There was no formal agreement treatment of prisoners of war. Late summer 1862 the South found itself with the preponderance of prisoners as a result of the First Manassas, Shiloh and Seven Days Battles.
Exchange of Union and Confederate Prisoners
Exchanges that did take place were informal. The U.S. and Confederate War Departments authorized exchanges; department and army commanders of both sides entered into such agreements to rid themselves of prisoners.
The Lincoln administration faced the same problem as the British in 1775. They were reluctant to grant belligerent rights for fear of giving the rebels legitmacy. The clamor of Union prisoners held in overcrowded prisons and the demands of the relatives and friends of the prisoners, forced Lincoln to act.
The cartel was signed 22 July 1862 at Haxall's Landing, Viriginia. The first article provided for the exchange "of all men now held by either party." The formula was a straight one for one exchange of officers and men. Equivalent numbers of junior officers and men for the repatriation of senior officers when either side had a surplus of the lower ranks. Article IV stated that all prisoners be paroled within ten days. Parolees to be held at special camps until regularly exchanged. This provision, if strictly honored, would have saved thousands of lives. The exchange points were Aiken's Landing, Virginia and Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Richmond, Virginia, with its excellent railroad and water communications, was designated the holding area for all prisoners prior to exchange. The South struggled to provide basic needs for the Union soldiers in its hands. Lack of resources and a failing transportation system caused many of the problems. These problems would have been greatly reduced by paroling all prisoners within the ten day rule articulated in the Exchange Agreement.
Treatment Of Civil War Prisoners
General Orders#100 governed the treatment of Confederate prisoners of war. Article XLVI "A prisoner of war is subject to no punishment for being a public enemy" This article also outlawed abuse of prisoners. Article LXXII stated "Money and other valuables on the person of a prisoner... are regarded as private property." Article LXXVI specified that "Prisoners of war shall be fed on plain and wholesome food where practicable, and treated with humanity.
The Confederate government housed prisoners in Ligon's warehouse and later Howard's warehouse both on Main Street, Richmond. Six hundred Union soldiers, officers and men were confined to Ligon's.
The officers were moved to Howard's in late 1861. Libby and Son Ship Chandlers and Grocers was converted to a prison 24 March 1862. Belle Isle, in the James River was also used as a prison for enlisted men. Conditions in all Richmond prisons were poor. Lack of fresh air, bad water, lack of food and medicine killed hundreds. In late 1864 Confederate authorities opened prisons in Danville, Virginia, Salisbury, North Carolina and Andersonville, Georgia.These prisons quickly overflowed when the Union army refused to parole prisoners in order to deprive the Confederate armies reinforcements as soldiers paroled by the belligerents returned to the ranks.
Northern Prison Camps
The Northern prisons, Camp Chase, Ohio, Fort Delaware, Pennsylvania, Johnson's Island, Ohio an island in Lake Erie and Elmira, New York. Confederate prisoners enjoyed good food and medical care. This began to change as the North began to learn of the perceived mistreatment of their men held in captivity. Elmira and Andersonville became the symbols of suffering for both Union and Confederate prisoners.
Andersonville and Elmira were severely overcrowded and quickly outstripped the ability of the camp administrations to solve. Dr. Eugen Sanger commanded Elmira as well as being the Surgeon. He fought a paper war with the War Department about lack fresh vegetables and overcrowding that was killing off prisoners as quickly as they arrived. Andersonville designed to hold 5,000 men, had 30,000 prisoners by the fall of 1864. Elmira designed for 4500 men, had over 12,000.
Andersonville shared the dubious honor of having killed more men than any other prison. Andersonville buried 13,000 of the 30,000 held there. Elmira lost 2,963 men of the 12,000 men imprisoned. North and South had shameful records as regards prisoners of war. A combination of brutality, lack of food, medicine and a deliberate policy of neglect among some camp administrations and the collapse of the transportation in the south were all contributors to the suffering of prisoners during the war.
Sources
R. Randolph Stevenson, The Southern Side, Or Andersonville Prison, Baltimore, Turnbull Brothers, 1876
Sandra V. Parker, Richmond's Civil War Prisons, Lynchburg, VA. H.E. Howard, 1990
John Ransom's Andersonville Diary, Middlebury, VT. Paul S. Erickson, reprint 1963, 1986, Philadelphia, Douglas Bros. 1883
William Oneill - I've had a life-long interest in military history and history in general. My mother was trying to get me to read something other than ...
