Letter from Governor Zebulon B. Vance to Confederate President Jefferson Davis
By the recent expedition of our Troops by the order of Gen French into Eastern North Carolina some forty persons were arrested on suspicion of disloyalty and sent up to Salisbury for safe keeping. As Governor of the State of which they are citizens it becomes my duty to see that they are protected in whatever rights pertain to them. First among them is undeniably the right of a trial of their alleged offences. A number of others it is proper to state have been there in confinement for some time past under similar circumstances. I should be glad to know what disposition is to be made of them or if there exists any grave public reason why their cases should not be investigated.
Governor Zebulon B. Vance, Raleigh, Nov. 11th, 1862
