John Woolley,
Lt. Col & Pro. Marshal.
Lieut. H. B. Smith,
Asst. Provost Marshal.
Headquarters, Middle Department,
8th Army Corps.
Office Provost Marshal,
Baltimore, May 25, 1865.
12 P. M.
Lt. H. B. Smith,
Asst. Provost Marshal.
You will proceed to the Norfolk Boat, "Lary Line," foot of Frederick Street, to-morrow morning, with a guard of one officer and twenty men, and carry out the instructions given you in compliance with orders of the Hon. Secretary of War.
By command of Major General Wallace.
John Woolley,
Lt. Col. & Pro. Marshal.
The above was an interesting case. The party to be apprehended was a young officer, described as very youthful in appearance, who had shot and killed a private soldier under very aggravating circumstances. He ordered the soldier to do a menial service, and killed him for refusing.
The steamboat had three hundred or four hundred passengers. We did not want to delay innocent persons, so I allowed all to pass off who were of age sufficient to warrant the conclusion that they were not wanted. Then I searched the boat and found a mere boy who appeared to be not over fourteen years old; he was the one wanted. He had been tried and convicted, and was on his way to jail (I think the Albany penitentiary) when he escaped. We started him on again under a guard. When in the Thirtieth Street station of the Hudson River Railroad, in New York City, he was permitted to go into a water closet alone. He never came out the door. He must have crawled out through the window, though it seemed not large enough to permit even a boy's egress. The guards became frightened and deserted. No one ever heard of either prisoner or guards so far as I know. This boy officer was certainly living a charmed life.
Headquarters, Middle Department,
8th Army Corps.
Office Provost Marshal,
Baltimore, May 25, 1865.