the prisoners or any attempt from without to rescue them. By order of the Secretary of War:

C. P. WOLCOTT, Assistant Secretary of War.

[Inclosure.]

HEADQUARTERS HOFFMAN'S BATTALION,

Depot Prisoners of War, near Sandusky, Ohio, June 23, 1862. Col. WILLIAM HOFFMAN, Commissary-General of Prisoners:

I last evening discharged the medical officers in pursuance of an order fron General Thomas. On Saturday forty-eight prisoners arrived from Fort Columbus, They came on parole with two U. S. officers. They delivered me their money, about $1,200.

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