Confederatevets.com

AUDITORS OFFICE, April 10, 1862.

S. S. BAXTER, Esq.

SIR: At your instance I commit to writing my knowledge of the remaining prisoners from Fairfax County who are to undergo an examination:

James O. Wren is a native of that county and has lived all his life in that and the adjoining counties, the most of the time in Fairfax. I have known him upward of twenty-five years. He is a very respectable man and a good citizen, free from difficulties and reliable. He voted for the ordinance of secession and I should suppose is as loyal and true as any man in the country.

Cornelius White is from the North. He has been living in Virginia for some twelve or fifteen years. He is the owner of a farm near the Court-House and is regarded by all who know him as a harmless, inoffensive man. He has frequently spoken to me of his position in reference to our present difficulties and he has uniformly declared that he regarded himself as identified with the South and that he would share its destiny. I remember that last summer whilst the army was in the neighborhood there was a general suspicion of the Northern men and this old man at my instance, with a view of releasing himself from suspicion, took the oath of allegiance to the Confederate States. I do not think that he would violate that obligation.

Mr. I. Wybert is from the North. He is the owner of a farm. Is a steady, industrious man and since he has been in Virginia, near some ten or twelve years, he has always borne the reputation of a good citizen and a reliable man.

I am, sir, very respectfully,

H. W. THOMAS.

I have known the persons referred to by Mr. Thomas in the foregoing statement for some years. They all reside in the county of Fairfax and are owners of property there and are respectable men and good citizens. I had a conversation with Mr. Wybert last summer in which he stated that all his interests were in Virginia and that he would stand by the South. I concur generally in the statement of Mr. Thomas.

O. W. HUNTT