American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1863-12-16

men upon bloody. battle-felds within the
last few months"
"To show the extreme probability of this,
it is only necessary to refer to few facts,
beginning with the statement of Mr.. Ould
to Gen. Meredith, officially communion
ted to me, that he, Mr.. 0uld, would pro-
ceed to make declarations whenever he
could conscientiously feel the right todo so,
for the purpose Of putting men into the
feld--thus openly setting aside the cartel
and usages of war, in favor of his individ-
ual sense of right-whieh sense of right,
in Mr.. 0uld, is so obtuse and wild, as to
justify him in making use of a tabular
statement of alleged captures principal
ly in the western States, amounting to over
$4,000 men, considerable portion of
whom were undoubtedly captured by
guerrilla parties, and were not soldiers, but
for the most part, peaceable citizens of the
country"
We think this clearly relieves our Gov
ernment from blame in this matter. But
the following is what we wish more par
ticularly to call the attention of our read
ers to-
Mr. Ould is mere agent under the
cartel, and has no powers beyond those re-
eognized in the cartel for the execution of
its provisions yet he has recently assum-
cd to decide an important question by
which he undertook TO liberate from the
obligations of their parole the whole of
the prisoners, some 5000 or 1000, cap
turcd by Gen. Banks at Port Hudson, and
paroled by Gen. Banks under special
agreement with the Rebel commander.
The world knows that those prisoners
fell uaconditioaally into the hands Of Gen.
Banks at the surrender of Port Hudson,
and Gen. Banks had the power to send
them to the north if it had been his pleas
ure to do so but he made an agreement
with the Rebel commander to release them
on parole, and released them at Mobile in
conformity with the agreement.
Tho cartel for the exchange of prison
ers provided two places for their delivery
to wit: City Point ON James River, and
Vicksburg, on the Mississippi; but tpro
vided also, that when either of these pla.
ces should become unavailable, by the ex
igencies af war, for the delivery of prison
ers, other points might be "agrccd upon
by the commanders in the field. Thi:
was precisely what happened. Vicks
burg having fallen into the hands of Gen
Grant, had, by that exigeney, become un
available for the delivery of captured Reb
el soldiers; and when, subsequently, Gen
Banks came into possession of severa
thousand prisoners by the unconditiona
surrender of Port Hudson, he made al
agreement with the Rebel Gen. Gardner
their commander, to deliver his prisoner!
on parole at Mobile, and did so.
Mr.. Ould, without any proper authori
ty whatever, assumed to write letter oil
the 10th of October last, a copy of which
he has not furnished us, but which
has been published in Richmond news
paper, in which he attempts to release al
of those prisoners from obligations unde
their parole because, as he undertakes t
decide, they were not delivered at places
named in the cartel, when the cartel itsel
provides for other places of delivery Thar
those expressly named in the cartel, wher
rendered necessary by the exigencies o
war. In the mean time, however, it can
not be doubted that the body of men il
question have been put into tne field t.
fight again the Federal troops by whom
they were captured but a few months
since and this, too, without having beer
exchanged, and without having been prop
erly released from the obligations of theil
parole.
Since writing the above, have receiv
ed an official report from Gen. Meredith
one point in which will be here stated, t.
wit: that Gen. Meredith, for the purpos'
of Withdrawing our suffering prisoner
in Richmond, distinctly proposed to Mr.
Ould that he would send him $4,000 o.
more Confederate prisoners, as many as h,
might hold of our men, and receive in re
turn our prisoners held in the South =
which proposition Mr.. Ould refused t.
accept, but said that he would agree t,
a general exchange the effect of whicl
undoubtedly would be to cancel the exces
of prisoners in our hands by delivery o
about 10000 for about Ii 600; to leav,
the Rebel authorities the entire disposi
ton of such colored troops and their whit
officers as they might capture to expos
Capts. Sawyer and Flynn to their fate un
dor orders in Richmond which Loue meme