Decision Three: Prisoner Exchanges

On September 11, 1864, CSA General Hood wrote to USA General Sherman:

I had the honor on the 8th instant to propose to you an exchange of prisoners, officers and men, captured by both armies since the commencement of the present campaign... A communication was received from you, rendering, "I regret to inform you, an exchange of prisoners impossible." Your refusal to receive in exchange your soldiers belonging to regiments whose times are out and who have been discharged discloses a fixed purpose on the part of your Government to doom to hopeless captivity those prisoners whose terms of service have expired or will soon expire. Your avowal that this class of your soldiers will not be exchanged, but will be rewarded by the sufferings and privations incident to military imprisonment, although their term of service had nearly expired, is deeply regretted by me, as I share the earnest desire of my Government to release from prolonged confinement the large number of prisoners held by both parties. Permit me to hope that this declared policy of your Government will be reconsidered, as it is unjustly oppressive to those whom the hazards of military service have rendered prisoners, and is violative of the well understood obligations assumed by a Government toward those who are enlisted in its service. As was proper, I notified my Government of my offer to you to effect an exchange of prisoners captured during this campaign, and not only was my action approved, but my Government placed at my entire disposal for immediate exchange, man for man, all the prisoners of Andersonville. I have the honor to renew my offer to exchange prisoners, as proposed in my first communication.

Three officers were released from Andersonville to deliver a petition to Washington to continue prisoner exchanges. Their report is here

Upon entering the prison, every man is deliberately stripped of money and other property, and as no clothing or blankets are ever supplied to their prisoners by the C.S.A. authorities, the condition of the apparel of soldiers just from an active campaign can be easily imagined. Thousands are without pants or coats, and hundreds without even a pair of drawers to cover their nakedness. To starvation and exposure, to sun and storm, add the sickness which prevails to a most alarming and terrible extent, on an average 100 die daily. 

Let 35,000 suffering, starving, and dying enlisted men aid this appeal to the Chief Magistrate of the Republic for prompt and decisive action in their behalf; 35,000 heroes will be made happy. Although desirous of returning to our duty, we can bear imprisonment with more fortitude if the enlisted men, whose sufferings we know to be intolerable, were restored to liberty and life.

DECISION: Do you continue prisoner exchanges as your duty to the humanity of your soldiers, or do you sacrifice them in order to win the war more quickly?

Click here to see what Grant did