CONFEDERATE STATES. 



151 



him of my resolute purpose to check all bar- 

 barities on prisoners of war by such severity of 

 retaliation on prisoners held by us as should 

 secure the abandonment of the practice. This 

 communication was received and read by an 

 officer in command of the United States forces, 

 and a message was brought from him by the 

 bearer of my communication that a reply would 

 be returned by President Lincoln as soon as 

 possible. I earnestly hope this promised reply 

 (which has not yet been received) will convey 

 the assurance that prisoners of war will be 

 treated, in this unhappy contest, with that re- 

 gard for humanity which has made such con- 

 spicuous progress in the conduct of modern 

 warfare. As measures of precaution, however, 

 and until this promised reply is received, I shall 

 retain in close custody some officers captured 

 from the enemy, whom it had been my pleasure 

 previously to set at large on parole, and whose 

 fate must necessarily depend on that of prison- 

 ers held by the- enemy." 



Still later in the year, another case of this 

 kind occurred. The captain and crew who 

 were captured in the privateer Jefferson Davis 

 were brought to Philadelphia and tried, and 

 found guilty of piracy. The sentence of the 

 law in such a case is death. For the purpose 

 of rescuing these men, retaliatory measures 

 were adopted by the Confederate Government. 

 What the measures were, and the manner in 

 which they were put in force, is shown by the 

 orders of the Government authorities, as fol- 

 lows: 



C. S. A. WAR DEPARTMENT. (_ 

 RICHMOND, JTor. 9, 1S61. J 



Sin: You are hereby instructed to choose, by lot, 

 from among the prisoners of war of highest rank, one 

 who is to be confined in a cell appropriated to convicted 

 felons, and who is to be treated in all respects as if 

 such convict, and to be held for execution in the same 

 manner as may be adopted by the enemy for the exe- 

 cution of the "prisoner of war Smith, recently con- 

 demned to death in Philadelphia. 



You will also select thirteen other prisoners of war, 

 the highest in rank of those captured by our forces, to 

 be confined in the cells reserved for prisoners accused 

 of infamous crimes, and will treat them as such so 

 long as the enemy shall continue so to treat the like 

 number of prisoners of war captured by them at sea, 

 and now held for trial in New York as pirates. 



As these measures are intended to repress the infa- 

 mous attempt now made by the enemy to commit judi- 

 cial murder on prisoners of war, you will execute them 

 strictly, as the mode best calculated to prevent the 

 commission of so heinous a crime. 

 Your obedient servant, 



J. P. BENJAMIN, 



Acting Secretary of War. 



To Brig.-Gen. JOHN H. WINDER, Richmo'nd, Va. 



HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF HENRICO, 1 

 EICHMOND, YA., For. 11, 1S61, j 

 SIR : In obedience to your instructions contained in 

 your letter of the 9th instant, one prisoner of war of 

 the highest rank in our possession was chosen, by lot, 

 to be held for execution in the same manner as may 

 be adopted by the enemy for the execution of Smith, 

 recently condemned to death in Philadelphia. The 

 names of the six Colonels were placed in a can. The 

 first name drawn was that of Colonel Corcoran, Sixty- 

 ninth Regiment N. Y. S. M., who is the hostage chosen 

 to answer for Smith. 



In choosing the thirteen from the highest rank to be 

 held for a like number of prisoners of war captured by 

 the enemy at sea, there being only ten field officers, it 

 was necessary to draw by lot three captains. The first 

 names drawn were Captains J. B. Ricketts, II. Mc- 

 Quade, and J. W. Rockwood. 



The list of thirteen will therefore stand : Colonels 

 Lee, Cogswell, Wilcox, Woodruff, and Wood ; Lieu- 

 tenant-Colonels Bowman and Neff ; Majors Potter, Re- 

 vere, and Vogdes ; Captains Ricketts, McQuade, and 

 Rockwood. 



Respectfully, vour obedient servant, 



JOHN'H. WINDER, Brigadier-General. 



Hon. J. P. BENJAMIN, Secretary of War. 



HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF HEJTRICO, t 

 BICHMOND, VA., Jfov. 12, 1861. ) 



SIR : In obedience to your instructions, all the 

 wounded officers have been exempted as hostages, 

 to await the result of the trial of prisoners captured 

 by the enemy at sea, I have therefore made selec- 

 tions, by lot, of Captains H. Bowman and T. Keffer, to 

 replace "Captains Ricketts aud McQuade, wounded. 



The list of thirteen will now stand : Colonels Lee, 

 Cogswell, Wilcox, Woodruff, and Wood ; Lieutenant- 

 Colonels Bowman and Neff; Majors Potter, Revere, 

 and Vogdes ; Captains Rockwood, Bowman, and Kef- 

 fer. 



Respectfully, vour obedient servant, 



JOHN'H. WINDER, Brigadier-General. 



Hon. J. P. BENJAMIN, Sec'y of War, Richmond. 



The privateersmen were ultimately put on 

 the footing of prisoners of war by the orders 

 of the Federal Government, and these prison- 

 ers in the Confederate States were early re- 

 leased, with the exception of Colonel Corcoran. 



These extreme measures, whether adopted by 

 the Federal or Confederate Governments, were 

 not prosecuted for any length of time with that 

 bitterness or vindictiveness which might be an- 

 ticipated from the language in which they are 

 expressed. Neither was the treatment of pris- 

 oners on either side, with some exceptions, 

 marked by that harshness and severity which 

 characterized former wars, and especially civil 

 wars. The sentiment of mankind forbade, either 

 at the Xorth or South, any thing like a system 

 of cruelty to captives. 



The internal affairs of the Confederate States 

 were early placed upon an organized and effi- 

 cient system. The withdrawal from the United 

 States, and the creation of a Confederacy, 

 caused but few changes, and these consisted 

 rather in the persons who held public offices, 

 than in any change in the nature of the offices 

 themselves. 



The transmission of the mails was gradually 

 suspended by the Federal Government, after 

 the secession of each State, and was entirely 

 assumed by the Confederate Government within 

 the limits of the Confederate States after the 

 3 1st of May. 



All postmasters, route agents, and special 

 agents acting under the authority of the "United 

 States, were directed, on and after the 1st day 

 of June, to continue in the discharge of their 

 duties, subject to the laws and regulations of 

 the Confederate Government, to which they 

 were required to apply for new commissions. 

 They were also instructed to render their final 

 accounts up to the 31st day of May, to the Post- 



