by General Banks, who had it in his power to send the whole body beyond what the rebels claims as their territory. He sent the officers of the command to the North, excepting perhaps a few retained in his possession for special reasons. The non-commissioned officers and privates captured at Port Hudson, together with some others captured at other points, all of whom were in the actual possession of General Banks, were released on parole at Mobile upon an agreement with the rebel commander, not subject to an arbitrary interpretation of General Orders, Numbers 207, series 1863, as Mr. Ould supposes, but in accordance with a distinct authority contained in the cartel, which provides that when either of the two places named as points of delivery for prisoners of war, to wit, City Point and Vicksburg, shall become unavoidable for such delivery, owing to the exigencies of war, other points of delivery may be agreed upon by the opposing generals.

I am of the opinion, therefore, that the Government cannot concede that there is any question for debate with regard to the prisoners above named, to wit, those paroled by Generals Grant and Banks, but must insist upon the validity of the paroles referred to.

With regard to General Orders, Numbers 207, 1863, I have to observe that this order was issued for the purpose of enforcing the cartel and the laws of war, as the first paragraph of the order will show, and was not designed, and neither would it have had any power, to annual or abrogate either had it been designed for such a purpose. The principle is plain that between belligerents the laws of war are first in authority prior to the existence of any cartel and can only be modified by a cartel, and then only by its specific agreements, and it is not in the power of any general to supersede nothing of the kind. One of the principal objects for which this order was issued was to correct a gross departure from the laws of war which had occurred at the capture of Harper's Ferry by the enemy in 1862. On that occasion the entire garrison of some 12,000 or 15,000 officers and men was, in great haste and without any proper form, declared to be on parole when the enemy was not in a condition to secure them; but, notwithstanding this, we gave the enemy of those paroles, duly giving in exchange for them man for man and officer for officer, not because the enemy and just claim for such an exchange according to the laws of war, but because in the early part of this rebellion some irregular practices had been introduced which made it proper to issue the order (Numbers 207) as matter of instruction to our own troops. But in no view of this order does it apply to the rebel troops received by General Grant as prisoners of war and placed on parole in accordance with the terms of the capitulation at the surrender of Vicksburg, nor to the prisoners received by General Banks at the unconditional surrender of Port Hudson.

With respect to the prisoners above referred to, I emphatically recommend that the claim of the Government in regard to them be fully insisted upon without qualification.

I perceive at page 18 of General Butler's communication a reference to "10,000 paroles at Vicksburg declared exchanged, which the Confederate commissioner claims he had a right to declare exchanged under the cartel to meet an equal number of prisoners actually delivered to us at City Point, which we have a right to declare exchanged. "

I am at a loss to determine to which of several separate declarations made by Mr. Ould in reference to the Vicksburg prisoners this language refers, because in neither of them is there any specific number set forth. His first declaration, made September 12, 1863, covers 29, 433