710 



PRISONERS, EXCHANGE OF. 



The offshoots of the several British Presbyte- 

 rian denominations in Australia have also com- 

 menced, after the example of Canada and 

 England, to unite into one body. Victoria led 

 the way in 1860. New South Wales consum- 

 mated the union in November, 1862, when a 

 conference, held to that end in Sidney, unani- 

 mously adopted a basis of union, consisting of 

 5 articles. The first two declare the word of 

 God to be supreme, and the confession of faith, 

 catechisms, &c., to be the subordinate standards 

 of the united church. The fhird article is in 

 the following terms: "That, with regard to 

 the doctrines contained in these subordinate 

 standards relative to the power and duty of 

 the civil magistrate in matters of religion, the 

 office bearers of this church, in subscribing 

 these standards, are not to be held as counte- 

 nancing any persecuting or intolerant prin- 

 ciples, or as professing any views in reference 

 to the power and duty of the civil magistrate 

 inconsistent with the spiritual independence 

 of the church and the right of private judg- 

 ment. The two concluding articles refer to 

 the independence of the church and the re- 

 ception of ministers. The Presbyterians in 

 New Zealand have also formed themselves into 

 one body. The General Assembly of the New 

 Zealand Presbyterian Church was formed in 

 Auckland in November, 1862. There is no in- 

 termediate court between the presbyteries and 

 General Assembly. 



PRISONERS, EXCHANGE OF. Although, at 

 the close of 1861, the prisoners captured on 

 both sides since the commencement of the 

 war amounted to a considerable number, no 

 proceedings hafl been instituted to procure 

 a general exchange, and the partial exchanges, 

 as well as the correspondence on the sub- 

 ject between the national and Confederate 

 generals, could hardly be cited as precedents 

 for future action. A few wounded or conva- 

 lescent men had been released on parole on 

 either side ; but, in the absence of definite in- 

 structions from the United States Government, 

 which was loth to acknowledge the Confed- 

 erates as belligerents by treating with them, the 

 Federal generals declined to receive any com- 

 munication on the subject from the other side. 

 A notable illustration of this was the refusal 

 of Gen. Grant, in October, to treat with Gen. 

 Polk for an exchange, after the action at Bel- 

 mont. 



As prisoners, however, began to accumu- 

 late on either side, and accounts of the hard- 

 ships and cruelties to which Union soldiers were 

 subjected in Confederate prisons reached the 

 Union States, public opinion demanded a more 

 liberal policy, and in the latter part of Decem- 

 ber, 1861, in accordance with a report from 

 the Military Committee of both Houses of 

 Congress, a joint resolution was adopted re- 

 questing the President to take immediate steps 

 for a general exchange. Similar resolutions 

 soon after passed the New York Legislature. 



Acting under instructions from the Presi- 



dent, Secretary Stanton accordingly issued, on 

 January 20, an order for the appointment of 

 two commissioners to " visit the city of Rich- 

 mond, in Virginia, and wherever else prisoners 

 belonging to the army of the United States may 

 be held, and there take such measures as may 

 be needful to provide for the wants and contrib- 

 ute to the comfort of such prisoners, at the 

 expense of the United States, to such extent as 

 may be permitted by the authorities under 

 whom such prisoners are held." 



During the month preceding the issue of this 

 order, several hundred Confederate prisoners, 

 captured principally at Fort Hatteras, had ar- 

 rived at Fortress Monroe, and been exchanged 

 for an equal number of Union soldiers, brought 

 down the James river from Richmond, and, as 

 that place seemed to be the principal depot of 

 prisoners, besides being the seat of the Confed- 

 rate Government, it was determined that the 

 commissioners should proceed there first. The 

 following additional order designated the com- 

 missioners and the powers conferred upon them : 



WAE DEPARTMENT, "WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 1862. 

 Ordered, that the Rev. Bishop Ames, of the Method- 

 ist Episcopal Church, and the Hon. Hamilton Fish, of 

 New York, be and they are hereby appointed commis- 

 sioners to visit the prisoners belonging to the army of 

 the United States, now in captivity at Richmond, in 

 Virginia, and elsewhere, and, under such regulations 

 as may be prescribed by the authorities having custody 

 of such prisoners, relieve their necessities and provide 

 for their comfort, at the expense of the United States, 

 in pursuance of the order heretofore made on this sub- 

 ject; and that said commissioners be requested imme- 

 diately to signify by telegraph to the department their 

 acceptance or refusal of this appointment, and report 

 in person at Washington without delay. 



EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. 



The commissioners at once signified their ac- 

 ceptance of the appointment, and, within a few 

 days, proceeded, in company with a quota of 

 Confederate prisoners, under a flag of truce, 

 from Fortress Monroe, to make known to the 

 Confederate authorities at Norfolk the object of 

 their mission. By the latter the matter was 

 referred to Richmond, and, pending the deci- 

 sion arrived at in that city, the comments of the 

 Confederate journals showed how unpalatable 

 was the proposition to admit the commissioners 

 within the territory of the seceded States. " The 

 exquisite modesty," said one, " of this proposi- 

 tion to send official inspectors of our defences 

 and general condition entitles Mr. Stanton to 

 the reputation of being the most impudent 

 man among all King Lincoln's proverbially 

 impudent subjects ;" and another added : "We 

 could not suppose it possible that the author- 

 ities of the Confederate States would for one 

 moment entertain a proposition so absurd and 

 ridiculous. We are informed that our Govern- 

 ment will not only refuse temporarily to allow 

 Bishop Ames and Mr. Fish to come here for 

 the purpose of investigating our prison system, 

 or for any other purpose, but will henceforth 

 exercise a rigid surveillance over any commu- 

 nication, by person or letter, between this coun- 

 try and the North." 



