Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-10-13

five sections Of my exchange notice, have no
exception to make. Some Of our Nick5burg
rolls were lost, and | have not the means of
making an accurate computation as to them.
Yonr seH"nd item, however, of - officers
AID S,0l4 men, embracing tie sixth section of
my exchange notice, is incorrect. In the first
place, all the officers on both sides. who have
hccn delivered at City Point, arc exchanged.
They were specially exchanged Major Null
ford knows that fact All Confederate SOL
dicrs who were delivered at City Point up to
May 23, 1863. including said date, were de-
cIarel exchanged by Lieut.. Col. Ludlow,
while ihc Federal troops were only exchanged
up to May 9th, 1863. The number of Con-
fclrratc soldiers, reduced to privarcs, deIiv-
cred at City Point from May 2%d to July o tn
(thedatc named in my noticc), is j,SSl, in
stead of SOFA. The rolls show this very
clearly. Of the Federal tro pc on parole you
say there are Is officers and 1908 men. If
these officers are those delivered at City Point,
you make an error against. yourself. They
have been exchanged. From the 9Th of May,
1863, 1.-THE time of the last exchange of Fedc-
raj troops) to tho 1st of September, 1863, (thc
time named in your rosioe, l have delivered
at City Point alone, in privates, 1860. AL
Of these are On parole | have other valid
paroles in my. possession, amounting tn at
least 10000 more. Allowing, therefore, that
your Vicksburg computation is correct. you
owo me, upon the last notice which
You have published more than 1000, instead
Of my owing you l0,024, as you claim. Many
Of the 10000 paroles to which have REFERRED
have been acknowledged by Lieut. Col. Lud-
low in his correspondence. Sn much as to
your computation and your exchange notice
based upon it.
9. You say failed to announce to you "thc
sixth section of my Exchange NOTICE. as rub
lishci in the Ricbmend 'Enqnircr' IF th"
10th inst, which covers - officers and S.0l4
enlisted men This is not so. On the lst Of
August last informed you in writing that |
had declared exchanged Ill Confederate SOL
diers who had been delivered at City Point up
to July Goth, 1863. No deliveries were made
nj City Point between July Goth and July
2ith. and, therefore, one announcement was
the same as the other. did not inform you
Of the exchange Of the City Point men in my
letter of the llth September. because l had
already notified you on tho lst of August.
3. You say did not furnish you with any
list. or even give the number of men, hy which
you Gould declare equivalents, nor did give
You any time u prepare your announcement.
You were furnished with the lists Of all pa
rolled men delivered at City Point numbering
up to September lst lS,Gl0 men As to other
paroles held by mo, you failed to accept or
decline the terms upon which they were To bc
computed and adjusted: and, there"'rr. it was
useless to scnI them. You had or ought to
have had duplicates of many Of them in your
possession. IF there was any particular cap
ture on parole, or any special class Of paroed
men whom you wished TO declare exchanged,
Won had only TO announce that fact and the
lists would be furnished if l had them and
you mad not. With what proprety could
send vou lists which | believed to be in ac-
crrdancc with the Cartel, but which you init
mated you would derlnc to Acknowledged
Moreover. according TO my Interpretation of
the Cartel, that instrument very clearly gives
the right to you TO select what Federal officers
and men shall be relieved from their parole,
~henever discharge our DfErers and Mon
from their parole. I claim the same right
when you declare an exchange af your parolcd
men. If had sent you lists Of snch nf vour
officers and men rs were relieved from their
parole by my declaration of exchange.
would, in effect, have violated thnt provision
of the Cartel which gives the right to leach
party to relieve from parole such Of their own
officers and men as the party may choose" 1t
was entirely unnecessary for me to give you
the number of men whom my notice declared
exchanged They were all Vicksburg cap
lures or City Paint deliveries. You had the
rolls OF both. You had in your possession as
much information az I could communicate.
even il had held the Vicksburg rolls. which
did not. 7 have already proved to you by the
record that the former Federal agent. when hn
declared exchanges. gave neither lists nor the
number of mon. There is, however. n more
recent case. You yourself have just declared
a swccping exchange. You have net furnished
me with any lists or designation Of corps. di
vision. brigade. regiment or company notwith
standing the clamOr you have raised about my
omission in those particulars. Your objection
as to want of time for the preparation of your
announcement. is IL small one at hest. The
Cartel docs not make it incumbent upon me 4"
give you time Your predecessor did not give
it to me. The correspondence, however, be-
tween us. before the 18th of September, was
&c such n nature ~ must have prevented a
surprise
4th. I did not make any such agreement
with your prcaecessor, 1t. Col Ludlow. as
you state. nor did I ever make any agreement
with any one by which / renounced the right
to claim the paroles given at Gettysburg. The
first official letter which ever addressed to
vou was in relation tn this very subject 1t
bears date August lst, 1865, and Is as fol-
lows:
"Brig. Gen. S.. 4. Meredith,
agent Of Exchange:
uc.. T, tbo t-,,r,nd Now OfGri,1 G,1ntto'
Of the date Of July 14th. 1863, find letter
from 1t. Col VIM H. Ludlow of the dare of
july Tth. 1863. addressed ta Col j. G. Kelton.
In it is the following paragraph, to wit:
"'I have the honor also tn state that since
the % nf May last it mas hecn distinctly un-
derStoad between Mr. Ould and myself that all
captures must be reduced to possession, and
that all paroles are to be disregarded, unless
taken under the special arrangement of com.
manding officers Of armies in the field, as pro-
scrihed in sectial saven of the Cartel
"If 1t. Col Ludlow means that he HI do
clarcd to me that such WAS the rule which had
heen adopted by the United States in relation
to captures and paroles. to 60 into effect from
and after May 23d. 1863, he is entirely right
IF he means that I at any time consented to
adopt or acquiesce in any such rule, he is en-
tirelv wrong. All that passed between us on
that subject is in writing. The correspondence
will interpret itself.
"Reapectfully, your ob't serv't,
[Signed "RoBr. OULD,
"Agent of Exchange"
The General Order, No 100, issued Mt
Washington, which 1t. Col. Ludlow commu
nicatcd to me on the 23d May, 1868, in its
l2lst paragraph, provides that, "if the
Government does not approve Of the pa
role, the parolcd officer must return
into captivity and should the enemy refuse
to receive him, he is free of his parole"
Irr no communication, in no interview with
a: thor ;nnt Nnl Indlnu Or pnnrsnlf whore