Confederate Lt. Gen. R. S. Ewell was imprisoned at Fort Warren when he wrote this telegram to Gen. U.S. Grant:

“Of all the misfortunes which could befall the Southern people, or any Southern man, by far the greatest, in my judgment, would be the prevalance of the idea that they could entertain any other than feelings of unqualified abhorrence and indignation for the assassination of the president of the United States, and the attempt to assassinate the secretary of state. No language can adequately express the shock produced on myself, in common with all the other general officers confined here with me, by the occurrence of this appalling crime, and by the seeming tendency in the public mind to connect the South and Southern men with it. Need we say that we are not assassins, nor the allies of assassins, be they from the North or from the South.”

Ewell listed names of 14 other rebel officers who agreed with his sentiments.