Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-11-13

igg them also exchanged, and vurting thcm
into the field. not in conformity with the cx-
i'ting ca.trl, nor in ncc..iaasc with Tie
usa2es u war, but wIen-:er. in rour in1ivii-
| ual Judgment, yeu may taia;: !: pr0po: 20 {,
so.
have caly to a.li the. N cav Inference
from this statement is lie a':.~cr haze to
| riake TO your proposal Ct the -4!h ;Iat.. which
is not accepted
Respectfully. your oL'tser';'t,
S. a. MEREDITH,
Brig. Gen. and c. mr. for ESch.
CONFEDERATE Sr.rrs oT AMERICA
WAR nsrARTuEHT.
RlcuMoSD, October 81, 1863.
Brigadicr General S. A. iIEGEoIru.
Agent Of Exchange:
Sir: Your communication c; Tic @",th inst
has Lean received. and is extraordinary and
gronnG!ess statements read with surprise
You first represent ma g: having Informed
yru thai I would proceed 20 declare o..
changes whenever I consecnti,c:.i; icit thar
had the right 70 do 50. for the ;,urrcsn IF
putting men into tie field In another part
of your letter / an, charged with having
| stated thas wouil proceed TO make decara-
| tons cc exchange for the purpose Of putting
j troops into Tie field, whenever thought pros
per Both OF these paragraphs are between
quotation marks to Indicate that | ha.i COM
municate1 them. M9rco:cc they are mcr-
| t;oncl as being my ''nnoqnivacal deci!ratiu.." ;"
| Upon faithful cxaniaatiGn q: my cores
p1ndnncc wish vcu ;.:.d y"rr pre,to""-sor. I
can find ~ instance i! which, .lch langra.a
has been used hy re. WIN YOU in.hrm re :!
! the date of any sucl, ccl:mub;c%:iaa, or rar.
nsh me with . cary Of it? Il! yoa cannG,,
you will certainly i"c'n re justified il 81.
! nouncipg yGu- sta:em3at as utterly Ui.i.a".
! foundation in truth
Upon thess premises you l:arc proceeded 10
! throw of sundry sentences more iiirpant than
| worthy ar notice. As usual, however. vou
| finish the paragraph which contains them
| with q misstatcmcrf in asserting tl:at "hare
| declared exchanged al Confederate officers
and men on parole" within our lines, "up to
very recent dste" | havc d,nc no such
thing. specially cxcep:cd the larger part Of
the YicIsburg capture.
You then proceed to give what you cal! ~
history Of this NATTER That history like
| many others, turns out to he = romance
Lieut.. Col. LuiiGw's declarations of exchange
to which referred in my letter of Oer. %.
| 1863, wsre not made in response n any lnrI-
| tat;on from me, or in consequence Of any pro
7ious declarations which bad made. did
not ''inaugnrnte" what you tcrm"l departure
| from The Cartel" The correspondence of the
Office very clearly shows that inct.
You are wrong also in your statement that
| the Ficksburg. Cd pturc was subsequent to y2ur
| looming 20 duty" at Fortress Monroe. | re-
ccivcl official communications frou, Lieut..
Col Ludlow as late as ,IniY 22d, 1863, weeks
after the Eicl:shurg surrcndcr. and. rnno from
| You until tic 25th of the samc month.
You charge that the declaration Of c1-
change bearing dasa September II, 1863, was
| made ''as il for the express purpose Of in
crcasing the force of General Bragg against
! General Rosscrans." This, also. is untrue
The declaration was not published until seve-
ral lavs after the l2th although 1t bore that
date. Not one Of the officers 'r man pamed
in that declaration of exchange was 9n tie
battlefield Of Chickamauga.
! You further saT mus7 haze known that |
had nctdeiyerei to yor. nor had valid paroles
Ct YOUR inrn sufficient 10 cover The number de-
clair,d exchanged by NO. EEnew 'ex.";iv thc
contrary, a1i SO informed you. On III" l2:h d
! September, 1868, in announcing the d"";ara-
ton cf exchange would make on the follow
| ing day. wrote to you that had ''in my
| possession n-'rc valid paroles of yaar officers
and men than would be an equivalent for the
officers and men" enumerated in the cxcha,.. .,e
notice. ! have made the same statement to
YOU more than once since. am prepared 10
! rrn7c that j. was true each time X was u:t-.
Cd.
You say your declaration o. exchange
extended to those whom had deiirsred. |:
yen mean that it was limitc'l to siIch. vou a7e
incorrect; for il declared exchanged Ill officer:
and men Of the Cnitr.l States army, captured
and parolcd Mt an- ,:"." previous 10 the Isl O:
September. 1862. -@'; inc;udel many ;hons-
ands Of prisoa-:+ taken and paro!ed hy our
cavalry and n'.er forces in :5anT States NJ tho
Confederac7. never delivered by NE. have
already furnished you y memorandr., OF
at least sixteen Thousand Of thcse pN7o!ed
prisoners.
You soy l failed to produce the paroles r'
, to give any account or history 81 them. L
you mean that refused to d. -, it is rc
t tue. offered to proirco then! as any time
, and inoportuned you TO agree to some nrineipl
t by which they could be computed and adius!
ell. When last met rou at City Point, yo'
: requested me Cor the first time 70 send to yor
. memorandum of the paroles claimed a
t valid by,me furnished you With the lis
Il on the 9th inst, thai being the frst day a
t ter rouc request, cn' which fag Of tru:
Il beat appeared ct City P1ia..
u Ycu say then proceeded to make lurtl::
# declaration of exchange, isroring the cert
l. oltopettrr and rsstinr the whole proccclin