Summary:
Major M. G. Harman, commanding at Staunton, writes in September, 1861, that he will have
to send new prisoners of war on to Richmond, since the Staunton jail was already
overcrowded.
September 14, 1861.
SIR:
By order of Gen. Loring four prisoners of war were sent to this post to be placed in the Staunton jail. Upon inquiry I found the jail so much crowded with prisoners of war and others as to make it advisable especially in view of our limited ground not to add to their number. I therefore found it in my opinion best to take the responsibility of sending them on to Richmond to be disposed of under your own order, and to that end have this day sent them under charge of Capt. Otey, who has two artillery companies started thence through Richmond to Yorktown under orders.
Hoping that my disposition of them may meet with your approbation, I remain, with much consideration, your obedient servant,
M. G. HARMAN,
Maj., Cmdg.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 2, Volume 3, Serial No. 116, Pages 722, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
