[Fourth indorsement.]

November 13, 1864.

Respectfully submitted to the President.

I fully concur in advising that the extraordinary and unmilitary proceedings of these officers merit and should receive signal rebuke from the Commander-in-Chief of our armies. I recommend dismissal of the highest in grade and reprimand of all.

J. A. S.,

Secretary.

[Fifth indorsement.]

DECEMBER 31, 1864.

Adjutant-General for report as to present position of Colonel Anderson, &c.

J. D[AVIS].

[Sixth indorsement.] ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE, January 9, 1865.

Respectfully referred to Colonel Robert Ould, agent of exchange.

Please see indorsement of His Excellency the President. Can any information be given of the present position of Colonel Anderson?

By order, &c.:

John BLAIR HOGE,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

[Seventh indorsement.]

MARCh 14, 1865.

Respectfully returned.

The Fort Gaines prisoners have at last been relased, except such as were too feeble to be delivered. I have waited thus long to be fully informed of the facts. I have not yet received the rolls, though I take it for granted that Colonel Anderson is among the number delievered.

RO. OULD,

Agent of Exchange.

[Inclosure.]

FORT GAINES.

A correspondent of a city paper, using the signature of "Paul," and writing from the New Orleans military prison, given the reasons at length which determined Colonel Anderson to surrender this fort. This is the first statement for the public that has appeared from the side, and on the principle of audi alteram partem is fairly entitled to a hearing. Heretofore the only information the public has had was derived from a brief official dispatch from General PAGE immediately after Gaines was given up, and it was upon that alone that the public judgment could be based. "Paul" puts another face on the transaction, and if his facts are failry stated they show that Fort Gaines never was anything but a man-trap and was untenable from the first. In fact, it was the mere caricature of a fort, and its only safety consisted in not being attacked. we have not space for "Paul's" entire article and shall have to content ourselves with a condensation of its contents. The writer declares that the garrison was entirely at the mercy of the enemy's guns by land and water; that there was no protection for the men in casemates or bombproofs; the ditches were open