to the execution of Mumford, within fifteen days from the delivery of this communication, they will consider that an answer is declined and will retain all commissioned officers of the United States who may fall into their hands. Respectfully, ROBERT OULD, Agent of Exchange. OFFICE COMMISSARY-GENERAL OF PRISONERS, Lieut. Col. GEORGE SANGSTER, Commanding Camp Parole, Annapolis, Md. COLONEL: Complaints are made to the War Department by soldiers of great disorders at your camp-drunkenness, gambling, fighting, and even murders are among the crimes enumerated. Inform me immediately of the state of discipline of your command, what guard you have, including officers, and what orders they have in relation to the preservation of good order; what your system of police is and what is the cause of want of good discipline if such is the fact. All the troops at Camp Parole, except those taken at Harper's Ferry or since the 1st of November, have been exchanged and are liable to perform all the duties of a soldier. Require them to be drilled twice a day and see that all officers attend the drills. As soon as you can assemble fifty men of any one company make an estimate of arms and send it to me. Detail the best officer you have for the purpose to perform the duties of commissary and place him in charge of the department; he will receive and receipt for the stores and will make all issues. Have this department under your immediate eye and report promptly all irregularities. Till you receive orders on the subject you will permit no exchanged officer or soldier to leave the camp unless by orders through me or from higher authority. This is not intended to take from you the privilege of giving passes for the day. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. HOFFMAN, Colonel Third Infantry, Commissary-General of Prisoners. PLYMOUTH, N. C., November 30, 1862. Major-General FOSTER, Commanding, New Berne, N. C. DEAR SIR: This letter will be handed you by Major Bartholomew's lieutenant who accompanies the prisoners to New Berne. One of the prisoners is an influential citizen of Martin County. He has done perhaps more to injure the Union cause than any man in this community. I applied to the major to have him arrested and I hope it will be your pleasure to have him held as a hostage for my brother who was arrested a few days ago and is now in Salisbury prison. I have written a letter to Governor Stanly appealing to him to retain Mr. Moore by all means. Mr. Moore is a man of influence and whose friends will doubtless have my brother soon released. He applied yesterday for privilege to confer with Judge Biggs for the release of my brother. I hope you will give him such privilege as will enable him to confer with his friends. I shall come to New Berne as early as possible to confer with you and Governor Stanly on this and other matters which I conceive to be of importance, and I will here say that too much praise cannot be awarded to Major Bartholomew since he has been with us. He is just the man for the place. He makes every man come square up to the mark. I hope you will keep him on this post. Nearly every man in this and Tyrrell County, with quite a number from Martin and Bertie, have come forward and taken the oath of allegiance. I should be glad if you could give the major two regiments of men, which would enable him to extend his operations into the counties of Bertie and Hertford, which can be done without any danger, and by this arrangement many valuable horses and property belonging to secessionists may be captured, which will certainly fall into the hands of the Confederates. From all I have seen and heard the people are daily becoming more reconciled and express generally a wish for the Governor to call an election for Congress, which I hope he will see the importance of doing at as early a day as practicable. The people have begun to bring in their cotton for sale in considerable quantities, which indicates that they are returning to their senses. In conclusion I will say that I hope my appeal to you for the retention of Major Bartholomew at this post will meet your approval. Yours, very respectfully, M. BOWEN. CONFEDERATE CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. WAR DEPARTMENT, Richmond, June 13, 1862. General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c. SIR: I see no objection to the proposition to consider medical officers non-combatants as proposed by General McClellan and you are authorized to agree to it unless you think it objectionable. Your obedient servant, GEO. W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War. H. D. BIRD, WAR DEPARTMENT, Richmond, June 13, 1862. Superintendent South Side Railroad Company, Petersburg: I regret very much that supposing me to be ignorant of the number of troops ordered forward by myself you should communicate our movements in the way you have done. I was not aware that you were sending forward sick when I had written to you to suspend all transportation except that of troops. I knew that the Yankee prisoners could not interfere with the troops because they had been stopped at Lynchburg. G. W. RANDOLPH, KNOXVILLE, TENN., June 13, 1862. Col. E. P. WATKINS, Commanding, &c., Atlanta, Ga. SIR: This will be handed you by an officer sent in charge of certain prisoners (a list of whom is inclosed*) transferred to your post for greater * Omitted. security by direction of Maj. Gen. E. Kirby Smith. Some of these men, spies, are under sentence of a general court-martial. The order in relation thereto will be forwarded in a day or two. They are designated on the list by black lines under the name. David Fry is a notorious prisoner, whose trial has been postponed from time to time at the solicitation of his counsel, in absence of important witnesses for defense. Nos. 23, 24 and 25 on the list are held as spies upon good grounds for suspicion. The prisoners of war Nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18 the commanding general requests may be confined with and treated as those of the same class recently sent from Chattanooga. Respectfully, your obedient servant, J. F. BELTON, Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS, Richmond, Va., June 14, 1862. Brig. Gen. Howell Cobb, of the C. S. Army, is hereby appointed to meet such officer as has been or may be appointed by the commanding general of the U. S. Army to negotiate for the exchange of prisoners of war taken and held by the respective armies during the existing He is authorized to conclude any arrangement which provides for the exchange of prisoners upon terms of perfect equality. war. R. E. LEE, General. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF HENRICO, Richmond, June 14, 1862. Hon. G. W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War, Richmond, Va. SIR: I have had the honor to receive the report of Surgeon Lane to the Secretary of War in relation to Camp Winder. It is no part of the duty of Surgeon Lane to make a report of anything connected with Camp Winder to the Secretary of War. On the contrary the regulations prohibit any direct correspondence on the part of officers directly with the War Department. The whole course of Surgeon Lane in the matter is irregular, improper and insubordinate, for which I shall immediately bring him to trial. I will not follow Surgeon Lane through his long letter but shall touch upon some of the prominent points. It is but a very short time since 1 when there were three companies at Camp Winder, viz, Captain Jones', Captain Bruce's and the Infirmary Company; that Surgeon Lane complained very much that unless there was an increase of guard the police of the camp could not be maintained. I represented the necessity for a commanding officer and guard, which was accordingly ordered by the War Department. The order was received at Camp Winder as soon as issued. The date is not material, as it was only operative from the time of its issue from the Adjutant-General's Office. A short time since I rode around the camp and could not find a single medical officer, not one being in camp that I could find. I found the public property scattered over the whole camp, lying exposed to the weather and to depredation. 1 found that hands that I had employed to work on a very important piece of work, upon the execution of which depended the possibility of occupying at least one-third if not one-half the camp, taken off and employed upon matters of very comparative unimportance. I thought it was high time that military control should be exercised. It is no part of the duty of the surgeon to meddle with the buildings nor with the property, except such property as exclusively belongs to the hospitals. It is the duty of the Quartermaster's Department to build, repair and keep in order all buildings and to take care of all property not specially in charge of other officers. A surgeon in charge of a hospital of that size has quite enough to do to attend to the duties growing out of it without aspiring to command troops. As to the number of officers at the post I will remark—a captain, two lieutenants, one quartermaster, one commissary and three sergeants and one barrack master are none too much for a post containing some one hundred and eighty houses and covering a very large extent containing between three and four thousand men; besides which one of the subalterns is intended for Chimborazo as soon as a commander can be found. I have not the honor of knowing Mr. Chambliss, whose report is quoted, nor have I seen the report. I will close by remarking that Surgeon Lane, in my office, while speaking on this subject used highly improper and insubordinate language, for which I was obliged to rebuke him and warn him that a repetition would cause his arrest. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JNÓ. H. WINDER, Brigadier-General. HEADQUARTERS, June 15, 1862. Hon. G. W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War, Richmond. SIR: I have had the honor to receive your letter of yesterday's date relative to the reported action of the United States Government with respect to Captains Spriggs and Triplett, of the Virginia ranger service, who have been captured. I have as directed prepared a letter for General McClellan to the effect of your instructions, which I will forward by flag of truce to-morrow. Before doing so, however, I beg that you will inform me if your information is authentic, for on a previous occasion in a like case I found that the report was without foundation. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. E. LEE, General. [Indorsement.] General LEE: The information was received from Governor Letcher. General McClellan should be informed that not being certain of its correctness no change in the treatment of the hostages has been made. We shall be happy to learn that we are misinformed. G. W. R. RICHMOND, June 16, 1862. Hon. Mr. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War: In accordance with your suggestion and for the purpose of drawing your attention more directly to the matter I take the liberty of addressing you a written communication in behalf of Colonel Zarvona* (more commonly known as the French Lady) and in reference to your taking some action in his case. We have been fellow-sufferers and prisoners in Fort Lafayette during the whole of the past winter, he having been *For case of Richard Thomas, alias Zarvona, see Vol. II, this Series, p. 379 et seq., and p. 315 same volume for memoranda of the arrest of E. B. Cuthbert. removed from Fort McHenry early in December last. His imprisonment (which has now reached almost a year in duration), from his own account and that of others and for the last three months from my own personal knowledge, has been conducted with the most singular and uncalled-for cruelty. The fact is it has been my opinion and is now that such treatment could not be continued without either costing him his reason or his life. In regard to the cause and circumstances of his capture I beg leave to refer you to Governor Letcher, of this State, whom I believe to be aware of the causes which led to his arrest. The United States Government hold him charged with piracy and treason for the seizure of the steamer Saint Nicholas, yet at the time of his capture he held a commission as colonel in the Confederate service. I would suggest that an officer holding the same rank in the U. S. Army be selected from amongst our prisoners and be held for him individually and information sent to the United States Government that this particular officer will never be given up unless Colonel Zarvona be exchanged according to his rank. He is a member of one of the oldest, most respectable and at one time most influential families in Maryland, as I've been informed. His relatives are people I understand of considerable property and have contributed as liberally as has been in their power to the cause of Southern independence, while his only two brothers are at present in our army. It is thought that our Government has acted with the most unmerited indifference toward him. I do not propose that the person who may be selected as a hostage for him should be treated in a personally retaliatory manner, for I think that such a course would not only be unproductive of any desired results but would be derogatory to the honor of a Christian nation in a civilized and enlightened age. Three months ago he was removed from the casemate which he occupied with myself and several others to the guard-room and placed in solitary confinement in one of the cells. There he was denied all reading matter or writing material of any description whatever. He was allowed no communication whatever with any one inside of the fort, his jailers excepted, and this has been continued up to the time that I left Fort Lafayette. Some time before I was released he was taken from the guard-room cell and placed in a casemate by himself, but after making an attempt to escape one tempestuous night by springing from the wall into the raging tide, although not knowing how to swim, he was not allowed to leave the room under any circumstances, and a sergeant (selected I ve: ily believe on account of his known harsh demeanor) was confined in the room with him night and day armed with a loaded musket. This sergeant was allowed to leave the room during meal times only, and at such intervals three privates replaced him. These last details I obtained from the testimony of my fellow-prisoners, who became acquainted with the facts from their own observation and hearsay from soldiers in the garrison.* I have felt myself called upon by Christian feelings of humanity to make the above statement and hope you will excuse my trespassing so long upon your valuable time. In regard to my own case I can but think that upon investigation and reconsideration of the matter you will be of the opinion that I can be regarded in no other light than that of prisoner of war. I was a member of a militia company it is true, but that company was commanded by a West Point officer and held together by a published proclamation of the Governor of the State as holding an *See General N. P. Banks' statement in regard to Zarvona, Vol. II, this Series, p. 380. |