and consigned to me, and with the proceeds of such sale to purchase and distribute to Confederate prisoners of war articles needed by them, as agreed upon between Lieutenant-General Grant and R. Ould on the 11th and 12th of November, 1864, do pledge my parole of honor that I will faithfully and honestly carry out such agreement and apply all the proceeds of the sale of said cotton in the manner specified in the said agreement; that I will truly report all my acts in the premises to Brigadier General H. E. Paine, U. S. Volunteers, or such other officer as the United States Government may select for that purpose, and all my correspondence, accounts, and transactions of whatever kind in the premises shall be communicated or submitted to the inspection of such officer; and further, that during the existence of the parole I will give no aid or assistance, nor convey any information to any enemy of the United States, except such as is contemplated in said agreement, and that the information provided in said agreement shall be sent through the said General Paine or other officer designated to act in his place; and further, that on the conclusion of the business provided for in said agreement, or sooner, if this parole be revoked by the United States Government, I will return to my present place of confinement and surrender myself as a prisoner of war. It is further understood that during the continuance of this parole I will consider myself as a paroled prisoners of war, subject to such orders and restrictions as may be given or imposed by the authority of the United States.

WM. N. R. BEALL,

Brigadier-General, Provisional Army, C. S., Prisoner of War.

FORT WARREN, December 6, 1864.

Signed in my presence at Fort Warren this 6th December, 1864.

HALBERT E. PAINE,

Brigadier-General of Volunteers.

HDQRS. DIST. OF WEST FLORIDA AND S. ALABAMA,
Fort Gaines, December 7, 1864.

Major-General MAURY, Commanding, Mobile, Ala.:

GENERAL: I have the honor to inclose to you the copy of a letter from Judge R. Ould, agent exchange, dated Richmond, Va., November 11, 1864, the copy of a letter in reply from the lieutenant-general commanding the Armies of the United States, and an official copy of a letter of instructions, dated Headquarters, Washington, D. C., and received by me on the 6th instant*, in accordance with which I have the honor to notify you of my immediate readiness to receive the cotton specified, and respectfully submit the following suggestions as to the mode of transshipment from the vessels upon which it may be embarked at the city of Mobile to the vessels now in waiting near Fort Morgan, Ala., which vessel is of too heavy draft to run any material distance farther up the bay.

The suggestions I would submit are that the cotton specified be received at the obstructions off the city of Mobile by an officer whom I shall hereafter designate, in the vessel, or vessel in which it may have been embarked, and in such vessel or vessel conveyed to Mobile Point, Ala., where it shall be transshipped upon the U. S. S. Atlanta, the vessels

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* For these inclosure see Ould to Grant, November 11, p. 1117; Grant to Ould, November 12, p. 1122,; Halleck to Grander, November 19, p. 1140.

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