762 



PRISONERS, EXCHANGE OF.' 



PRISONERS, Vol. II., page 714.) In the present 

 case nothing of the kind had been attempted, 

 and the enemy, by showing his inability to re- 

 move his prisoners, failed to prove that he had 

 reduced them to actual possession. Hence the 

 Federal Government not only held these pa- 

 roles to be invalidated, but ordered the officers 

 and men to return to duty. The rebels com- 

 plained bitterly of this proceeding, maintaining 

 that the Federal Government had undertaken 

 to supplement the cartel by its general orders, 

 Nos. 100 and 209, by which the basis of ex- 

 changes had been affected without previous 

 agreement. Mr. Ould even urged that, in ac- 

 cordance with general orders, No. 100, the pa- 

 roled prisoners of Gettysburg, if their paroles 

 were not approved, should return into captivi- 

 ty; and he charged unfair dealing upon the 

 Government in framing its general order, No. 

 209 for the purpose of relieving them from this 

 liability. To this it was replied that neither of 

 the above orders was intended to be in viola- 

 tion of the cartel, but were designed to pro- 

 mote its complete and faithful operation ; that 

 if in any respect they were in violation of it, 

 they were to that extent inoperative ; and that, 

 as Gen. Lee's paroles were not made in accord- 

 ance with the cartel, they were necessarily void. 



The battle of Gettysburg was followed by 

 the unconditional surrender of Vicksburg and 

 Port Hudson, by which the number of prison- 

 ers falling into the Federal hands was enormous- 

 ly increased. In both instances the command- 

 ers of the opposing armies, acting under the 

 authority of tho cartel, mutually agreed upon 

 a place for the delivery of the prisoners on 

 parole. The Port Hudson prisoners were ac- 

 cordingly sent to Mobile. Mr. Ould neverthe- 

 less undertook to release these men from their 

 obligations, ostensibly because they were not 

 exchanged at City Point or Vicksburg, the two 

 places specially mentioned in the cartel (al- 

 though that instrument provided for othe* ar- 

 rangements, which in this instance were liter- 

 ally fulfilled), but really as a retaliatory measure 

 to offset the disavowal of the Gettysburg pa- 

 roles, and also, there is good reason to believe, 

 for the purpose of filling up the depleted ranks 

 of the rebel army. Other prisoners, to the 

 number of several thousands, were for similar 

 reasons subsequently absolved from their pa- 

 roles. The proceedings above related involved 

 no slight amount of acrimonious correspond- 

 ence, extending over a considerable period, but 

 cannot be said to have permanently interrupted 

 the system of exchanges then in operation. 



On May 15th, T. P. Graw and William Cor- 

 bin, having been found guilty by a court-mar- 

 tial of recruiting for the rebel army within the 

 Union lines, were executed at Johnson's Island, 

 in Lake Erie, by order of Gen. Burnside. In 

 retaliation for this act Captains II. W. Sawyer 

 and John Flynn wereselected by lot from 

 among the Union prisoners in Richmond and 

 ordered into close confinement under sentence 

 of death. This proceeding coming to the 



knowledge of the Federal Government, Gen. 

 W. H. Lee and Captain "Winder were ordered 

 into close confinement as hostages to await the 

 fate of the Union officers. If the latter should 

 be executed the rebel officers were also to be 

 hung, and Col. Ludlow was directed to assure 

 Mr. Ould " that the Government of the United 

 States would proceed to retaliate for every sim- 

 ilar barbarous violation of the laws of civilized 

 war." This energetic action had the effect of 

 restraining the Confederate Government from 

 carrying their threat into execution, and early 

 in 1864 the four officers were mutually ex- 

 changed. 



Previous to July no engagement had occur- 

 red in which colored troops had fallen into the 

 hands of the enemy. But the capture of a num- 

 ber of the 54th Massachusetts (colored) regi- 

 ment, at the assault on Fort Wagner in Charles- 

 ton harbor, showed that the enemy were deter- 

 mined to carry out literally the provisions of 

 the resolutions of May 1st. To protect this 

 class of soldiers from these harsh measures, the 

 following sections were inserted in the general 

 order, No. 100. already referred to : 



57. So soon as a man is armed by a sovereign Gov- 

 ernment, and takes the soldier's oath of fidelity, he is 

 a belligerent ; his killing, wounding, or other warlike 

 acts are not individual crimes or offences. No belli- 

 gerent has a right to declare that enemies of a certain 

 class, color, or condition, when properly organized 

 as soldiers, will not be treated by him as public 

 enemies. 



58. The law of nations knows no distinction of 

 color, and if an enemy of the United States should en- 

 slave and sell any captured persons of their army, it 

 would be a case for the severest retaliation, if not re- 

 dressed upon complaint. The United States cannot 

 retaliate by enslavement; therefore death must be the 

 retaliation for this crime against the law of nations. 



But it having been suggested that these pro- 

 visions were not generally known, and were 

 not likely to impress the enemy with a proper 

 sense of what the United States Government 

 would do under the circumstances, the follow- 

 ing retaliatory order was issued by the Presi- 

 dent: 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, "WASHINGTON, July SOth. 



It is- the duty of every Government to give protec- 

 tion to its citizens of whatever class, color or condition, 

 and especially to those who are duly organized as 

 soldiers in the public service. The law of nations and 

 the usages and customs of war, as carried on by civil- 

 ized powers, permit no distinction as to color in the 

 treatment of prisoners of war as public enemies. To 

 sell or enslave any captured person, on account of his 

 color, and for no offence against the laws of war, is a 

 relapse into barbarism and a crime against the civili- 

 zation of the age. The Government of the United 

 States will give the same protection to all its soldiers, 

 and if the enemy shall sell or enslave any one because 

 of his color, the offence shall be punished by retalia- 

 tion upon the enemy's prisoners in our hands. 



It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the 

 United States killed in violation of the laws of war, a 

 rebel soldier shall be executed, and for every one en- 

 slaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel sol- 

 dier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works, 

 and continue at s|ich labor until the other shall be re- 

 leased and receive the treatment due a prisoner of war. 

 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



By order of the Secretary of War. 

 E. D. TOWNSEND, Ass' 



ss't Adj.-Gen. 



