[Indorsement.]

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA,
Cumberland, Md., December 22, 1863.

The within proceedings of a court of inquiry convened at Harper's Ferry, Va., to inquire into the facts and circumstances connected with the surprise and capture, on the 18th day of October last at Charlestown, Va., of the forces under the command of Colonel Benjamin L. Simpson, Ninth Maryland Volunteers, are respectfully forwarded for the consideration of the honorable Secretary of War.

After a careful perusal of the testimony adduced, I cannot concur in the opinion expressed by the Court that no blame can justly be attached to Colonel Simpson on account of the surprise and capture of Charlestown, or that the capture was inevitable. I am of the opinion that Colonel Simpson was derelict in suffering his command to be surprised, and that he could and should have maintained himself in his position until he could have been relieved by the forces at Harper's Ferry, which were started to his assistance as soon as the cannonading of the enemy was heard at that place. I therefore respectfully recommend that Colonel Benjamin L. Simpson, Ninth Maryland Volunteer Infantry, be dismissed from the service of the United States.

B. F. KELLEY,

Brigadier-General.

REVIEW.

JUDGE-ADVOCATE-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

January 23, 1864.

The within is a record* of the proceedings of a court of inquiry convened at Harper's Ferry on the 13th of November at the request of Colonel Simpson, of the Ninth Maryland Volunteers, to investigate the facts and circumstances connected with the surprise and capture of Charlestown and the forces occupying it on the 18th of October, and to give an opinion in the case.

From the evidence adduced the following facts appear:

The village of Charlestown is built upon uneven ground, surrounded by wooded hills and valleys. There are eight roads leading to it from different directions, all connected by another, which at some distance from the town completely encircles it. On the 20th of August Colonel Simpson was ordered by his brigade commander to proceed with the forces under him from Loudoun Heights and encamp in the woods on the east side of the village. After his arrival he received orders and instructions, some written, some verbal, all of which do not appear in evidence from the fact that some of the originals and the books in which they were copied have been lost or captured. The general tenor or substance of all these material to the case in question were presented for the consideration of the Court. Up to the date of the capture they appear to have been carried out promptly as far as practicable, and the result communicated by Colonel Simpson to his brigade and division commanders.

Colonel Simpson's command consisted of portions of seven companies of the Ninth Maryland Volunteers, amounting to about 356 men and a cavalry force of about 80 men.

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*Filed in the office of the Judge-Advocate-General U. S. Army.

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