e other
shall be released and receive the treatment due to a prisoner of
war.

"ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

"By order of the Secretary of War.
"E. D. TOWNSEND, _Assistant Adjutant-General_."

In the early spring of 1864, there was a great deal said in the
Southern journals and much action had in the rebel army respecting the
capture and treatment of Negro soldiers. The "Richmond Examiner"
contained an account of the battle of Newbern, North Carolina, in
which the writer seemed to gloat over the fact that a captured Negro
had been hung after he had surrendered. It came to the knowledge of
Gen. Peck, commanding the army of the District of North Carolina, when
the following correspondence took place:

"HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY AND DISTRICT OF }
"NORTH CAROLINA, NEWBERN, NORTH }
"CAROLINA, Feb. 11, 1864: }

"Major-General PICKETT, _Department of Virginia and North
Carolina, "Confederate Army, Petersburg_.

"GENERAL: I have the honor to inclose a slip cut from the
Richmond 'Examiner,' February eighth, 1864. It is styled 'The
Advance on Newbern,' and appears to have been extracted from the
Petersburg 'Register,' a paper published in the city where your
headquarters are located.

"Your attention is particularly invited to that paragraph which
states 'that Colonel Shaw was shot dead by a negro soldier from
the other side of the river, which he was spanning with a pontoon
bridge, and that the negro was watched, followed, taken, and
hanged after the action at Thomasville.

"'THE ADVANCE ON NEWBERN.--The Petersburg "Register" gives the
following additional facts of the advance on Newbern: Our army,
according to the report of passengers arriving from Weldon, has
fallen back to a point sixteen miles west of Newbern. The reason
assigned for this retrograde movement was that Newbern could not
be taken by us without a loss on our part which would find no
equivalent in its capture, as the place was stronger than we had
anticipated. Yet, in spite of this, we are sure that the
expedition will result in good to our cause. Our forces are in a
situation to get large supplies from a country still abundant, to
prevent raids on points westward, and keep tories in check