The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1863-09-23

There seems to be gross neglect somewhere
| In the exchange Of enlisted men, dhe release
Of officers having been suspended long ago.
and the cartel agreed upon by Major General
| Dix on behalf Of the UnitedeStstes, and Gene
raj Robert Toombs. for the rebel govern
ment, is apparently dead letter. On the sur
render of vicksburg we came into possession
Of some thirty thousand prisoners, all Of whom
were paroled. From this capture we have not
reaped the slightest benefit. On the 18th iust
Robert Ould, the rebel Commissioner Of FIX
change, declared all these prisoners liberated
from their parole, and these very men augmented
Joe Johnston's army. and contributed to the
defeat of General Rosecrans.
There are at this moment some nineteen
thousand brave veteran troops Of our armies in
paroled camps. under an obligation not to take
up arms against the rebels until declared duly
exchanged. The question is naturally asked,
why does not Major General Hitchcock, the
Commissioner Of Exchange. issue an order or
declaration restoring these men to the army,
seeing that Robert Ould has himself set the ex-
ample?
According to accounts on record, the rebel
prisoners in our hands exceed in number those
from our armies held by the rebels, independent
Of the vicksburg and Port Hudson captures AT
first the rebels refused to acknowledge the right
of General Pemberton to accept parole
from General Grant under the cartel and Ould
was disposed to raise an issue on this subject
Lieutenant Colonel Ludlow, who was at that
period acting as Agent Of Exchange at Fortress
Monroe, however, made Colonel Ould acknowl-
edge the fact.
As soon a. our government heard OF the
Vicksburg captures, and had the lists sent in
by General Grant, they should at once have
declared an equivalent number--all the
prisoners we had on parole exchanged and
at the same time have notified the rebel
authorities to select like number.
But it seems that the energies Of this de-
pertinent are lacking fearfully. The rebel
agent Of exchange is an able. interruptions
and willy man, and will stop ut nothing to
overreach our government where and when
ever he can. 1t is he who raises knotty ques-
lions OF legal techncality. and invariably
consrues the cartel to the interest Of the con-
ieaeracy. General A. s. Meredith, the sue
cessor OF Colonel Ludlow as United States
Agent Of Exchange at Fortress Monroe. has as
yet done nothing, probably from the fact that
be is not posted on the routine Of business
connected with his department II is, however,
fortunate thing that Major JOHN T. Milford.
the Efficient flag Of truce officer, las been re-
tanned in his position; otherwise the delivery
Of prisoners would lag entirely.
Tic last exchanges declared on our side
were on or about the 22d Of May, inclusive to
that date. Since then only few exchanges Of
enlisted men have been made. and even then
the rebels received at least two to our ono.
Comm ssioncr Ould, however, issued the follow
ing declaration, which liberates not only all the
vicksburg prisoners, but large number OF
Others, delivered at City Point, for whom we
hove not yet received the equivalent
Fxcx ,SoR NorIcE--No6.
RICHMOND, sept II, 1869.
Tho following Con'cdsssse officers and captured II
Wick sburg Mss, July T. 1888 and subsequently parocd,
have boon duly exchanged, and hereby declared:
| !. The officers and men Of Goa c. l.. Stevensons
dv,sion
| .. The officers md men OF Cen fcwen's division
3 The officers aud men Of Bsg. Cen Mo'rcs brg'de.
4. The officers and o the second Tcxss
g. Tee officers ard men OF Wallis Legion.
Also all Confederate oil and who have brcn
delivered ut City Point nj any mo previous to July Is,
1858 have been du'y exchanged, and hereby &C.
| ciarcd ROBERT otID, Agent of Exchange.
Let General Hitchcock therefore issue an
order OF once declaring all captures made by
the rebels up TO July % exchanged, and let the
| soldiers be returned to their respective com
| mands, and our army will be strengthened by
nearly twenty thousand veteran troops. the cost
| OF whose maintenance is no more in the field than
| at Camp Parole while their fighting qualities
are equal to fifty thousand conscripts. The
= 4 ~ -. -
MS follow lis example. Men languishing in
camp, without doing even guard duty become
indoen, disprited and unqualified for active
duty.
Administrative Inca pacity-Disas sers fa
Georgia MT Louisiana.
We will believe that General Rosecrans has
been BADLY beaten only when we receive
such particulars OF his recent battle as render
it impossible To look at the result in any other
way. Alarmist dispatches. dated hundreds of
miles in rear OF goriously contested fields, arc
too familiar for despatch from Louisville to
be received M authority upon what has taken
place at the Chattanooga river. Until fuller
particulars Of Sundays light shall be received
the account our correspondent sends Of Satur
day fight must he regarded a. absolutely the
only reliable news from Roseerans army
And this account gives every reason TO hope
Tor something better than defeat Af;cr de-
fensive battle of seven hours duration. prnci
paly fought at close quarters. that account
leaves General Rosecrsns' lines in the same
position in which they were before the battle
began some ground had been lost early in
the day: but all of this had been retaken
before the close of the fight At six clock in
the evening Up till that time. therefore.
the rebel attempt to turn General Rose
crans leit and get between him and Chat
tanooga was failure. Saturday. battle. a. il