OFFICE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS,

Mobile, December 25, 1864.

Colonel C. C. DWIGHT,

Agent of Exchange, Miliary Division of West Mississippi:

COLONEL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of 7th instant, which was forwarded by the U. S. fleet yesterday.

Your inquiry relative to the exchange of those officers who had been sent North previous to the 5th of November was answered in my letter to you of the 16th of November, which was delivered to the U. S. fleet off Mobile on the day it was written. I inclose a copy. *

Will you please inform Major Szymanski that I have written him sometime since that the agreement made between Colonel Ould and your authorities for exchange "embraced all naval officers and men wherever captured and of all ranks. " I am therefore expecting every day to hear of Admiral Buchanan's arrival in Richmond.

I inclose a couple of letters contradicting the report of the death of a young gentleman whose parents were lately advised of his being killed at Franklin, Tenn. I trust I am not trespassing upon your courtesy.

I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JAS. R. CURELL,

Major and Assistant Commissioner of Exchange.

HEADQUARTERS SUPERINTENDENT OF PRISON,
Johnson's Island, Ohio, December 25, 1864.

Colonel CHARLES W. HILL,

127th Ohio Vol. Infty., Commanding U. S. Forces,

Johnson's Island and Sandusky:

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following inspection report of the condition of the prisoners of war at this station for the week ending December 25, 1864:

Conduct - good. Cleanliness - good. Clothing - comfortable, more blankets are required. Bedding - poor, more straw required. State of quarters - ten blocks clean and two not clean. State of mess-houses - Nos. 1, 2 and 4, fair, and 3, dirty. State of kitchen - not clean; more stoves required. Food, quality of - good. Food, quantity of - prisoners' ration. Water - lake. Sinks - fair. Police of grounds - fair; the weather is unfavorable for policing. Drainage - good. General health of prisoners - good. Vigilance of guard - good.

Remarks and suggestions. - Whole number of prisoners, 3,204; number in hospital, 47; number of deaths since last report, 2. Captain Robert McKibben, Thirty-first Georgia Infantry, could not be found at roll-call this morning and is supposed to have escaped.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

THOS. H. LINNELL,

Major 128th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and Inspecting Officer.

[Indorsement.]

The unexpectedly large accession of prisoners the last week exhausted the supply of blankets, but others have been ordered and will be brought over from Sandusky as soon as the state of the ice will permit.

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*See p. 1131.

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