Manuscript document. Headquarters Army of the Potomac, Camp near Sharpsburgh, [Maryland], 7 October 1862. 1 page, 4to. Docketed to verso. 

A hand-written circular regarding the treatment of Confederate prisoners by command of General George McClellan (1826-1886) following the Battle of Antietam, which had occurred about 3 weeks earlier. After the bloody engagement, an estimated 2,000 Confederate prisoners from the Maryland campaign passed through Baltimore, and Fort Monroe became a critical site for both detention and exchange. 

In full: "By direction of the Commanding General all parolled (Rebel) prisoners to be returned to the enemy's lines whether wounded or otherwise, will not be permitted to pass our lines to the front. All such prisoners will be sent to Frederick Md thence via Baltimore to Fort Monroe for return within their own lines." 

The document, completed entirely in a secretarial hand, records the signatures of Asst. Adjt. General S. Williams, Asst. Adjt. General John W. Williams, and Richard H. Lamborn (1835-1895) an aide-de-camp in a division of the Army of the Potomac's First Corps. 

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