Today in History:

304 Series I Volume XVI-I Serial 22 - Morgan's First Kentucky Raid, Perryville Campaign Part I

Page 304 KY., M. AND E.TENN.,N.ALA., AND SW.VA. Chapter XXVIII.

The Commission adjourned to meet January 13, 1863, at 10 o'clock a.m.

LOUISVILLE, January 13, 1863.

The Commission met pursuant to adjournment. All the members present; also the judge-advocate and General Buell.

Captain STEPHEN E. JONES re-examined.

By General BUELL:

Question. Have you now the report of the prisoners received since the former report which you have presented?

I have not, sir; that is, not made out the form of a report, but so that I can give it verbally. Between the 14th and the 29th of December there were received 67 prisoners, of whom 64 were sent to Vicksburg, 3 not being well enough, and there are now in the military prison from the hospitals in the central portion of the State and captured in the month of October and paroled 136 prisoners; making in all, since the report of the 14th of December, 203, of whom 4 were captains, 6 lieutenants, and 21 non-commissioned officers. This is exclusive of quite a number of other prisoners now in the military prison that were captured principally, if not exclusively, from Morgan's command during his recent raid in the State. The number of these I did not attempt to ascertain.

Question. What, then, would be the total number of prisoners received here from first to last?

Three thousand seven hundred and seven.

Question. Are you able to form an estimate of the number of prisoners that have been informally paroled and that never came to this place?

I have no sufficient data for forming any approximate estimate of that. From the report of the party to whom I alluded in answer to a previous question, of the prisoners paroled between Bowling Green and Louisville, I suppose that, taking his statement exclusively, there were about 1,000. He told me he was a party to paroling about 300.

Cross-examination by the JUDGE-ADVOCATE:

Question. Captain, at what time was this report made out?

As it states there upon the back of the report, the 14th of December. The last prisoners embraced in it were sent to Vicksburg upon the 13th of December.

Question. At what time did you commence a statement of this sort and at what time did you terminate it?

I commenced no statement until the time mentioned there. I commenced the record of them from the day that I was first assigned to take charge of them by General Boyle, which was the 1st of October, they having previously been under the charge of Colonel Dent, the provost-marshal of the State.

Question. What was the object you had in view in making out this statement?

The object in making the record was to have an authentic record of the number of prisoners received, for the purpose of securing the exchange of our own men. The object in making that report was first to gratify my own curiosity, and secondly to furnish information through the papers to the curious at large.

Question. What information did you purpose furnishing by a report of this sort?

The information contained in the report itself of the number of regiments, battalions, detached companies that were represented by the prisoners in the military prison as having been in the Army of Occupation, I believe they called it, of the Confederate forces in Kentucky.


Page 304 KY., M. AND E.TENN.,N.ALA., AND SW.VA. Chapter XXVIII.