NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, July 3, 1863.

Honorable E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War:

SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy of a communication, dated the 29th ultimo, received from Commander W. A. Webb, late of the steamer Atlanta, relative to the quarters which have been assigned him and others, late of that vessel, and the manner in which they are treated.

In reply to this communication I informed him that he with the others had been turned over to the military authorities as prisoners of war, and that this Department has not control over the police arrangements of Fort Lafayette.

Very respectfully,

GIDEON WELLES,

Secretary of the Navy.

[Inclosure.]

FORT LAFAYETTE, N. Y. Harbor, June 29, 1863.

Honorable GIDEON WELLES,

Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C.:

SIR: Myself and the rest of the officers of the C. S. S. Atlanta, lately fallen prisoners of war to the U. S. Navy under Commander Rodgers in Warsaw Sound, do most respectfully enter this our protest against our confinement in this fortress in common consort with those with whom we would not associate in civil life. We are no treated as prisoners of war. We are restricted to the coarsest fare, and are required to perform menial offices for others as well as ourselves, which are highly repugnant to our feelings. We therefore ask that we be confined in quarters by ourselves, where we may be able to form our messes apart from the promiscuous inmates of a military prison.

Respectfully, &c.,

W. A. WEBB,

Commander, C. S. Navy, Commanding Squadron, Savannah River.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
Washington, July 3, 1863.

Major-General SCHENCK, Baltimore:

GENERAL: The court of inequity ordered by the President to report upon the validity of paroles given by certain officers captured in Maryland last Sunday have reported that paroles so given are not binding. Their report is approved. I inclose herewith an extract of the report for your government in like cases. A general order will be issued to-day on this subject.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

H. W. HALLECK,

General-in-Chief.

[Inclosure - Extract.]

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3. That inasmuch as Major - was not paroled by the authorized agent or the officer in command of the opposing army and was released from captivity for the convenience of the captor and was not taken for exchange to the places and in the manner specified in article 7 of the cartel as announced in General Orders, Numbers 142, dated September 25, 1862, and now in force, his parole was not in compliance with general orders.