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20 coast. These men had neither beds nor "blankets, and were all, or nearly all, in irons. Their situation was wretched in the extreme.

Such was the condition of things at Fort La Fayette when we reached it, and we were not a little astonished to learn from our friends, who had been there longer, that their situation had been even worse a few weeks previously, than it then was. To give a correct idea of the manner in which the Government dealt with gentlemen who, by its own admission, had been arrested, or were then held merely by way of precaution, I insert the following letters, which had, before my arrival, been sent by my father to the parties to whom they are respectively addressed:

", N. Y., August 1st, 1861. ", Sec'y of War, ", D. C. "After the interview I had with you in Fort McHenry on the 4th ulto., and in view of the assurances you then expressed as to the manner in which I and the gentlemen with me, were entitled to be treated during our confinement by the General Government, I cannot refrain from expressing my surprise, at the condition in which, by its orders, we now find ourselves. On Monday evening last, we were placed on board the steamer Joseph Whitney, with a detachment of soldiers; all information as to our place of destination, being positively refused, both to us and to the members of our families. Both General and Major, however, gave the most positive assurances that, at the place to which we should be taken, we would be made much more comfortable, and the limits of our confinement would be less restricted than at Fort McHenry. Yesterday we were landed here, and are kept in close custody. No provision whatever had been made here for us, and last night we were shut up, eight persons in a vaulted room or casemate, about twenty-four by fourteen feet, having three small windows, each about three feet by fourteen inches, and a close wooden door, which was shut and locked upon us soon after 9 o'clock, and remained so until morning. Some of the party, by permission, brought on our own bedsteads and bedding