Major-General John A. Dix to Major-General George B. McClellan, September 5, 1861

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA,

Baltimore, Md., September 5, 1861.

Maj. Gen. G. B. MCCLELLAN,

Commanding Army of the Potomac.

GENERAL: Fort McHenry which has not sufficient space for the convenient accommodation of the number of men necessary to man its guns is crowded with prisoners. Beside our own criminals awaiting trial or under sentence we have eleven State prisoners. To this number six more will be added to-morrow. I do not think this a suitable place for them if we had ample room. It is too near the seat of war which may possibly be extended to us. It is also too near a great town in which there are multitudes who sympathize with them who are constantly applying for interviews and who must be admitted with the hazard of becoming the media of improper communications, or who go away with the feeling that they have been harshly treated because they have been denied access to their friends.

It is very desirable that an end should be put to these dangers on the one hand and annoyances on the other. If as is supposed Fort Lafayette is crowded may they not be provided for at Fort Delaware? There are several prisoners here who are under indictment. The Government decided that they should not be sent away. I concur in the correctness of the reasoning, but is there any impropriety if their safety requires it in taking them temporarily beyond the jurisdiction of the court by which they must be tried to be remanded when the court is ready for their trial? I confess I do not see that any principle is violated. I certainly do not think them perfectly safe here considering the population by which they are surrounded and the opportunities for evading the vigilance of their guards.

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I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant.

 JOHN A. DIX,

 Major-General. Commanding.

[Indorsement.]

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 2, Volume 1 (Serial No. 114), p. 592-3; Morgan Dix, Memoirs of John Adams Dix, Volume 2, p. 29 which dates this letter as September 5, 1861;