HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE WEST, Lieut. Col. E. D. TOWNSEND, Asst. Adjt. Gen., Hdqrs. of the Army, Washington, D. C. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a communication addressed to me under date of the 11th instant by Brig. Gen. D. M. Frost, Missouri Volunteer Militia, in relation to the capture of his command at Camp Jackson near this city, May 10, 1861, by the U. S. troops under the command of Capt. N. Lyon, Second Infantry. I respectfully request the instructions of the Government respecting the transaction to which General Frost invites attention. and I recommend that the private property captured, munitions of war excepted, be restored. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, WM. S. HARNEY, Brigadier-General, Commanding. [Inclosure.] SAINT LOUIS ARSENAL, MO., May 11, 1861. General WILLIAM S. HARNEY, U. S. Army, Commanding Department of the West. SIR: In accordance with the laws of the State of Missouri which have been existing for some years and in obedience to the orders of the governor, on Monday last* I entered into an encampment with the militia force of Saint Louis County for the purpose of instructing the same in accordance with the laws of the United States and of this State. Every officer and soldier in my commond had taken with uplifted hand the following oath, to wit: You, each and every one of you, do solemnly swear that you will honestly and faithfully serve the State of Missouri against all her enemies, and that you will do your utmost to sustain the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State against all violence of whatsoever kind or description; and you do further swear that you will well and truly execute and obey the legal orders of all officers properly placed over you whilst on duty, so help you God. Whilst in the peaceable performance of the duties devolved upon me and my command under these laws, my encampment was yesterday surrounded by an overwhelming force of armed men, acting under the command of Capt. N. Lyon, Second Infantry, U. S. Army, and called upon by him through a written command accompanying this. To which communication I replied in the following terms, to wit: Capt. N. LYON, Commanding U. S. Troops. CAMP JACKSON, Mo., May 10, 1861. SIR: I never for a moment having conceived the idea that so illegal and unconstitutional a demand as I have just received from you would be made by an officer of the U. S. Army I am wholly unprepared to defend my command from this unwarranted attack, and shall therefore be forced to comply with your demand. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, D. M. FROST, Brigadier-General, Commanding Camp Jackson, Missouri Vol. Militia. My command was in accordance with the above deprived of their arms and surrendered into the hands of Captain Lyon. After which, whilst thus disarmed and surrounded, a fire was opened upon a portion * Monday, May 6, 1861. 8 R R-SER II, VOL I of it by his troops and a number of my men put to death, together with several innocent lookers-on-men, women and children. My command was then marched as prisoners of war in triumph to this place. I am now informed, as I was at the time of the surrender, by the captain that my command may be released upon the officers and men giving their parole "not to take up arms or to serve in a military capacity against the United States during the present civil war." Against the whole proceeding of Captain Lyon as well as against the terms of release I most earnestly protest, for the following reasons: That in addition to the obligation of loyalty which rests upon every citizen every man of my command now held as a prisoner has voluntarily taken an oath to sustain the Constitution and laws of the United States. That when my camp was attacked in this unwarrantable manner and during the previous days of its existence the only flags that floated there were those of the United States with all the stars and its fellow bearing alone the coat of arms of the State of Missouri. That in addition to all this on the morning before this attack was made I addressed to Captain Lyon a communication, informing him of the proffer of services I had previously made of myself and of all my command, and if necessary the whole power of the State of Missouri, to protect the U. S. property, and assuring him that I had in no respect changed those views or opinions, either of my own volition or through any orders emanating from my constitutional commander. Under all these circumstances I appeal to you as the chief representative of the United States in this department for justice on behalf of those loyal citizens who are now held as prisoners of war, captured under and marching to their place of confinement with the flag of the Union Aying over their heads. I ask that you will not put upon the command the additional indignity of requiring us to give our parole when we have already given our oath in support of the Constitution, but that you will order our restoration to the liberties of which we have been illegally deprived, as well as of the property of the State and individuals, as the larger portion of the equipments have been purchased with the private funds of the individuals of my command, both officers and men. I trust that such as have been so purchased will at least be restored to the proper owners. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, D. M. FROST, Brigadier-General, Missouri Volunteer Militia. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE WEST, Lieut. Col. E. D. TOWNSEND, Asst. Adjt. Gen., Hdqrs. of the Army, Washington. SIR: I have the honor to report that on the 14th instant a writ of habeas corpus was served on me requiring me to bring before Judge Treat, judge of the U. S. court, eastern district of Missouri, Capt. Emmett MacDonald, one of the officers captured at Camp Jackson, near this city, May 10, by the U. S. forces, under the command of Capt. N. Lyon, Second Infantry. Captain MacDonald declined to give his parole, and has, therefore, been retained as a prisoner of war. He was transferred on the 13th instant to the custody of the officer commanding the Illinois troops at Caseyville, Ill., some ten miles from Saint Louis. I transmit herewith a copy of my answer to the writ of habeas corpus. The case has been postponed until Monday next, when it will come up before the U. S. court at its regular session. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. Judge TREAT, WM. S. HARNEY, Brigadier-General, Commanding. [Inclosure.] SAINT LOUIS, May 15, 1861. Judge of the U. S. Court, Eastern District: In response to the writ of habeas corpus yesterday served on me commanding me to bring before his honor one Emmett MacDonald, I have to say that Mr. MacDonald, the person described in the writ, is not imprisoned or kept in confinement by me, nor is he under my control or command, nor has he been imprisoned or confined or so under my control or command at or since the issuing of this writ. In making this return to the writ of habeas corpus issued by you commanding me to produce the body of Emmett MacDonald, and in making my response to the same I avail myself of the opportunity thus presented to express my profound regret of the state of things existing in this community. I declare my wish to sustain the Constitution and laws of the United States and of the State of Missouri. But while making this declaration I find myself in such a position that in deciding upon a particular case I must take to what I am compelled to regard as the higher law, even by so doing my conduct shall have the appearance of coming in conflict with the forms of law. With respect to the transaction which took place at Camp Jackson near this city on the 10th instant I have to say that it happened prior to my arrival here and before my assumption of the command of this department. While I am not therefore responsible for the proceedings at that camp, and under ordinary circumstances should not feel at liberty to comment upon them officially, I am not disposed in the existing state of things to shrink from the responsibility of acknowledg ing that my predecessor in command saw in the proclamation of the President of the United States ordering the dispersion of all armed rebels hostile to the United States, as described in the proclamation, a high and imperative duty imposed upon him with respect to the camp in question, the evidences of its treasonable purposes having been to his mind indisputably clear. His action in the premises I recognize therefore as imposing upon me the obligation of assuming the consequences of his proceedings so far as to abstain from pursuing any course which, by implication, might throw a doubt upon the sufficiency of his authority. Upon looking into the circumstances attending the detention of Emmett MacDonald I find they are such if I had him in charge that I could not give orders that might set him at large, unless some sufficient evidence should be furnished that he was not of the number of those in Camp Jackson who gave to that camp its character by which it came under the class of disaffected men hostile to the Government of the United States, according to the terms of the proclamation referred to. For this purpose nothing has been required of these persons but a simple pledge or parole of honor. The whole subject will be referred by me to the Government of the United States, whose instructions to me at this critical time are paramount. W. S. HARNEY, Brigadier-General U. S. Army. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 15th day of May, 1861. Notary Public. Capt. S. WILLIAMS, HEADQUARTERS MISSOURI VOLUNTEERS, Assistant Adjutant-General, Saint Louis. SIR: I have the honor to report that the prisoners taken at Camp Jackson and sent to the city upon the steam-boat Isabella after their release were as follows: Officers-brigade staff, 6; Radford's artillery, 4; First Infantry and Jackson's artillery, 33; Second Infantry, 29; battalion infantry, 4; total, 79. Men-590. Aggregate, 669. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, N. LYON, Brigadier-General of Volunteers, Commanding. HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, Capt. WILLIAM MCMICHAEL, Cairo, November 23, 1861. Assistant Adjutant-General, Department of the Missouri. SIR: I inclose herewith a remarkable document presented at our outguards to-day by Captain George of the rebel army. Captain George is permitted to go to Saint Louis as a prisoner on parole to report to the general commanding the department for his decision. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Brigadier-General, Commanding. P. S.-Captain George since my writing the above states that he is not nor has he been in the Confederate Army. He was a Camp Jackson prisoner since which he has not taken up arms. He now simply claims the right under the Price-Frémont exchange* to return to his family in Saint Louis and should he desire to do so to join General Price and the Missouri State troops. U. S. G. [Inclosure.] HEADQUARTERS FIRST DIVISION, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, Columbus, Ky., November 20, 1861. Capt. James George and Lieut. Henry Guibor, late prisoners of war, and duly exchanged by agreement between Major-General Frémont, *See papers relating to "Frémont-Price Convention," etc., post. U. S. Army, and Major-General Price, of the Missouri State troops, as appears to me, now therefore I grant said officers (Captain George and Lieutenant Guibor) this safeguard to pass the picket-lines and videttes of this army on their return to Saint Louis and back to this place. By order of Brigadier-General Pillow, commanding: GUS. A. HENRY, JR., Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, Capt. WILLIAM MCMICHAEL, Saint Louis, Mo.: Last evening a party of prisoners taken at Camp Jackson arrived here on the steamer Platte Valley. I had them detained on the steamer until this morning, when they were put aboard of one of the ferries and landed at Norfolk, Mo., about five miles below. These prisoners are coming in squads from day to day, and necessarily keep the enemy well informed of all our movements it is possible for the community at large to know as well as the secret plottings of the enemy in our midst. I would again report to the commanding officer of this department the almost certain disloyalty of the entire boating interest plying between Saint Louis and this place. I am informed that the owners of the packets complained of are generally enemies to the Government and their acts prove conclusively that the crews employed are. U. S. GRANT, HDQRS. FIRST MILITARY DIST., MISSOURI STATE GUARDS, Brig. Gen. U. S. GRANT, U. S. Army. GENERAL: The bearer of this, Maj. James R. Shaler, was and is major of the Second Regiment of the Missouri Volunteer Militia, and was one of the Camp Jackson prisoners and is one of the Southerners included in the treaty between Generals Frémont and Price. We hear that these gentlemen are allowed to visit Saint Louis for the purpose of reporting themselves to be regularly exchanged. If you understand the matter in this way you will please allow Major Shaler to pass to Saint Louis and if not you will please let him return. Major Shaler is now in no way connected with the Missouri State Guard or C. S. Army nor has he been. Yours, most respectfully, M. JEFF. THOMPSON, Brigadier-General, Commanding. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Brig. Gen. U. S. GRANT, Cairo, Ill.: Your letter of the 23d instant with inclosed safeguard to Captain George and Lieutenant Guibor purporting to have been signed by order of General Pillow has been received. I am directed by the com |