RICHMOND, VA., April 15, 1865.
General U.S. GRANT:
Cipher dispatch directing certain parties to be arrested is
received. The two citizens I have seen. They are old, nearly helpless, and I
think incapable of harm. Lee and staff are in town among the paroled prisoners.
Should I arrest them under the circumstances I think the rebellion here would
be reopened. I will risk my life that the present paroles will be kept, and if
you will allow me to do so trust the people here who, I believe, are ignorant
of the assassination, done, I think, by some insane Brutus with but few
accomplices. Mr. Campbell and Hunter pressed me earnestly yesterday to send
them to Washington to see the President. Would they have done so if guilty?
Please answer.
E. O. C. ORD,
Major General.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
46, Part 3 (Serial No. 97), p. 762
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