Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia,
June 7, 1864—2 p. m.
Lieut. Gen. U. S. Grant,
Commanding U. S. Armies:
General: Your note of 10:30 a. m. to-day has just been received. I regret that my letter to you of 7 p. m. yesterday should have been too late in reaching you to effect the removal of the wounded.
I am willing, if you desire it, to devote the hours between 6 and 8 this afternoon to accomplish that object upon the same terms and conditions as set forth in my letter of 7 p.m. yesterday. If this will answer your purpose, and you will send parties from your lines at the hour designated with white flags, I will direct that they be recognized and be permitted to collect the dead and wounded.
I will also notify the officers on my lines that they will be permitted to collect any of our men that may be on the field. I request you will notify me as soon as practicable if this arrangement is agreeable to you. Lieutenant McAllister, Corporal Martin, and two privates of the Eighth North Carolina Regiment, and Lieutenant Hartman, Corpl. T. Kinlow, and Privates Bass and Grey were sent last night, between the hours of 8 and 10 p. m., for the purpose of recovering the body of Colonel Murchison, and as they have not returned, I presume they are the men mentioned in your letter. I request that they be returned to our lines.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. E. Lee,
General.
Source: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Vol. 36, Part 3, p. 667.
Transcribed by Colin Woodward, 2016 June 8
