Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-08-26

pay gold, cotton, or tobacco for them,
and even two or three prices, if required
At the same time / gave assurances that
the medicines would be used exclusively
In the treatment of Federal prisoners ;
and moreover agreed, ON behalf of the
Confederate States, if it was insisted on,
that such medicines might. be brought
into, the Confederate lines by the United
States Surgeons, and dispensed by them.
10 this offer. 1 never received any reply.
Incredible, as this appears, it is strictly
true.f1i e3sI9ii h3tniIq ,sSalld sG5 aslusd
ssss5r3s7g ss9dt TO ". .Bo4svii3u bsoi u
General John e. Mulford is person
ally cognizant of the truth of most, II
not all the facts which Ihave narrated.
He ewas connected with afeo cartel from
its date to the close of the war. During
portion Of the time he was Assistant
Agent of Exchanges ON the part of the
United States I always found him to
be an honorable and a truthful gentle-
man. While he discharged his du-
ties with great fidelity to his own Gov
ernment, he was kind and, 1 might al
most say, tender to Confederate prison
ers. With that portion of the cores
pondence with which his name is con-
nected he is, of course, familiar. He is
equally SO with tbe delivery made at Sa-
vannah, and its attending circumstances,
and with the offer I made as to the pur-
chase of ofmedicines for the Federal sick
and wounded. I appeal to him for the
truth of what I have written. There
are other Federal corroborations to por-
tions OF my statements. They are found
in thereport of Major General B. F. Bot
tier to the "Committee on the Conduct
of the War; About the last of
March, 1864, I had several conferences
with General Butler at Fortress Monroe
in relation to- the difficulties attending
the exchanges of prisoners, and we
reached what we both thought tolerably
satisfactory basis. The day that 1 left
there General Grant arrived,
General Butler says he commune
Gated to him the state of the negotia-
tionss and ''most emphatic verbal direc-
tions were received from the Lieutenant
General not to take any step by which
another able-bodied man should be ex-
changed until further orders from him.
and that on April 80, 1864, he received
telegram from General Grant, ''to re-
ceive all the sick and wounded the Con-
federave authorities may send you, but
send no more in exchange" Unless my
recollection fails me, General Butler also,
in an address to his constituents, sub
stantially declared that he was directed,
in his management of the question of
exchange with 70 the Confederate
authorities, to put the matter ofens-
lively, for the purpose of preveating an
exchange. The facts which / have
stated are also well known to
the officers connected with the Confed-
crate Bureauofs Exchange. At one time
Thought an excellent opportunity was
afforded of bringing some of them to the
attention ofithe country, I was named
by poor Wirz as a witness in his behalf.
The summons was issued by Chapman,
the Judge Advocate of the military
court. l obeyed the summons, and was
in attendance upon the court for some ten
days. Tne investigation had taken a
wide range as to the conduct of the Con-
federate and Federal Governments in the
matter of the treatment of prisoners, and
! thought the time had come when i
could put before the world these humane
offers of the Confederate authorities, and
the, manner in which they had been
treated. I SO expressed myself more
than once-perhaps too publicly. But
it was a vain thought, Early in the
morning of the day on which ], expected
to give my testimony, I received
a note from /, Chapman, the Judge
Advocate, requiring me to surrender
my subpoena. I refused, as it was my
protection in Washington. Without it
the doors of tho old Capitol might have
opened and closed upon me. I engaged,
however, to appear before the court, and
I did SO the same evening. I still re-
fused to surrender my subpoena, and
therefore the Judge Advocate indorsed
on it these words .""The within sub
pnna is hereby revoked the person
named is discharged from further attend
ance." l have got the curious docu-
ment before me now, signed with the
name of IN. P. Chapman, Colonel" &c.
l intend to keep it if. can, as the evi-
dence OF. the first case IN any court, of
any sort, where witness who was sum-
moned for the defense was dismissed by
tile prosecutions. hastened to depart,
confident that Richmond was a safer
place for me than the metropolis. Some
time ago a committee was appointed
by the House of Representatives
to investigate the treatment of
Union prisoners in Southern prisons.
After the appointment of the committee
the Hon. Mr.. Shanks, of Indiana, be-
ing its chairman-I wrote to the Hon.
Charles A. Eldridge and the Hon. Mr..
Mungen (the latter a member of the
committee) some of the facts herein de-
tailed. Both of these gentlemen made
an effort to extend the authority of the
committee, SO that it might inquire into
the treatment of prisoners North as
well as South, and especially that it
might inquire into the truth of the mat
tiers which ] had alleged. All these at
tempts were frustrated by the Radical
majority, although several of the party
voted to extend the inquiry. AS seve-
raj thousand dollars of the money of the
people have been spent by this commit
tee, will not they demand that the in
vestigation shall be thorough and i'm
partial? The House of Representatives
have declined the inquiry: let the peo-
pie take it up.
Respectfully. your ob't. serv't.,
T Ro. OULD.