there are large armies and particularly in large cities there are always persons ready to steal where an opportunity occurs, and especially have many of our Federal troops who have been so unfortunate as to fall into the hands of the Southern Army found this true.

As to the other or any other bad treatment toward Colonel Hedgepeth you will find when the facts are before you he has received none.

All prisoners of war are humanely treated by the Federal authorities, and many a wounded or sick soldier has remonstrated against being sent back for exchange on the ground that the treatment received at the hands of the Union authorities was so much better than they could get among what they denominated their friends.

All prisoners who desire it are sent by the first opportunity that occurs to Vicksburg for exchange. Sick and wounded are paroled in hospitals, and as soon as able to travel are furnished passes out of our lines or are sent with other prisoners to the depot agreed upon for exchange.

Unless there is some good reason for it Colonel Hedgepeth has not nor will not be made an exception to the rule.

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

U. S. GRANT,

Major-General.

OFFICE COMMISSARY-GENERAL OF PRISONERS, Washington, D. C., December 14, 1862.

Major General H. G. WRIGHT,

Commanding Department of the Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio.

GENERAL: I respectfully beg leave to call your attention to the utter inattention to General Orders, No. 163, by officers in your department who have charge of prisoners of war. I have to-day received four sets of rolls all without signatures or verification of any kind. They were addressed to the Adjutant-General in one package and accompanied by two letters, one addressed to Lieutenant T. G. Beahan, acting assistant adjutant-general, December 6, By Captain Ed. M. Hulburd, provost-marshal at Lexington, and the other addressed to the Adjutant-General at Washington, December 8, by Major General G. Granger, commanding at Lexington. Three of these rolls have the dates when the prisoners were sent to Louisville and no other date; the fourth rolls has no date at all. The time and place of capture are not given, nor anything by which they may be identified with any particular command. Generally the names are entered in a promiscuous way without giving the rank of the person named. For the convenience of reference the names should be entered on the rolls by regiments and companies and in alphabetical order. It is difficult to say which rolls the two letters referred to and one of them is not referred to at all. The same character of rolls is required for our own troops when captured and paroled by the enemy and for rebel prisoners when paroled by us. May I beg your early attention to this matter, as much embarrassment and delay in effecting exchanges is occasioned by the careless manner in which rolls have heretofore been prepared. New rolls should be forwarded to replace those just received containing all necessary details as required in General Orders, No. 32, of April 2; General Orders, No. 54, of May 17, and General Orders, No. 163, of October 22, 1862.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. HOFFMAN,

Colonel Third Infantry, Commissary-General of Prisoners.