Trusting this will meet your approval, I am, Col.
Very resp'y,
H. B. Smith,
Lt. and Asst. Pro. Mar.
This was officially approved first by Colonel Fish, and then by Colonel Porter.
Office Provost Marshal,
Fort McHenry, Jan. 26, 1864.
Col. P. A. Porter,
Commanding 2d Separate Brigade,
Defences of Baltimore.
I respectfully beg leave to lay before you the following and ask for authority to proceed further.
Four recruits for the Rebel Army are in Baltimore, also two Rebel officers. I want authority to follow them and make the arrest when about to cross the Potomac, thus implicating all the parties connected in recruiting for the Rebel Army in and about Baltimore. I have it so arranged that it will be impossible for them to get away from me, if I am allowed to proceed. And as I have some more operations in process of development, I would respectfully ask to have the authority extended to cover them also.
I could make some of these arrests in Baltimore, but as it is perfectly safe, by allowing them to get a little further, it would make the case a still more fatal one for the parties concerned.
I am, Colonel, Very Resp'y,
Your Ob'd't Serv't,
H. B. Smith,
Lt. and Asst. Pro. Mar.
The endorsement on the back of the above paper has always been a source of gratification. No man from New York State was ever more highly esteemed than Colonel Porter. He was talked of for Governor. A brave, true, and generous man, loved by all. He was killed at Cold Harbor, leading his regiment. His body was dragged back to our lines in the darkness of the night.