police in New York. The principles laid down in paragraphs I, General Orders, No. 72, and II of General Orders, No. 78, will guide you in reference to these stragglers turned over to you. The object is to get them back to their regiments as soon as possible. They should be organized in companies temporarily as fast as they arrive, and their names entered on rolls together with such information concerning their regiments, &c., as can be obtained. They should be forwarded to their regiments in parties of convenient numbers as often as you think it advisable to detach them. Of course few if any will have any descriptive list and many may deny they are soldiers; but the statements in regard to them given by the officers who deliver them up to you should be entered on the rolls. If sent to Washington they should report to General Wadsworth, or to Baltimore to General Wool. Each party forwarded should be under the charge of an officer, and he should have non-commissioned officers, or some non-commissioned officers taken from the men themselves, to assist him in keeping the men in the cars. The Secretary desires you to report whenever you send on a detachment and state the number of men in it. I am, sir, &c., E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General. HEADQUARTERS, Fort Monroe, Va., August 16, 1862. Brig. Gen. J. K. F. MANSFIELD, Commanding, Suffolk. GENERAL: I have received your letter of the 14th instant with a list of prisoners sent by you to Fort Wool and a brief statement of the charges against them. This is the first specification of their offenses I have seen and I know that several citizens have been sent here without any memorandum of the causes for which they were imprisoned. The crimes specified by you as having been committed by secessionists in general deserve any punishment we may think proper to inflict. But the first question is in every case of imprisonment whether the party has actually been guilty of any offense, and this is a question to be decided upon proper evidence. If the, guilt is not clearly shown. the accused should be released. There is nothing in your position or mine which can excuse either of us for depriving any man of his liberty without a full and impartial examination. My duties are at least as arduous as yours and I have never shrunk from the labor of a personal examination of every case of imprisonment for which I am responsible. In regard to arrests in your command there was at least one and I think more for which there was not in my judgment the slightest cause. I speak from a personal examination of them. The arrests were made without your order as I understood, but acquiesced in by you subsequently. The parties referred to were released nearly a month ago. Had I not looked into their cases they would no doubt have been in prison at this moment. When Judge Pierrepont and I examined the cases of the political prisoners in the various places of custody from Washington to Fort Warren we found persons arrested by military officers who had been overlooked and who had been lying in prison for months without any just cause. For this reason as well as on general. principles of justice and humanity I must insist that every person arrested shall have a prompt examination, and if it is considered as a proper case for imprisonment that the testimony shall be taken under oath and the record sent with the accused to the officer who is to have the custody of him. This is especially necessary when the commitment is made by a military commission and the party accused is sent to a distance and placed like the prisoners at Fort Wool under the immediate supervision of the commanding officer of the department or army corps. The only proper exception to the rule is where prisoners are temporarily detained during military movements in order that they may not give information to the enemy. I consider it my duty to go once in three or four weeks to the places of imprisonment within my command, inquire into the causes of arrest and discharge all persons against whom charges sustained by satisfactory proof are not on file. I did not enter into a minute examination of the persons sent here by your order nor did I release any one of them, but referred the whole matter to you for explanation; and it is proper to suggest that an imputation of undue susceptibility on my part or the general reprobation of the guilt of faithless citizens for whom when their guilt is clearly shown I have quite as little sympathy as yourself is not an answer to the question of culpability in special cases. The paper you sent me is all very well as far as it goes, but it is no more complete without a transcript of the evidence on which the allegations are founded than a memorandum of the crime and the sentence of a military prisoner would be without the record of the proceedings of the court. You will please therefore send to me the testimony taken by the military commission before whom the examination was made. It is proper to remark here that a military commission not appointed by the commanding general of the army or the army corps is a mere court of inquiry, and its proceedings can only be regarded in the light of information for the guidance of the officer who instituted it and on whom the whole responsibility of any action under them must from the necessity of the case devolve. In regard to persons whom you think right to arrest and detain under your immediate direction I have nothing to say. You are personally responsible for them, and as your attention will be frequently called to them the duration of their imprisonment will be likely to be influenced by considerations which might be overlooked if they were at a distance. I am therefore quite willing to leave them in your hands. But when a prisoner is sent here and comes under my immediate observation and care I wish the whole case to be presented to me. The engineer department has called on me to remove the prisoners from Fort Wool that the work may not be interrupted. I have sent away all the military prisoners and wish to dispose of those who are confined for political causes. When I have received from you a full report of the cases which arose under your command I will dispose of them and send to you all the prisoners whom I do not release, or if you prefer it (and it would be much more satisfactory to me) I would send them all to you without going into any examination myself and leave it to you to dispose of them as you think right. If you have no suitable guard-house there is a jail near your headquarters where they may be securely confined. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN A. DIX, Major-General, HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE OHIO, General E. K. SMITH, Commanding, &c. GENERAL: I deem it proper to make the following statement in relation to the case of Surgeon Dixon, C. S. Army. He was released some weeks ago under the general arrangement relating to medical officers and on the 26th of July reached my headquarters. He asked authority to go through our lines to Chattanooga, making a special request to go by Decatur. An order was made as he desired and when given to him he asked that he be permitted to go via Eastport, which was declined. He then went to the headquarters of the general commanding in Huntsville and procured a pass from a staff officer to go by some other route, concealing the fact that he had received a pass and instructions at my headquarters. He then gave to another party (to be returned to me as he states) the pass first given him and went to Battle Creek where he was stopped, the pass being insufficient. The conduct of this officer was so unnecessary and extraordinary as to seem to me to merit a forfeiture of the privilege which has been extended to medical officers by both the U. S. and Confederate authorities with reference to medical officers, and accordingly I have treated him as a prisoner of war. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. E. M. STANTON: [D. C. BUELL,] Major-General, Commanding. FORT MONROE, August 16, 1862. I have just arrived at this place with Colonels Corcoran and Willcox, Lieutenant-Colonel Bowman and Major Vogdes and expect to leave with them for Washington by the Potomac this evening. I have exchanged 320 officers, among them Lieutenant-Colonel Kane, and send a steamer to-morrow to Aiken's for 130 officers confined in Richmond. L. THOMAS, [AUGUST 16, 1862.-For letter of Brigadier-General Saxton to the Secretary of War, proposing to organize colored refugees, &c., and the Secretary's answer of August 26, 1862, see Series I, Vol. XIV, p. 374 et seq.] OFFICE COMMISSARY-GENERAL OF PRISONERS, Capt. H. M. LAZELLE, Eighth U. S. Infantry, Columbus, Ohio. he can claim no exemption on the score of his being a physician. Please inquire into the case and explain my views to him. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. HOFFMAN, Colonel Third Infantry, Commissary-General of Prisoners. FORT HAMILTON, N. Y. Harbor, August 16, 1862. Brig. Gen. L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General of the Army, Washington, D. C. SIR: With regard to the allegations made against Lieutenant Wood I am progressing with it. Communications have to be had with U. S. marshal's office in New York and other matters to be attended to. As soon as I possibly can I will send you the report on the matter directed by you. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, MARTIN BURKE, Lieutenant-Colonel Third Artillery. Col. WILLIAM OFFMAN, SPRINGFIELD, ILL., August 16, 1862. Commissary-General of Prisoners, Detroit, Mich. COLONEL: The roll is still open for signatures of the prisoners of war who desire to take the oath of allegiance. About 120 have signed the roll. Many more will sign if the roll is still kept open. All now have had an opportunity to sign the roll. Shall I now close it and forward it to you? I have endeavored to make this matter as voluntary as possible with them. While no inducement has been offered to encourage them to sign every endeavor has been made to prevent them from being discouraged, threatened or otherwise prevented from signing. Many here desire to sign but have taken the oath to serve the Confederacy and their time has not expired. They say they cannot conscientiously sign until their term of service has expired. Have you any instructions regarding these? The work upon the general roll of the prisoners is progressing as rapidly as possible. It is a great deal of labor to make this roll correct where the data are so limited, conflicting and unreliable. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, H. W. FREEDLEY, SAINT LOUIS, August 16, 1862. Capt. GUSTAV HOVEN, Acting Provost-Marshal, Saint Charles, Mo. CAPTAIN: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 14th and to say in reply thereto : 1. General Orders, No. 300, issued herefrom authorizes the arrest of all persons including females who by association, conversation or writing indicate rebellious sympathies. 26 R R-SERIES II, VOL IV 2. You will promptly arrest all men who endeavor to or do discourage recruiting, either for the United States or State service, and send them hereto with charges. 3. You will use all means to inform yourself of the movements of the rebels. I am, captain, very respectfully, [H. L. MCCONNEL,] Assistant Provost-Marshal-General. [AUGUST 17, 1862.-For correspondence between Brig. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, C. S. Army, and Col. Halbert E. Paine, U. S. Army, concerning the destruction of private property, the imprisonment of citizens, &c., near Baton Rouge, La., see Series I, Vol. XV, p. 550 et seq.] FORT HAMILTON, N. Y. Harbor, August 17, 1862. General L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General U. S. Army, Hdqrs. Army, Washington, D. C. SIR: In obedience to your orders I have examined the allegation made against Lieutenant Wood. You will see by the testimony of Marshal Smith and Lieutenant Penney that the allegations made by the captain of schooner Mersey are entirely erroneous. Inclosed you will please find a list of the amount of gold turned over by Lieutenant Wood to Lieutenant Casey with Lieutenant Casey's receipt for the same. Also please find inclosed Lieutenant Wood's letter of explanation to me with vouchers which I think cover all the other cases. I would respectfully call your attention to the fact that Lieutenant Wood states that he did not turn over any Delaware money to Lieutenant Casey and that Captain Gibson paid B. W. Sanders off in money of that kind. It appears that B. W. Sanders and A. O. Stone received paper money when they were entitled to gold; therefore some one must have been paid in gold who was not entitled to it. Please find inclosed my order issued to Lieutenant Wood of the 15th of August. Lieutenant Wood states to me that he gave to Lieutenant Casey a list of all the prisoners with three columns, showing the kind of money, kind of watch and number of watch. The department can judge of the honesty of the custodian of the prisoners who has had upward of $20,000 pass through his hands belonging to prisoners and this is the first difficulty that has ever occurred to my knowledge. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ORDERS.] MARTIN BURKE, Lieutenant-Colonel Third Artillery, [Inclosure No. 1.] FORT HAMILTON, N. Y. Harbor, August 15, 1862. I. Whenever prisoners arrive at Fort Lafayette it will be the duty of First Lieut. C. O. Wood, in charge of that post, when taking from them according to the rules of the post their money, arms, &c., to enter the same in a book in presence of the prisoners and a witness, and to have the entry in the book witnessed. II. When the prisoner is released he will receipt for the articles so turned over, and with regard to money he will have such money returned to him as he delivered to the officer, whether coin or paper. |
