prisoners of war will be rapidly sent forward via Cairo-some 16,000. I find it necessary to visit Saint Louis and shall leave this evening after visiting Camp Morton. Indiana is rapidly throwing troops into Kentucky. Already 11,000 of her quota left the State.

L. THOMAS.

INDIANAPOLIS, IND., August 21, 1862.

Colonel WILLIAM HOFFMAN,

Commissary-General of Prisoners, Indianapolis, Ind.

COLONEL: Captain H. M. Lazelle, Eighth Regiment of Infantry, is hereby appointed agent for the delivery of prisoners of war at or near Vicksburg, Miss., subject to future exchange. He will meet an agent of the Confederate States whose name I will furnish you on my return to Washington. Please give the captain the necessary instructions.

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

L. THOMAS,

Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS C. S. FORCES,
Chattanooga, Tenn., August 21, 1862.

Major General D. C. BUELL, Commanding U. S. Forces, &c.

GENERAL: I have to bring to your notice the following: I have evidence which convinces me that a few days after Captain Brewster, of our service, had surprised and taken some men of your forces a detachment of U. S. troops under a Colonel Stewart, of Indiana volunteers, captured a Georgian of Brigadier-General Forrest's command and subsequently shot him while a prisoner because the detachment meantime had been fired into. Three days subsequent to this act another detachment of the same regiment (possibly under another commander) captured another private of Forrest's command who had been left sick at the house of one Brown, near Hill's Creek, Warren County, Tenn. This man was also taken out and shot, according to the confession of the commanding officer. I am also obliged to believe that a man by the name of Tongue, a member of the C. S. First Regiment Kentucky Cavalry, was taken prisoner and afterwards put to death at or in the vicinity of the house of one Israel Hill in the same country. For these atrocious acts no measures of a retaliatory character have been ordered by the commander of the Confederate forces in this quarter, he being assured from your past conduct that if you are duly informed of the facts you will take prompt and efficacious measures to track up and summarily punish those responsible for acts so contrary to all the obligations of humanity, and he feels it needless to point out to you the inevitable consequences that must ensue from a repetition of such sanguinary violations of the rules of war.

It becomes my duty also to ask your attention to another matter. An order of yours, Numbers 41, dated in camp near Huntsville, Ala., August 8, which has appeared to-day in our newspapers prescribes a course for the officers of your command which I respectfully submit to be in direct conflict with the third paragraph under Article 5 of the cartel arranged on July 22 between Major General J. A. Dix, U. S. Army, and Major General D. H. Hill, C. S. Army, in behalf of their respective Governments, and by virtue of which "all prisoners of whatever arm of service are to be