to you General W. H. F. Lee and Captain R. H. Tyler, of the rebel army prisoners of war at Fort Lafayette.

I am directed by the Secretary of War to say that in making the exchange of these two officers, and a third not be selected by yourself for General Neal Dow, Captain Sawyer, and Captain Flinn, of the Federal Army, now prisoners of war in Richmond, you will please bear in mind that it is authorized only with the understanding that both Captains Flinn and Sawyer are to be exchanged; without this, the exchange will not be made.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. HOFFMAN,

Colonel Third Infantry and Commissary-General of Prisoners.

WASHINGTON, D. C., February 25, 1864.

Brigadier General G. J. STANNARD,

Commanding U. S. Forces, City and Harbor of New York:

GENERAL: By direction of the Secretary of War I have the honor to request that you will send under a suitable guard General W. H. F. Lee and Captain R. H. Tyler, of the rebel army, prisoners of war at Fort Lafayette, to Fort Monroe, Va., to be delivered to Major-General Butler, commissioner for exchange.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. HOFFMAN,

Colonel Third Infantry and Commissary-General of Prisoners.

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
Nashville, Tenn., February 26, 1864.

General J. E. JOHNSTON,

Commanding C. S. Forces, Northern Georgia:

GENERAL: I have learned - do not know as to the reliability of my information - that J. T. Stancel, Jesse Grear, and Robert Waits, soldiers belonging to the Third West Tennessee Cavalry, U. S. service, are now confined at Atlanta, Ga., charged with belonging to the C. S. Army.

I would state that these men have been for a long time in the Federal Army, and are entitled to the same treatment as other prisoners of war. Of course I would claim no right to retaliate for the punishment of deserters, who had actually been mustered into the Confederate Army and afterward deserted and joined ours; but I cannot agree that any wholesale conscription act can cover as deserters persons who escape into our lines and join our service to avoid such conscription. Further, I would claim that persons who have been personally notified to report at a certain place by a certain time for muster and afterward escaped to our service before obeying such summons would be entitled to the protection of Government against trial, or rather, I should say, punishment as deserters if afterward captured.

I believe, general, an examination into the case herein referred to will show that they have never been sworn into the Confederate Army; that their services to the Government entitle them to the protection of that Government.

Believing fully that you are disposed to be governed by the laws of war, justice, and humanity, I subscribe myself,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

U. S. GRANT,

Major-General, U. S. Army.