[Second indorsement.]

HEADQUARTERS DEFENSES OF BALTIMORE,
Fort McHenry, September 4, 1863.

Respectfully returned to department headquarters, Eighth Army Corps, with the accompanying report of the provost-marshal of this post. *

W. W. MORRIS,

Brevet Brigadier-General, Commanding.

[AUGUST 30, 1863. --For Grant to Halleck, in reference to the parole and return to duty without exchange of General S. D. Lee, see Vol. XXX, Part III, p. 224.]

[AUGUST 30, 1863. --For Grant to Sherman, in regard to prisoners taken without uniform, see Series I, Vol. XXX, Part III, p. 226.]

LIBBY PRISON, Richmond, August 30, 1863.

Brigadier General S. A. MEREDITH, U. S. Army,

Commissioner for Exchange of Prisoners:

SIR: I have the honor to call your attention to the inclosed copy of a communication to the Honorable James A. Seddon. I, as well as others of my fellow-prisoners, have repeatedly appealed or relief to the subordinate officers having us in charge, but have as often been assured that our situation as to rations, quarters, and treatment generally was much better than their officers received at the hands of our Government. It is needless to add that our treatment as officers, prisoners of war, is entirely contrary to all civilized usages, and it is my earnest hope, and, so far as I have been able to ascertain, it is the unanimous desire of the officers here that such measures be taken by our Government as will insure proper treatment to both our officers and men while prisoners of war in the hands of the enemy, no matter who that enemy may be.

I have the honor, sir, to be, your most obedient servant,

A. D. STREIGHT,

Colonel Fifty-first Indiana Volunteers, U. S. Army.

[Inclosure.]

LIBBY PRISON, Richmond, August 30, 1863.

Honorable JAMES A. SEDDON, Secretary of War:

SIR: I take the liberty of addressing you in behalf of myself and fellow-prisoners in relation to our situation. About 600 of us are confined here with an average space of nearly twenty-eight square feet each, which includes our room for cooking, eating, washing, bathing, and sleeping. Our rations consist, as nearly as I can judge as to quantity, of about one-fourth pound of poor fresh beef, one-half pound of bread, and one-half gill of rice or beans for each man per day. The above amount has been found insufficient both as to quantity and quality to

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*See September 3, p. 255.

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16 R R--SERIES II, VOL VI