And to that telegram I received the following reply :--
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I said further that I had no doubt that if we put this stoppage of exchange upon this proposition, keeping that to the front, the patriotism, heartiness, and conceptions of justice of every right-minded man would sustain us in that very vital and dignified position which became us as a nation; so that if the rebels stopped the exchange upon such grounds and no other, the question properly stated to the country would assist the administration politically, rather than do it harm; and that therefore I would put forward this view of the question in a communication to the Secretary of War with all the strength of which I was master.
I suggested to him that perhaps meanwhile a limited exchange of the sick and wounded might go on, and that I would take care that the Confederates should have all their men who were not in condition to go into service in exchange for such men as they sent us who were in like condition.
He approved of my suggestions as to the course to be taken, and said he would confer with the secretary upon that subject upon receipt of my communication.
Before we parted he told me not to make any more exchanges of prisoners until the terms and questions were determined at Washington.
On the 14th day of April I received notice by telegraph that my letter of the 9th with the accompanying papers had been referred to General Grant for his orders,1 and on the 20th of April I received a letter of instructions from General Grant.2
These instructions in the then state of negotiations rendered any further exchange impossible and retaliation useless.
Being anxious that this unfortunate state of the question should not affect the sick and wounded, I telegraphed as follows:--
A. M. Thayer and Co. 1892.
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