Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-06-26
Your Obedient servant,
BENJAMIN HUGER,

Major General Commanding.
On June 1st Gen. Wool sent the privateers-
men, in all eighty-fve in number, with iustruc-
tons TO deliver them up on receiving the host
ages, COTcJran, Wilcox and others on parole
according to Huger's proposal In the mean
time Hugrr had been writing to his superiors in
Richmond, who refused to accede to the terms.
They plainly, for some reason, desired to keep
Colonels Corc0Tan and Wilcox. HugeT sent
the following copy Of a letter to Gen Wool
C. S A WAR DEPARTMENT
RchmOnf, June 3, lSC9,
GENERAL; l have received your letter OF the
18th ult., in which you give construction to
your agreement with Gen. Wool, for the ex-
change of the privsteersmen and the persons
formerly held as hostages, which requires US to
return all OF the latter for al Of the former and
to parole such of the so-called hostages as are
net exchanged, and to support this construc-
ton you refer me to your letter Of May 23d to
Gen. Wool.
Upon examining that letter, l find that you use
the following language: Il must be responsible
that, on the delivery of all the pTivsteersmen
all the officers detained as hostages will be re-
leased upon parole"
If this were the agreement, there could be 20
doubt Of your promise to return all the officers
retained as hostages; but in the same letter you
state that the agreement was contained in your
letter of May Sd, and, you say, II consider the
War Department has fully agreed to the terms
stated in my letter of the 81 inst "
The letter of May 3d. far from promising TO
return all the officers as hostages, as you appar-
emily suppose, confines the proposed exchange
to such as Gen. Wool might name, and as would
| be equivalent to the pTiVateeTSmen, according
to the tariff agreed upon by the cartel between
Great Britain and the United States in 1913,
and consents that when that exchange had been
made the other officers held as hostages might
be exchanged as usual There can be no doubt
about the agreement; your language is perfectly
explicit. You say to Gen. Wool, 81 will return
such officers as you may name in exchange &C
cording to the tariff agreed upon by the cartel
between Great Britain and the United States in
1913 As soon as these men are exchanged,
any other officers that have been held as host
ages will be exchanged as usual
am willing 10 perform the agreement which
you stated to Gen. Wool that the department
| had fully agreed to perform, but cannot con-
sent to carry out the pslp1ble misconstructiOn
of it, much more disadvantageOus to the gov
eminent of the Confederate States than the
agreement itself and evidently the result Of mere
| insdvertanee on your part.
Even this erroneous interpretation Of your
promise is founded on the suppOsitiOn that "Offi-
GERS were still retained as hostages" when, in
fact, they had all been restored to the condition
/ OF pTlSUHbIb VI wall anu q CUiOuoA au4 bA4bC
captains were actually then on parole. 1t is
therefore not only erroneous in its construction
| of the agreement actually made, but is founded
/ on such miscOnception of the facts that it
would not bind you as an independent agree
ment.
| You WILL therefore, inform Gen Wool shst tbs
/ War Department will execute faithfully your
| agreement with him of May 81, without eOnsid-
eTing whether you were authorized to make il
OF not that wes1Fill exchange such officers re-
Gently held as hostages as he may name for the
| privsteersmen, according to the cartel agreed
on, but that we shall hold others to be exchanged
| hereafter.
mig BIT justly complain that Gen. Wool, after
being informed by Gen. Cobb that the - officers
hitherto held as hostages for the privsteersmer
had been placed on the same footing as Other
prisoners Of war, and knowing that number
of them, more than equivalent to the pTivateers
men had been actually parOled, should yet ne
gotiate with you as if they were still held as hos
tages, apparently taking advantage of the cir
cumstaDcs that you were not so well informed
as himself.
Very respectfully, your cbedient servant,
G.. w RANDOLPH,
Secretary of War
Maj Gen B. Huger, Commanding Dspartmen
of the AppOmattO1
To this HugeT replies
HEADQUARTERS HUeERs DIVISION. I
Ju- e 3 1862 !
] SIR; inc!Ose you a copy ct letter / re