Dix-Hill Cartel
Encyclopedia
The Dix–Hill Cartel was an agreement concluded on July 22, 1862 between the Confederate
and Union
governments to handle the general exchange of prisoners of war
. The negotiators were Union Major General John A. Dix
and Confederate Major General D. H. Hill
. The negotiations took place at Haxall's Landing on the James River
in Virginia
.
, when the rebels captured about one thousand Union soldiers.
Prior to the cartel's creation, Union and Confederate forces exchanged prisoners sporadically, usually as an act of humanity between opposing field commanders. In some cases, a transfer of only sick and wounded captives took place. Exchanges for just a couple of prisoners between sides could prove very time-consuming to achieve. A few military commanders unfamiliar with the practice were reluctant to engage in exchanges without explicit approval and instruction from their superiors.
In Missouri during October and November 1861, Union Maj. General John Frémont
and Maj. General Sterling Price
of the Missouri State Guard
approved the exchange of their existing prisoners and agreed to terms for the transfer of future captives. However, President Abraham Lincoln
relieved Frémont of his command on November 2 for his heavy-handed actions in Missouri, and Maj. General David Hunter
, Frémont's replacement, refused to recognize the agreement.
In two meetings on February 23 and March 1, 1862, Union Major Gen. John E. Wool
and Confederate Brig. Gen. Howell Cobb
met to reach an agreement on prisoner exchanges. They discussed many of the provisions later adopted in the Dix-Hill agreement. An earlier cartel arrangement used between the United States and Great Britain in the War of 1812
provided a model for the negotiators to adapt in the 1862 talks.
Differences over which side would cover expenses for prisoner transportation stymied the negotiations between Wool and Cobb. Another issue over how to handle the surplus of prisoners held by one side proved an insurmountable problem. Cobb would not agree to Wool's proposal for an even swap of prisoners at that time while deferring resolution of the surplus issue to later negotiations.
In June 1862, General Cobb met with Union Col. Thomas M. Key, an aide to Maj. Gen. George McClellan
, in another attempt to reach an agreement on prisoner exchanges. Key discussed other matters with Cobb beyond the topic of prisoners, and in reply, Secretary of War
Edwin Stanton
fired a sharp comment to McClellan that "it is not deemed proper for officers bearing flags of truce in respect to the exchange of prisoners to hold any conference with the rebel officers upon the general subject of the existing contest or upon any other subject than what relates to the exchange of prisoners."
To conduct the next round of cartel negotiations, on July 8, Secretary of War Stanton appointed Maj. Gen. John A. Dix.
By early July, General Cobb became ill and could no longer represent the Confederate authorities. As Cobb's replacement, CSA General Robert E. Lee
named Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill
on July 14. To prepare for his negotiations with his Confederate counterpart in July 1862, General Dix requested that War Secretary Stanton provide a copy of all of General Wool's correspondence with the rebels relating to the prior cartel discussions.
The agreement named two locations for the exchanges to occur, one at A. M. Aiken's Landing
, below Dutch Gap
, in Virginia, and the other at Vicksburg, Mississippi
. Each government would appoint an agent to handle the exchange and parole of prisoners. The agreement also allowed the exchange or parole of captives between the commanders of two opposing forces.
In addition, the agreement permitted each side to exchange non-combatant
s, such as citizens accused of disloyalty, and civilian employees of the military, such as teamster
s and sutlers.
Authorities were to parole any prisoners not formally exchanged within ten days following their capture. The terms of the cartel prohibited paroled prisoners from returning to the military in any capacity including "the performance of field, garrison, police, or guard, or constabulary duty."
, conducted their first official prisoner exchange under the agreement's terms with a transfer of 3021 Union personnel for 3000 Confederates at Aiken's Landing.
The prisoner exchanges functioned well until December 1862 when Confederate President Jefferson Davis
suspended the parole of Union officers following the execution of William Mumford
, a New Orleans citizen, by Union General Benjamin F. Butler
earlier that year. In reaction, Union Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
ordered a halt to all exchanges of commissioned officers.
Further difficulties developed when the Confederate government refused to parole and exchange any African-American soldiers
taken captive who might have escaped from slavery. Confederate authorities decided instead to treat these prisoners as runaways suitable only for return to their former owners.
In March 1863, the Confederate exchange agent, Robert Ould, sent a letter to Jefferson Davis with these complaints about the Union's exchange efforts:
By early June 1863, the exchanges had effectively stopped.
On June 12, 1863, CSA Vice President Alexander Stephens wrote to Jefferson Davis
offering his services to travel to Washington, DC in order to negotiate the issues over the prisoner exchange as well as to discuss larger diplomatic issues between the Confederate and Union governments. Davis accepted the offer in July 1863 and appointed Stephens as "a military commissioner under flag of truce" to approach the authorities in Washington. His primary mission was:
The federal authorities in Washington refused to accept the request to negotiate.
In November 1863, Union General Benjamin Butler
requested permission from Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to negotiate for the resumption of the prisoner exchanges. After reviewing correspondence from the Confederates, Butler had an idea that the rebels would exchange captives without regard to their "color, caste, or condition." Since the Federals held twice as many prisoners as their opponents, Butler proposed that a renewal of the exchanges would deplete the number of prisoners held by the Confederates. If the "colored prisoners and their officers" were not handed over, then the Union's remaining surplus of rebel prisoners would serve as hostages for possible "retaliation and reprisal." On December 17, Maj. General Ethan Allen Hitchcock
appointed Butler as a "special agent for exchange of prisoners." While conducting these new exchanges, "the protection of the Government" would remain for "colored soldiers of the United States and the officers commanding them." Butler was to avoid "the question of parole and excess now pending" between the two sides. Within days, Butler started exchanging prisoners with the Confederates, and continued the transfers into the early months of 1864. Despite his original mandate, Butler tried to resolve the outstanding cartel issues with the rebel authorities while facing General Hitchcock's growing opposition over the scope and conduct of his activities.
Asked to review the situation in April 1864, Union General Ulysses S. Grant
ordered the halt of all exchanges until the Confederates recognized "the validity of the paroles of the prisoners captured at Vicksburg
and Port Hudson
," and stopped discrimination against "colored soldiers."
In August 1864, Robert Ould accepted a Union proposal to make equal exchanges, "officer for officer and man for man" with the first releases going to those "longest in captivity." While Ould's offer circulated through Federal government, Butler wrote to Ould in September proposing a special exchange of all "sick and invalid officers and men . . . unfit for duty and likely to remain so for sixty days." To make the transfer easier, he proposed that the exchange occur at Fort Pulaski outside Savannah, Georgia
. By the end of November, the belligerents had transferred several thousand prisoners near Savannah, and conducted a second transfer under similar terms in Charleston.
In January 1865 with the end of the war in sight, General Grant permitted the resumption of exchanges when the Confederate authorities agreed to include all prisoners. By February, Grant wrote to Secretary of War Stanton that he was trying to exchange 3000 prisoners a week, and requested that preference first go to disabled troops since "few of these will be got in the ranks again and as we can count upon but little reinforcement from the prisoners we get."
In his military history, The Longest Night, historian David J. Eicher states that the "Union Army paroled or exchanged 329,963 Confederate prisoners of war, while the Confederacy paroled or exchanged about 152,015 Union prisoners of war."
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
and Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
governments to handle the general exchange of prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. The negotiators were Union Major General John A. Dix
John Adams Dix
John Adams Dix was an American politician from New York. He served as Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Senator, and the 24th Governor of New York. He was also a Union major general during the Civil War.-Early life and career:...
and Confederate Major General D. H. Hill
Daniel Harvey Hill
On July 22, 1862, Hill and Union Maj. Gen. John A. Dix concluded an agreement for the general exchange of prisoners between the Union and Confederate armies. This agreement became known as the Dix-Hill Cartel....
. The negotiations took place at Haxall's Landing on the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
Earlier Prisoner Exchanges
At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Federal government adopted a tough attitude toward the rebels. The Lincoln administration wanted to avoid any action that might appear as an official recognition of the Confederate government in Richmond, including the formal transfer of military captives. In the North, public opinion on prisoner exchanges began to soften after the First Battle of Bull RunFirst Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...
, when the rebels captured about one thousand Union soldiers.
Prior to the cartel's creation, Union and Confederate forces exchanged prisoners sporadically, usually as an act of humanity between opposing field commanders. In some cases, a transfer of only sick and wounded captives took place. Exchanges for just a couple of prisoners between sides could prove very time-consuming to achieve. A few military commanders unfamiliar with the practice were reluctant to engage in exchanges without explicit approval and instruction from their superiors.
Progress Toward an Agreement
Throughout the initial months of the Civil War, support for prisoner exchanges grew in the North. Petitions from prisoners in Southern captivity and articles in Northern newspapers increased pressure on the Lincoln administration. On December 11, 1861, the US Congress passed a joint resolution calling on President Lincoln to "inaugurate systematic measures for the exchange of prisoners in the present rebellion."In Missouri during October and November 1861, Union Maj. General John Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
and Maj. General Sterling Price
Sterling Price
Sterling Price was a lawyer, planter, and politician from the U.S. state of Missouri, who served as the 11th Governor of the state from 1853 to 1857. He also served as a United States Army brigadier general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate Army major general in the American Civil...
of the Missouri State Guard
Missouri State Guard
The Missouri State Guard was a state militia organized in the state of Missouri during the early days of the American Civil War. While not initially a formal part of the Confederate States Army, the State Guard fought alongside Confederate troops and, at times, under regular Confederate...
approved the exchange of their existing prisoners and agreed to terms for the transfer of future captives. However, President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
relieved Frémont of his command on November 2 for his heavy-handed actions in Missouri, and Maj. General David Hunter
David Hunter
David Hunter was a Union general in the American Civil War. He achieved fame by his unauthorized 1862 order emancipating slaves in three Southern states and as the president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.-Early...
, Frémont's replacement, refused to recognize the agreement.
In two meetings on February 23 and March 1, 1862, Union Major Gen. John E. Wool
John E. Wool
John Ellis Wool was an officer in the United States Army during three consecutive U.S. wars: the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. By the time of the Mexican-American War, he was widely considered one of the most capable officers in the army and a superb organizer...
and Confederate Brig. Gen. Howell Cobb
Howell Cobb
Howell Cobb was an American political figure. A Southern Democrat, Cobb was a five-term member of the United States House of Representatives and Speaker of the House from 1849 to 1851...
met to reach an agreement on prisoner exchanges. They discussed many of the provisions later adopted in the Dix-Hill agreement. An earlier cartel arrangement used between the United States and Great Britain in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
provided a model for the negotiators to adapt in the 1862 talks.
Differences over which side would cover expenses for prisoner transportation stymied the negotiations between Wool and Cobb. Another issue over how to handle the surplus of prisoners held by one side proved an insurmountable problem. Cobb would not agree to Wool's proposal for an even swap of prisoners at that time while deferring resolution of the surplus issue to later negotiations.
In June 1862, General Cobb met with Union Col. Thomas M. Key, an aide to Maj. Gen. George McClellan
George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...
, in another attempt to reach an agreement on prisoner exchanges. Key discussed other matters with Cobb beyond the topic of prisoners, and in reply, Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
Edwin Stanton
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...
fired a sharp comment to McClellan that "it is not deemed proper for officers bearing flags of truce in respect to the exchange of prisoners to hold any conference with the rebel officers upon the general subject of the existing contest or upon any other subject than what relates to the exchange of prisoners."
To conduct the next round of cartel negotiations, on July 8, Secretary of War Stanton appointed Maj. Gen. John A. Dix.
John Adams Dix
John Adams Dix was an American politician from New York. He served as Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Senator, and the 24th Governor of New York. He was also a Union major general during the Civil War.-Early life and career:...
By early July, General Cobb became ill and could no longer represent the Confederate authorities. As Cobb's replacement, CSA General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
named Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill
Daniel Harvey Hill
On July 22, 1862, Hill and Union Maj. Gen. John A. Dix concluded an agreement for the general exchange of prisoners between the Union and Confederate armies. This agreement became known as the Dix-Hill Cartel....
on July 14. To prepare for his negotiations with his Confederate counterpart in July 1862, General Dix requested that War Secretary Stanton provide a copy of all of General Wool's correspondence with the rebels relating to the prior cartel discussions.
Summary of the 1862 Agreement
The cartel agreement established a scale of equivalents to manage the exchange of military officers and enlisted personnel. For example, a naval captain or a colonel in the army would exchange for fifteen privates or common seamen, while personnel of equal ranks would transfer man for man.The agreement named two locations for the exchanges to occur, one at A. M. Aiken's Landing
Varina, Virginia
Varina is a former unincorporated town and current magisterial district in the easternmost portion of Henrico County, Virginia, United States....
, below Dutch Gap
Dutch Gap
Dutch Gap is located on the James River in Chesterfield County, Virginia near the site of the lost 17th-century city of Henricus.In 1611, Sir Thomas Dale, according to a method he had learned while campaigning in Holland, cut a ditch across a portion of land behind town...
, in Virginia, and the other at Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
. Each government would appoint an agent to handle the exchange and parole of prisoners. The agreement also allowed the exchange or parole of captives between the commanders of two opposing forces.
In addition, the agreement permitted each side to exchange non-combatant
Non-combatant
Non-combatant is a term in the law of war describing civilians not taking a direct part in hostilities, as well as persons such as medical personnel and military chaplains who are regular soldiers but are protected because of their function as well as soldiers who are hors de combat ; that is, sick,...
s, such as citizens accused of disloyalty, and civilian employees of the military, such as teamster
Teamster
A teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver. The trade union named after them is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters , one of the largest unions in the United States....
s and sutlers.
Sutler
A sutler or victualer is a civilian merchant who sells provisions to an army in the field, in camp or in quarters. The sutler sold wares from the back of a wagon or a temporary tent, allowing them to travel along with an army or to remote military outposts...
Authorities were to parole any prisoners not formally exchanged within ten days following their capture. The terms of the cartel prohibited paroled prisoners from returning to the military in any capacity including "the performance of field, garrison, police, or guard, or constabulary duty."
Operation of the Cartel
In the first week of August 1862, the cartel's newly appointed agents, Confederate Robert Ould and Union Brig. Gen. Lorenzo ThomasLorenzo Thomas
Lorenzo Thomas was a career United States Army officer who was Adjutant General of the Army at the beginning of the American Civil War. After the war, he was appointed temporary Secretary of War by President Andrew Johnson, precipitating Johnson's impeachment.-Early life:Thomas was born in New...
, conducted their first official prisoner exchange under the agreement's terms with a transfer of 3021 Union personnel for 3000 Confederates at Aiken's Landing.
The prisoner exchanges functioned well until December 1862 when Confederate President Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
suspended the parole of Union officers following the execution of William Mumford
William B. Mumford
William Bruce Mumford was a North Carolina native and resident of New Orleans, Louisiana who was hanged for tearing down a United States flag during the American Civil War.- Flag incident :...
, a New Orleans citizen, by Union General Benjamin F. Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)
Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts....
earlier that year. In reaction, Union Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...
ordered a halt to all exchanges of commissioned officers.
Further difficulties developed when the Confederate government refused to parole and exchange any African-American soldiers
United States Colored Troops
The United States Colored Troops were regiments of the United States Army during the American Civil War that were composed of African American soldiers. First recruited in 1863, by the end of the Civil War, the men of the 175 regiments of the USCT constituted approximately one-tenth of the Union...
taken captive who might have escaped from slavery. Confederate authorities decided instead to treat these prisoners as runaways suitable only for return to their former owners.
In March 1863, the Confederate exchange agent, Robert Ould, sent a letter to Jefferson Davis with these complaints about the Union's exchange efforts:
"I am more and more satisfied every day that the Federal Government does not intend to keep faith with us in the matter of prisoners or exchanges. I believe its officials are taxing their ingenuity to find out the most available methods of deceit and fraud. I received yesterday official evidence that some forty officers entitled long ago to their release, and who in fact are exchanged under existing agreements, are now imprisoned at Camp Chase
Camp ChaseCamp Chase was a military staging, training and prison camp in Columbus, Ohio, during the American Civil War. All that remains of the camp today is a Confederate cemetery containing 2,260 graves. The cemetery is located in what is now the Hilltop neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio.- History :Camp Chase...
, and yet the Federal Agent with an earnestness intended to be peculiarly impressive, assured me three days ago, that not one of these officers was confined in that place. Not one day passes that some evidence does not come to hand of Yankee fraud and mendacity. Four weeks ago the Federal Agent informed me in writing that it was not the intention of his Government to make any more arrests of non combatants in our territory, and yet more have been made since that declaration than during any previous equal space of time ..."
By early June 1863, the exchanges had effectively stopped.
On June 12, 1863, CSA Vice President Alexander Stephens wrote to Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
offering his services to travel to Washington, DC in order to negotiate the issues over the prisoner exchange as well as to discuss larger diplomatic issues between the Confederate and Union governments. Davis accepted the offer in July 1863 and appointed Stephens as "a military commissioner under flag of truce" to approach the authorities in Washington. His primary mission was:
"... to establish the cartel for the exchange of prisoners on such a basis as to avoid the constant difficulties and complaints which arise, and to prevent for the future what we deem the unfair conduct of our enemies in evading the delivery of prisoners who fall into their hands; in retarding it by sending them on circuitous routes, and by detaining them sometimes for months in camps in prisons; and in persisting in taking captive noncombatants."
The federal authorities in Washington refused to accept the request to negotiate.
In November 1863, Union General Benjamin Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)
Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts....
requested permission from Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to negotiate for the resumption of the prisoner exchanges. After reviewing correspondence from the Confederates, Butler had an idea that the rebels would exchange captives without regard to their "color, caste, or condition." Since the Federals held twice as many prisoners as their opponents, Butler proposed that a renewal of the exchanges would deplete the number of prisoners held by the Confederates. If the "colored prisoners and their officers" were not handed over, then the Union's remaining surplus of rebel prisoners would serve as hostages for possible "retaliation and reprisal." On December 17, Maj. General Ethan Allen Hitchcock
Ethan A. Hitchcock (general)
Ethan Allen Hitchcock was a career United States Army officer and author who had War Department assignments in Washington, D.C., during the American Civil War, in which he served as a major general.-Early life:...
appointed Butler as a "special agent for exchange of prisoners." While conducting these new exchanges, "the protection of the Government" would remain for "colored soldiers of the United States and the officers commanding them." Butler was to avoid "the question of parole and excess now pending" between the two sides. Within days, Butler started exchanging prisoners with the Confederates, and continued the transfers into the early months of 1864. Despite his original mandate, Butler tried to resolve the outstanding cartel issues with the rebel authorities while facing General Hitchcock's growing opposition over the scope and conduct of his activities.
Asked to review the situation in April 1864, Union General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
ordered the halt of all exchanges until the Confederates recognized "the validity of the paroles of the prisoners captured at Vicksburg
Battle of Vicksburg
The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. John C...
and Port Hudson
Siege of Port Hudson
The Siege of Port Hudson occurred from May 22 to July 9, 1863, when Union Army troops assaulted and then surrounded the Mississippi River town of Port Hudson, Louisiana, during the American Civil War....
," and stopped discrimination against "colored soldiers."
In August 1864, Robert Ould accepted a Union proposal to make equal exchanges, "officer for officer and man for man" with the first releases going to those "longest in captivity." While Ould's offer circulated through Federal government, Butler wrote to Ould in September proposing a special exchange of all "sick and invalid officers and men . . . unfit for duty and likely to remain so for sixty days." To make the transfer easier, he proposed that the exchange occur at Fort Pulaski outside Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
. By the end of November, the belligerents had transferred several thousand prisoners near Savannah, and conducted a second transfer under similar terms in Charleston.
In January 1865 with the end of the war in sight, General Grant permitted the resumption of exchanges when the Confederate authorities agreed to include all prisoners. By February, Grant wrote to Secretary of War Stanton that he was trying to exchange 3000 prisoners a week, and requested that preference first go to disabled troops since "few of these will be got in the ranks again and as we can count upon but little reinforcement from the prisoners we get."
In his military history, The Longest Night, historian David J. Eicher states that the "Union Army paroled or exchanged 329,963 Confederate prisoners of war, while the Confederacy paroled or exchanged about 152,015 Union prisoners of war."
Confederate
- Robert Ould served as the official exchange agent for the Confederate government from 1862 to 1865.
- N. G. Watts assisted with prisoner exchanges at Vicksburg.
- Ignacy SzymańskiIgnacy SzymanskiIgnacy Szymański Ignatius Szymanski , his father was ...Szymanski, nicknamed Colonel Ski or Old Ski, was a Polish and American soldier. He served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
(1806–1874) Ignatius Szymanski
Union
The Union Army had several officers who became involved in the prisoner exchanges:- Lorenzo ThomasLorenzo ThomasLorenzo Thomas was a career United States Army officer who was Adjutant General of the Army at the beginning of the American Civil War. After the war, he was appointed temporary Secretary of War by President Andrew Johnson, precipitating Johnson's impeachment.-Early life:Thomas was born in New...
, agent from July through September 1862. - William H. LudlowWilliam H. LudlowWilliam Handy Ludlow was an American politician.-Life:...
, agent from fall 1862 to summer 1863. - Solomon A. MeredithSolomon MeredithSolomon Meredith was a prominent Indiana farmer, politician, and lawman who was a controversial Union Army general in the American Civil War...
, agent from summer 1863 until 1864 - Ethan Allen HitchcockEthan A. Hitchcock (general)Ethan Allen Hitchcock was a career United States Army officer and author who had War Department assignments in Washington, D.C., during the American Civil War, in which he served as a major general.-Early life:...
, agent starting in 1864 - John Elmer Mulford, assistant agent of exchange
- Benjamin F. ButlerBenjamin Franklin Butler (politician)Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts....
- Charles C. Dwight
- Henry M. Lazelle, handled exchanges at Vicksburg.
See also
- Lieber CodeLieber CodeThe Lieber Code of April 24, 1863, also known as Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field, General Order № 100, or Lieber Instructions, was an instruction signed by President Abraham Lincoln to the Union Forces of the United States during the American Civil War...
: Orders for the conduct of Union forces signed by President Lincoln on April 24, 1863. - parole: prisoners of war section.