Under the eleventh section of the act of Congress approved July 17, 1862, it is made the duty of any officer who shall order the arrest of another to see that a copy of the charges be furnished to the arrested officer within wight days of the date of the arrest; and by proviso the requirements of the section were made applicable to all officers under arrest at the date of the passage of the act.

Under this law I respectfully request that you will cause made to be furnished with a copy of the charges which led to my arrest, and which I have repeatedly asked for, through the ordinary channels of official communication, without success.

I have the honor to remain, general, with much respect, your most obedient servant,

CHAS. P. STONE,

Brigadier-General.

Major General GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, U. S. Army, New York.

NEW YORK, December 5, 1862.

GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 1st instant.

The order for your arrest in February last was given by the Secretary of War. I had the order in his handwriting several days before it was finally carried into effect.

When the order was first given by the Secretary, he informed me that it was at the solicitation of the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War and based upon testimony taken by them.

On the evening when you were arrested I submitted to the Secretary the written result of the examination of a refugee from Leesburg. This information, ot a certain extent, agreed with the evidence stated to have been taken by the committee, and upon its being imparted to the Secretary he again instructed me to cause you to be arrested, which I at once did.

At the time I stated to the Secretary that I could not from the information in my possession understand how charges could be framed against you; that the case was too indefinite.

On several occasions after your arrest I called the attention of the Secretary to the propriety of giving you a prompt trial, but the reply always was either that there was no time to attend to the case or that the Congressional committee were still engaged in collecting additional evidence in your case, and were not yet fully prepared to frame the charges.

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

GEO. B. McCLELLAN,

Major-General, U. S. Army.

Brigadier General CHARLES P. STONE,

U. S. Volunteers, Washington, D. C.

[NOTE.] - On the receipt of General McClellan's letter of December 5, 1862, General Stone addressed a letter to him, asking that he might be furnished with the enemy of the Leesburg refugee referred to and a copy of his statement. The following reply was received:

WILLARD'S HOTEL,

Washington, D. C., December 10, 1862.

GENERAL: I am directed by General McClellan to acknowledge the receipt of your note of December 8, 1862.