THE IMMORTAL SIX HUNDRED
placing unarmed and helpless prisoners under our fire.
I have forwarded your communication to the President, with the request that he will place in my custody an equal number of prisoners of like grades, to be kept by me in positions exposed to the fire of your guns so long as you continue the course stated in your communication.
I have the honor to be
Very respectfully your obedient servant,
J. G. Foster,
Maj.-Gen. Commanding.
(War Records, Vol. xxxv, Part 2, pp. 134-135.)
General Foster, after reply to Gen. Sam Jones's letter, sent to Washington the following letter by hand of his aide-de-camp, Maj. E. W. Strong, which was wired from Fortress Monroe to Washington, D. C.:
Fortress Monroe, Va.,
11:30 p. m., June 19, 1864.
Maj.-Gen. H. W. Halleck,
Washington, D. C.
I am directed by Major-General Foster to forward to you the following dispatch:
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