in giving a clear view of the case from our side. I inclose a copy* of my letter of the 20th of May to Colonel Ludlow, covering General Orders, Nos. 49 and 100, and communicating to him instructions relating to paroles. You will notice that the orders and the cartel are to govern our forces. Whenever the cartel conflicts with the orders, they, of course, must be set aside. The cartel requires that prisoners of war shall be delivered at certain named places, and if they are not so delivered the paroles cannot be valid. In consequence of the usage which had governed both partes up to that time, instructions were subsequently issued that paroles given before the 22nd of May should be considered valid, though deliveries shad not been made as required by the cartel. In order to the putting in force these instructions it was not necessary to ask Mr. Ould's consent. We were only bound to notify him that from that time the cartel would be rigidly adhered to by us and the same course would be exacted of the Confederate authorities. If Mr. Ould wishes paroles recognized when the parties were not delivered at the places named in the cartel, he does not ask that paroles not in conformity with the stipulations of the cartel should be regarded as valid. You will have no difficulty in showing that his declaration of the 12th ultimo was not in accordance with the cartel. The reference to the acts of Colonel Ludlow does not sustain him, for, according to Mr. Ould's own letter. Colonel Ludlow was declaring an exchange to cover a balance due on declarations previously made by Mr. Ould. The troops thus declared exchanged by Colonel Ludlow are as follows:

Fiftieth Regiment Indiana Volunteers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Seventy-fifth Regiment Indiana Volunteers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Third Ohio Volunteers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Tennessee cavalry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

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1,008

Paroled at Mount Sterling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

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Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,471

Mr. Ould states that the excess, without taking into account the Mount Sterling captures, was 2,290; whereas the whole number including said captures, amount only to 1,471. If in making up this balance Lieutenant - Colonel Ludlow failed to give rolls and number, it does not justify Mr. Ould in anticipating a declaration by you without furnishing you with rolls or numbers or giving you time to consult the records to make them up for yourself. When the paroling is properly done both parties have rolls, and there can be little difficulty in arranging an exchange to be simultaneously declared. Mr. Ould states that when the Federal troops were declared exchanged to the 6th of May the Confederate were declared exchanged to the 23rd of May inclusive. There is nothing in this office to show that the exchanges on both sides were not alike. The Confederate prisoners delivered between the two dates amount to 5,083 privates, and if we have already received equivalents for them they should be deducted from my former

computation. Without counting these, the number covered by Mr. Ould's declaration of September 12 and the subsequent explanatory declaration of September 26 amounts to 39,450. The number of Federal troops on parole to September 1 and declared exchanged amounts to 23,911. The officers included are those paroled at Gettysburg and else where not those delivered at City Point. The number above given differ from those given to you at my visit to Fort Monroe, because in making up that

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* See Vol. V, this series, p. 670.

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