several States of the Confederacy are to be regarded as part of the Army of the Confederacy and protected by the Government as such. And whether if any of said corps are captured in battle or otherwise while in the line of their duty by the enemy this Government will claim for them the same treatment as prisoners of war which is now exacted for prisoners belonging to our Provisional Army. Are not all corps of partisan rangers organized by your authority emphatically a part of the Confederate Army and will they not be regarded and treated as such? I consider that it is not only the right but the duty of every loyal citizen in the Confederate States to resist by all means in his power, even to the death if necessary, the attempt of the enemy in a body or singly to invade his domicile or to capture his person or that of his wife, child, ward or servant, or to take from him against his will any of his property, and if in making such resistance, whether armed or not, our citizens are captured by such invading enemy, have they not the right to demand to be treated by the enemy as other prisoners of war, and will not this Government exert all its power if necessary to the end that its citizens are thus protected and treated? This is a war waged against the sovereignty of the several Sates of the Confederacy and against the lives, liberty and property of every citizen yielding allegiance to the States and Government of their choice in which they reside. Such a war has no parallel in the history of Christian nations. I respectfully request you to give me your opinions on the several points in this letter in a form to be submitted to my constituents to enlighten t hem in regard to the extent of their rights and powers as viewed by this Government and how far their Government will protect them in the exercise of those rights which to an intelligent freeman are dearer than life itself. Your early answer is respectfully requested.

With great respect,

JOHN B. CLARK.

Mr. Randolph will please examine the letter, and if there is anything in it too strongly stated in his judgment he will alter it to suit his views, so that his answer will agree with my letter. When completed please send with his answer a copy of my letter as answered by him. I would like very much to get his answer this evening.

Respectfully,

J. B. CLARK.

[Inclosure No. 2.]

WAR DEPARTMENT, Richmond, July 16, 1862.

Honorable JOHN B. CLARK, C. S. Senate.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th instant and to reply that partisan rangers are a part of the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, subject to all the regulations adopted for its government and entitled to the same protection as prisoners of war . Partisan rangers are in no respect different from troops of the line, except that they are not brigaded and are employed oftener on detached service. They require stricter discipline than other troops to make them efficient and without discipline they become a terror to their friends and contemptible in the eyes of the enemy. With reference to your inquiry as to the protection which the Government will extend to private citizens taken in hostile acts against the enemy, it is not easy to lay down a general rule. War as conducted by civilized nations is usually a contest between the respective Governments of the belligerents, and private individuals remaining quietly at