CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, WAR DEPARTMENT,

Richmond, Va., January 11, 1865.

SIR: I have received the following resolution of the House of Representatives referred by Your Excellency to this Department:

Resolved, That the President be respectfully requested, if not incompatible with the public interest, to inform this House whether or not the Secretary of War, or any other officer of the Executive government, has ever granted permits or safe-conducts to one or more youths of the Confederate States who were about to attain the age that would render them liable to conscription or military service to go beyond the limits of this Confederacy, and if any youth or youths of the age designated have been or are about to be suffered to depart from the Confederacy to inform this House of the reasons for their beiing permitted to go abroad.

Some delay in replying has been caused by the desire to make as thorough a research as possible for any cases to which the resolution may be applicable. The only officers besides myself who, in the practice of the Department, exercise the power of granting passports to leave the Confederacy are the provost-marshal of this city and the Assistant Secretary of War. Reports from both accompany this and give full information of the only cases acted on by them to which the resolution can be supposed to have application. * These cases were acted on in the regular course of official business without reference to me and without knowledge on my part until the inquiries caused by the resolution of the House.

The only cases which are recollected, or after a search can be found to have been acted on by me, are two:

First. That of John S. Poulson, allowed in March, 1864. He was a son of a citizen of Accomaac County, resident within the lines of the enemy, represented at that time to be sixteen years of age, and satisfactorily shown by medical testimony to be a victim of epilepsy, of weak intellect and physical disability. It was sought to restore him to his father's care, and a passport was giiven him to pass by the boat bearing flag of truce. As this required the assent of the Federal authorities likewise, it seems to have been ineffectual, as the same youth appears subsequently to have applied to the provost-marshal for a more general pass, and is among those named by him as having recived passports. He had then attained the age of seventeen years, but, as appears from the provost-marshal's report, was from disease unfit for military service.

Second. The case of Henry Grant, a youth of sixteen years of age, on the 24th of September, 1864, the son of a most estimable and loyal citizen in this city. He was stated to be backward in his studies and so diiverted by the incidents and distractions of the times as to make his application almost hopeless. His uncle, formerly an officer of our Army, now residing in England in the prosecution of business important to the Department, had offered to receive him and see to his proper training and education. This passport was allowed December 6, 1864, on the understanding, however, that should the war continue he should be liable to recall on attaining military age. I am not positively informed whether hiis passport has been used, but presume it has been.

It will be seen that no passports have been granted in cases where it can be properly said "youths were about to attain the age that would render them liable to conscription" to go beyond the limits of the Confederacy. Where there was even an approach to that age

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*Accompanying documents not found.

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