of troops under the usurped government of Virginia, to wit, Captain Thomas Damron and Lieutenant Wilson Damron, and have ordered them to be imprisoned in the penitentiary of this State and to be kept in solitary confinement, and I have further ordered that the following privates, to wit, John W. Howe, Issac Goble and David V. Auzier, who belonged to the Thirty-ninth Kentucky Regiment, and Samuel Pack, also from Kentucky, and William S. Dils, from Ohio, both of the Fifth Regiment of troops under the usurped government, to be also kept in the penitentiary in solitary confinement, all of them there to remain until Colonel Zarvona is properly exchanged under suitable agreement or discharged and permitted to return to t his city. *

* * * *

Respectfully,

JOHN LITCHER,

Governor of Virginia.

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSARY-GENERAL OF PRISONERS,

Washington, January 27, 1863.

Lieutenant Colonel W. H. LUDLOW,

Agent for Exchange of Prisoners, Fort Monroe, Va.

COLONEL: * * * We hold at Fort Lafayette I believe Zarvona alias Mr. Thomas, who attempted to capture a steam-boat at Baltimore, who I understand is a man of note with the rebels and that they hold seven officers in close confinement as hostages for him. I don't know whether this man is for exchange, but I will inquire and let you know. * * *

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. HOFFMAN,

Colonel Third Infantry, Commissary-General of Prisoners.

Resolution adopted by the U. S. Senate January 28, 1863.

Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia be instructed to inquire for the purpose of extending such relief as the circumstances may require into the case of Mr. Thomas [Zarvona], of Maryland, now a prisoner of war at Fort Lafayette, who it is represented has been confined in a dungeon of that fortress since June last and is now hopelessly insane by reason of his sufferings. +

WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., February 2, 1 863.

Honorable EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.

SIR: I have the honor to ask whether Zarvona alias Thomas, now in confinement at Fort Lafayette (taken in woman's clothes), is a subject for exchange. I have understood that the State Department of the Government does not propose to prosecute him for an offense against the civil law.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

E. A. HITCHCOCK,

Major General of Vols., Commissioner for Exchange of Prisoners.

---------------

*Omitted portion relates to cases of prisoners held in the Albany (N. Y.) penitentiary convicted of robbing the mails.

+Introudced by Mr. Wall and unanimously adopted.

---------------