WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, May 4, 1864.

Major-General BUTLER, Fortress Monroe:

The Commissary-General of Prisoners is preparing a declaration of exchange, which will be made at once.

EDWIN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War.

HEADQUARTERS PROVOST-MARSHAL-GENERAL,
DEFENSES SOUTH OF THE POTOMAC,

Alexandria, Va., May 4, 1864.

Lieutenant Colonel J. H. TAYLOR,

Chief of Staff and Assistant Adjutant-General:

COLONEL: With this I have the honor to forward (as directed by the major-general commanding) a list of guerrillas* forwarded for confinement in the Old Capitol Prison during the last three months. They are all of them men of bad character and ought not to be exchanged, but confined in some prison remote from Virginia, where they will not be likely to escape. They are generally rebels, cut-throats, and thieves, and only await a release to return to their old avocation. Shepard, who was captured after difficulty by Lieutenant Jackson in November last, has, I understand, escaped from the Old Capitol and is now with the guerrillas.

I have the honor to remain, colonel, your obedient servant,

H. H. WELLS,

Lieutenant Colonel and Pro. March General Defenses South of the Potomac.

[First indorsement.]

HDQRS. DEPT. OF WASHINGTON, 22nd ARMY CORPS,
May 4, 1864.

Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army, with the request that these men be not exchanged, but kept closely confined during the war. They are men who have been selected for the particular duty upon which they were engaged by reason of their peculiar qualifications for it and their knowledge of the country. One of them would give more trouble to us than half a dozen ordinary soldiers.

C. C. AUGUR,

Major-General, Commanding.

[Second indorsement.]

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, May 6, 1864.

Respectfully referred to Colonel Hoffman, Commissary-General of Prisoners, and attention invited to indorsement of General Augur.

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

HDQRS. DEPT. OF VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA,
OFFICE COMMISSIONER FOR EXCHANGE,

Fort Monroe, Va., May 4, 1864.

Honorable ROBERT OULD, Agent for Exchange, Richmond, Va.:

SIR: Will you please inform me as to the whereabouts and present condition of Leonard Albert Reese, Company I, One hundred and six-teenth Indiana Volunteers; Eabud Simonds, Company D, Seventeenth

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* Omitted.

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