GEORGE EDGAR “ED” CORWIN
George Ed Corwin, Civil War Muster Roll
- b. 21 Jan 1845, Bellport, L.I., NY
- Son of Salem Corwin and Charlotte L. Hulse
- 1850 census – Bellport, Brookhaven – Salem, Charlotte, Eunice, Ann, Sarah, Catherine, Mary, George, John, Ida
- 1860 census + next page – Bellport, Brookhaven – Salem, Charlotte, Mary, George, John, Ida, Wilbur, Henry
Civil War – 131st Regiment, NY Infantry – Roster
- Enlisted 21 Aug 1862 at Brooklyn, age 18, to serve 3 years
- 6 Sep 1862 – Mustered in as Private, Co. C, 131st NY Infantry
- 27 Jun 1863 – Captured
- 31 Jul 1863 – Exchanged
- 20 Feb 1864 – Promoted Corporal
- 20 Jan 1865 – Returned to ranks by request
- 26 Jul 1865 – Mustered out with company at Savannah, GA
- 1865 NY census – Bellport, Brookhaven – Salem, Charlotte, [George], John, Ida, Wilbur, Henry
- Not actually present at the time of this census (enumerated 5 Jun 1865). George is noted as being employed by the United States Military. Specifically, “Now in Army” (see Civil War section below)
- 1880 census – Bellport, Brookhaven – Salem, Charlotte, George
Married: ALLIE R. PITTWAY on 23 Nov 1881 at the Bellport home of his brother, Capt. John T. Corwin – marriage announcement
- Children: Edith (Corwin) Kreamer Weidner & Ethel E Corwin (see family section)
- 31 Jan 1892 – Allie Corwin passes away
Married: CHARLOTTE M. HARRISON on 14 Jun 1894 at Newark, NJ – marriage announcement
- 1900 census – Bellport, Brookhaven – 55, Bayman – Living with wife Charlotte, 52, and daughter Edith, 17 (next household is sister Catherine with family, and their mother, Charlotte).
- d. 5 Jun 1902, Bellport, L.I., NY – pension record
- Burial: Woodland Cemetery, Bellport
Ed & Allie marry, 1881
1. ALLIE R. PITTWAY
- b. 18 Feb 1864, England
- m. 23 Nov 1881, Bellport, L.I., NY
- d. 31 Jan 1892, Presbyterian Hospital, NYC; age 27 – death notice
- Burial: Woodland Cemetery, Bellport
- Edith & Ethel Corwin (coming soon!)
Ed & Charlotte marry, 1894
2. CHARLOTTE “LOTTIE” M. HARRISON
- b. Feb 1848, Caldwell, New Jersey
- m. 14 Jun 1894, Newark, NJ
- Edith & Ethel were about ages 9 and 6 when their mother, Allie, passed. Charlotte, as well as their aunt, Eugenia (John T’s wife), appear to have been strong female figures in their lives.
- 1910 census – Railroad Ave (Station Rd), Bellport, age 62, now widowed – Servant
- 1915 NY census – Woodruff St, Bellport, age 67, Housework; Living alone.
- 1920 census – 24 Woodruff St, Bellport, age 71 –
- Living with Eugenia (sister-in-law, widow of John T), age 67, and Ethel E, step daughter, age 34.
- 1930 census + next page – 57 Woodruff St, Bellport Village, age 82 –
- Living with Eugenia (sister-in-law), age 78, and Ethel E, step daughter, age 45.
- More Corwin households on these pages: Wilbur R‘s widow, Marie; Wilbur A; Frank L; Henry E; John H.
- d. 19 Oct 1939, Mather Memorial Hospital, Port Jefferson – obituary
- One of the Bellport’s oldest residents upon her death; age 91
- Last residence: Woodruff St, Bellport, L.I., NY
- Burial: Woodland Cemetery, Bellport
George Ed Corwin of the 131st N.Y.S. Vols. –
In my effort to learn more about George Ed Corwin during the Civil War, I was first curious about his capture. When we think of captured soldiers during the Civil War, we tend to think of places like Andersonville. What I learned in this process, is prison camps like this mostly existed in the latter part of the war, particularly in 1864.
Confederate prisoners for exchange at Cox’s Landing, VA
Prior to this, when a soldier was captured, instead of being transferred to a prison camp, they were placed on parole until an equal trade, known as an exchange, was made with the opposing side. In the first half of the war, the two sides frequently arranged these exchanges by marching paroled captives to a central spot and then calculating their value based on rank (a general could be redeemed for 32 privates, for example). For those not yet exchanged, the parole system equaled an honor system that meant agreeing to sit out of the war until offically exchanged, and until that time, each side was responsible for housing their own.
For Northern captives, the Union Army set up parole camps – the most notable being Camp Parole, Annapolis – where soldiers were housed until they were formally exchanged. The Confederate Army, on the other hand, let Southern captives go home, and while this may have been a more economical solution, the prospect of going home encouraged some to be captured on purpose while in battle or by straggling.
Camp Parole, Annapolis
Still, for the most part, the parole system seemed to work fairly well during the start of the Civil War, but by the summer of 1863, it was significantly broken, and by August, prisoner exchanges largely came to a stop (more about this later).
Now, we know from Ed’s muster roll abstract that he was captured and exchanged right before this (27 Jun and 31 Jul 1863), so in order to get a clear timeline of events and see exactly where he was, I went through the muster roll for the entire 131st NY and pulled the names of all those captured (and before I forget to mention it, Ed’s brother-in-law, George Edward Pinckney, was also part of the 131st NY).
Battle of Port Hudson
Taking the names and information of each man captured, I quickly saw patterns. Most were captured with others from their infantry, and at the same day / place. In Ed’s case, four other men were captured 27 Jun 1863, and although Ed’s muster doesn’t specify where he was captured, we can safely assume it was at Port Hudson, Louisiana.
First, because we know the infantry was at Port Hudson. Secondly — and more specifically — because the other four men captured that day were all captured at Port Hudson. And finally, 3 of these 4 men were also exchanged or paroled on 31 Jul 1863, the same day as Ed.
Below you will find the names of all those from the 131st NY who were captured during the Civil War (click on surnames to see their individual muster roll abstracts). Each has been listed under his corresponding date and place of capture, with the exception of one, who I will list now:
The first of the 131st NY to be captured —
Hindle, Frederick – captured 24 Jun 1863, Brashear City, LA; exchanged 7 Jul 1863; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA.
The 131st Infantry of New York State Volunteers
From The Union army: a history of military affairs in the loyal states, 1861-65:
One Hundred and Thirty-first New York Infantry. —
131st Infantry N. Y. S. Vols. Reg., Marker
Cols., Charles S. Turnbull, Nicholas W. Day; Lieut.-Cols., Charles C. Nott, Nicholas W. Day, W. M. Rexford; Majs., Nicholas W. Day, W. M. Rexford, Aug. C. Tate, Albert Stearns.
This regiment, known as the 1st regiment, Metropolitan Guard, was recruited in New York city under the auspices of the Metropolitan police, and was mustered into the U. S. service for three years on Sept. 6, 1862. The 7th N. Y. militia furnished a large number of its officers.
It left the state on Sept. 14, proceeded to Annapolis, Md., and shortly after sailed for Louisiana as part of the Banks expedition. On its arrival at New Orleans it was assigned to the 1st brigade, Grover’s division, Department of the Gulf, and after the formation of the 19th corps, to the 1st brigade, 4th (Grover’s) division, of that corps.
It sustained its first loss — 3 wounded — in April, 1863, at Irish bend, and was engaged without loss at Vermillion bayou on the 17th.
The following month the investment of Port Hudson was completed and the 131st participated most honorably throughout the siege of that stronghold, in which its losses aggregated 21 killed, 88 wounded and 10 missing, most of its losses being sustained in the assaults of May 27 and June 14.
| Siege of Port Hudson |
| Date: 24 May – 9 Jul 1863 |
| Location: East Baton Rouge Parish and East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana |
| Principle Commanders: Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks [US] Maj. Gen Franklin Gardner [CS] — Union Victory |
| In cooperation with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s offensive against Vicksburg, Union Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’ army moved against the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson on the Mississippi River. On May 27, after their frontal assaults were repulsed, the Federals settled into a siege which lasted for 48 days. Banks renewed his assaults on June 14 but the defenders successfully repelled them. On July 9, 1863, after hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, the Confederate garrison of Port Hudson surrendered, opening the Mississippi River to Union navigation from its source to New Orleans |
| Captured from the 131st NY on 27 Jun 1863 – |
- Corwin, George E. – exchanged 31 Jul 1863; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA
- Fales, Eugene H. – paroled, no date; do
- Johnson, John – paroled (roster says paroled; muster abstract says exchanged) 31 Jul 1863; deserted 2 Sep 1863 from Camp Parole, Annapolis, MD
- Reid, Robert W. – paroled 31 Jul 1863; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA
- Weeks, Lafayette B. – exchanged 31 Jul 1863; do
|
After the surrender of Port Hudson it was engaged for several months in post and garrison duty, and in various expeditions and reconnaissances.
It lost 55 men killed, wounded and missing at Bayou La Fourche, and was again engaged at Vermillion bayou in October, and at Carrion Crow bayou, but meeting with no loss.
| Battle of Kock’s (Cox‘s) Plantation, Bayou LaFourche |
| Date: 12-13 Jul 1863 |
| Location: Ascension Parish, Louisiana |
| Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Godfrey Wetzel [US] Brig. Gen. Thomas Green [CS] — Confederate Victory |
| Following the surrender of Port Hudson, two Union divisions were shifted to Donaldsonville by transports, to move inland and pacify the interior. They marched up Bayou Lafourche, a division on each bank. Confederate Brig. Gen. Tom Green posted a brigade on the east side of the bayou and placed his second brigade on the other side. As the Union forces advanced, skirmishing occurred on July 11 and 12. On the morning of the 13th, a foraging detachment set out along both banks of the bayou. Upon reaching Kock’s Plantation (Saint Emma Plantation) they met Rebel skirmishers that forced them back. Then, the Confederates flung their might against the Union troops which kept retiring although they tried to make stands at various points. The Union troops eventually fell back to the protection of the guns in Fort Butler at Donaldsonville, about six miles from Kock’s Plantation. A much smaller Rebel force had routed the Yankees. The expedition failed, leaving the Confederates in control of the interior. |
| Captured from the 131st NY on 13 Jul 1863 – |
- Booth, Hubert H. – exchanged 24 Jul 1863; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA
- Jones, Benjamin – do; do
- Kelly, James – do; do
- Kelly, Thomas – do; do
- Kelsey, George W. – paroled 24 Jul 1863; deserted, no date, from Camp Parole, New Orleans, LA
- Kiepler, David – exchanged 24 Jul 1863; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA
|
In the summer of 1864 it left the Department of the Gulf and joined Gen. Butler’s Army of the James at Bermuda Hundred. Shortly after it joined the Army of the Shenandoah under Gen. Sheridan and participated in his brilliant campaign in the Valley.
In Grover’s division, 19th corps, it lost heavily at the battle of the Opequon, where its casualties amounted to 10 killed and 64 wounded. It was only slightly engaged at Fisher’s hill, but at Cedar creek it again suffered severely, losing 35 killed and wounded. It subsequently went to North Carolina, where it was attached to the 10th corps, and in May, 1865, it was ordered to Augusta, Ga.
Battle of Opequon, a.k.a. Third Battle of Winchester
|
| Date: 19 Sep 1864 |
| Location: Frederick County, near Winchester, Virginia |
| Principle Commanders: Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan [US] Maj. Gen. Jubal Early [CS] — Union Victory |
| After Kershaw’s division left Winchester to rejoin Lee’s army at Petersburg, Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early renewed his raids on the B&O Railroad at Martinsburg, badly dispersing his four remaining infantry divisions. On September 19, Sheridan advanced toward Winchester along the Berryville Pike with the VI and XIX Corps, crossing Opequon Creek. The Union advance was delayed long enough for Early to concentrate his forces to meet the main assault, which continued for several hours. Casualties were very heavy. The Confederate line was gradually driven back toward the town. Mid-afternoon, Crook’s (VIII) Corps and the cavalry turned the Confederate left flank. Early ordered a general retreat. Confederate generals Rodes and Goodwin were killed, Fitzhugh Lee, Terry, Johnson, and Wharton wounded. Union general Russell was killed, McIntosh, Upton, and Chapman wounded. Because of its size, intensity, and result, many historians consider this the most important conflict of the Shenandoah Valley. |
| Captured from the 131st NY on 19 Sep 1864 – |
- Bickel, Lewis – paroled, no date; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA
- Bremer, Charles – no further record
- Broadbent, William – do
- Brown, Charles M. – returned 10 Jan 1865; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA
- Buffenoir, John Eugene – paroled, no date; do
- Burns, John – no further record
- Collins, John W. – do
- Foley, Patrick – paroled, no date; mustered out 4 Aug 1865, NYC
- Jennison, Abraham – do; mustered out 14 Jun 1865, Parole Camp, Annapolis, MD
- Krebsbach, Nicholaus – paroled, no date; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA
- Larsen, August L. – no further record
- Miller, Samuel W. – died of disease 3 Dec 1864, Salisbury Prison, NC
- Schmidt, Samuel D. – died 22 Jan 1865, Salisbury Prison, NC
- Shoner, Anthony – paroled, no date; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA
- Sullivan, Dennis – do; do
- Sweeney, James – paroled and returned to duty, 22 Jun 1865; do
- Watterfall, Christian – no further record
|
| Battle of Fisher’s Hill |
| Date: 21-22 Sep 1864 |
| Location: Shenandoah County, Virginia |
| Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen Philip Sheridan [US] Maj. Gen. Jubal Early [CS] — Union Victory |
| Early’s army, bloodied by its defeat at Opequon (Third Winchester) on September 19, took up a strong defensive position at Fisher’s Hill, south of Strasburg. On September 21, the Union army advanced, driving back the skirmishers and capturing important high ground. On the 22nd, Crook’s Corps moved along North Mountain to outflank Early and attacked about 4 pm. The Confederate cavalry offered little resistance, and the startled infantry were unable to face the attacking force. The Confederate defense collapsed from west to east as Sheridan’s other corps join in the assault. Early retreated to Rockfish Gap near Waynesboro, opening the Valley to a Union “scorched earth” invasion. Mills and barns from Staunton to Strasburg were burned in what became known as the “Burning” or “Red October.” |
| Battle of Cedar Creek, a.k.a. Battle of Belle Grove |
| Date: 19 Oct 1864 |
| Location: Frederick County, Shenandoah County and Warren County, Virginia |
| Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Horatio Wright [US] Maj. Gen. Jubal Early — Union Victory |
| At dawn, October 19, 1864, the Confederate Army of the Valley under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early surprised the Federal army at Cedar Creek and routed the VIII and XIX Army Corps. Commander Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan arrived from Winchester to rally his troops, and, in the afternoon, launched a crushing counterattack, which recovered the battlefield. Sheridan’s victory at Cedar Creek broke the back of the Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley. Lincoln rode the momentum of Sheridan’s victories in the Valley and Sherman’s successes in Georgia to re-election. |
| Captured from the 131st NY on 19 Oct 1864 – |
- Gaffney, James – paroled, no date; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA
- Harman, Charles – no further record
- McDonald, Alexander – returned 12 May 1865; mustered out with company, 26 Jul 1865, Savannah, GA (specifies capture at Middletown)
- Murphy, John – paroled, no date; do
- Murrey, James – absent at muster-out of company
- Noll, Peter – paroled, no date; absent in Parole Camp, Annapolis, MD, same at muster-out of company
- Rickard, Michael – died 31 Jan 1865 at Salisbury Prison, NC
- Wall, James – paroled, no date; mustered out 6 Jun 1865, NYC
|
| At Morehead City and Newberne, NC |
| March-April 1865 |
Captured from the 131st NY in April 1865 at North Carolina (15 Apr = Same day as Lincoln Assassination) –
- Walters, Stephen – captured 13 Apr 1865 at Goldsboro, NC; released 22 Apr 1865 at Petersburg, VA; mustered out 28 Jun 1865, Annapolis, MD (probably from Camp Parole; unable to find abstract record; listed in roster)
- Miells, John – captured 15 Apr 1865 while on picket; paroled, no date; mustered out 24 Jun 1865, NYC (Supposed to have been hung)
- Rogerson, Dennis – do; do; mustered out 27 Jun 1865, Annapolis, MD (Supposed to have been hung)
|
The following month it moved to Savannah, Ga., and was there mustered out, under Col. Day, July 26, 1865. The regiment traveled over 10,000 miles by land and water and returned to the state with only 240 out of 1,000 men with which it entered the service. It lost by death 2 officers and 82 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded; 3 officers and 107 enlisted men died of disease and other causes; total deaths, 194.
A Closer Look at the Parole System
From The American Civil War Online:
Parole of Civil War Prisoners
Parole Oath, Confederacy, 1863
As bad as Civil War prisoner of war camps were in the first two years of the war, there was an important mitigating factor that reduced the suffering of captured soldiers to a great extent: the system of parole and exchange. When prisoners of war were captured in the field, instead of being transferred to a prison camp they were often issued a document called a “parole.” These paroled soldiers could return home or to a designated camp in their own side’s territory to wait until they were “exchanged”–traded for a paroled soldier on the other side. This arrangement ensured that captured soldiers could retain a large amount of freedom and the burden of their upkeep fell on their own side, which could feed, clothe, and care for their wounds with greater efficiency. Wounded soldiers that were captured were frequently exchanged via flag of truce steamboats along Virginia’s James River.
Parole of Honor, Union, 1863
The system worked reasonably well for the first two years of the war, but was highly dependent on trust that each side would hold up their end of the bargain. As the Confederacy grew increasingly short of fighting men, the was a strong incentive on the part of Confederate exchange commissioners to seek out reasons or excuses to argue that some violation of parole had occurred so that Southern paroled troops in Southern territory could be immediately returned to duty. Especially tempting to the South was the possibility of returning the 25,000 or so veteran troops that Pemberton surrendered at Vicks and Grant immediately paroled rather than shipping them to Northern prison camps. As Pemberton’s former troops began popping up in action before the Union recognized them as properly paroled, the Union began to lose faith in the system of parole and exchange.
Co. C, 76th U.S. Colored Infantry at Artillery Practice, Port Hudson, LA
Another factor that would contribute to the break down of parole and exchange was the determination on the part of Confederate leadership to treat captured Black soldiers and and their White officers differently than other Union troops captured in battle. Union Black troops captured by the Confederates were subject to execution or re-enslavement; their officers faced the possibility of being tried for inciting servile insurrection–a charge that carried the death penalty.
As the Confederacy began to return its paroled troops to the line before they were properly exchanged, and as Black troops suffered abuse and different treatment in Southern captivity, the system of parole and exchange that had saved so many lives in the first two years of the war began to break down.
On 23 Aug 1863, Confederate Major General Richard Taylor wrote to Union Major General Nathaniel P. Banks to dispute the status of certain prisoners he had released and threatening to consider the Confederates paroled at Vicksburg and Port Hudson as exchanged unless he was satisfied by Banks’ reply.
HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF WESTERN LOUISIANA,
August 23, 1863.
Major General N. P. BANKS,
Commanding U. S. Forces in Louisiana:
GENERAL: I have received your communication of the 17th instant notifying me that you have directed the immediate return to duty of all prisoners paroled by me during my recent occupation of the La Fourche country. You state generally that the paroles were in violation of exchange.
In the absence of any more specific statement from you I am at a loss to imagine in what particular the cartel of exchange has been violated by restoring these prisoners to their liberty upon the usual obligation not to bear arms against the Confederate States until regularly exchanged, after a careful observance of the forms requisite to give efficacy to the parole and in accordance with the practice repeatedly sanctioned and acted upon by both belligerents in this department. If under such circumstances your Government thinks proper to disapprove of the engagement thus solemnly made by these men, the common law and usages of war, as recognized by the Government of the United States in the rules in regard to paroles published by authority of its War Department, require their return and surrender as prisoners of war.
I shall expect, then, the return to me of all the captured men whose engagement has been disowned by the United States Government. Should this not be done, and the order you announce to me be persisted in, I have the honor to inform you that all the prisoners taken and paroled at Vicksburg and Port Hudson and now within the limits of my military district will be released from their paroles and ordered to duty.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. TAYLOR,
Major-General.
Let’s take a moment here to revisit the men captured from the 131st NY –
Twelve men were captured between Jun-Jul 1863, and all were paroled or exchanged fairly quickly.
Now if we go back and look at the twenty-eight men captured between 1864-5, there is a significant difference in the results of their capture. Many show as “no further record” or were left lingering in overcrowded Parole Camps. At least three died in Salisbury Prison.
Salisbury Prison, like Andersonville, was a horrendous place by the fall of 1864. Meant to hold no more than 2,000 men, Salisbury’s population soon reached 10,000. The death rate rose from 2% to 28%, and mass graves were used to accommodate the dead.
It’s important to note that the dreadful conditions of these prison camps was mainly due to lack of resources. It is not believed to have been caused by malice.
From The National Park Service – Governing body of the Andersonville National Historic Site:
Myth: General Ulysses S. Grant stopped the prisoner exchange, and is thus responsible for all of the suffering in Civil War prisons on both sides
Ulysses S. Grant
“It is hard on our men held in Southern prisons not to exchange them, but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. Every man we hold, when released on parole or otherwise, becomes an active soldier against us at once either directly or indirectly. If we commence a system of exchange which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have to fight on until the whole South is exterminated. If we hold those caught they amount to no more than dead men. At this particular time to release all rebel prisoners North would insure Sherman’s defeat and would compromise our safety here.” – General Ulysses S. Grant, August 18, 1864.
This quote from General Grant is often cited as evidence that he stopped prisoner exchanges and that he did it because of the callous arithmetic of the war – by stopping exchanges the Union armies could simply outlast the Confederates. His statement is so ingrained into the common interpretation of Civil War prisons that it was engraved on the Wirz Monument in the town of Andersonville. However, the prisoner exchange issue was far more complicated, and the timeline of exchanges does not support this notion that Grant stopped the prisoner exchange.
Abraham Lincoln
The prison exchange system, codified on July 22, 1862 by the Dix Hill Cartel, called for equal exchanges of all soldiers captured, and these soldiers could return to their units. The balance remaining after equal exchanges were to be paroled, and not to take up arms again until they were formally exchanged. Then in September of 1862, President Lincoln called for the enlistment of black soldiers into the Union Armies as part of the preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. In December 1862, President Davis responded by issuing a proclamation that neither captured black soldiers or their white officers would not be subject to the exchange. In January 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation became official and the United States began the active recruitment of black soldiers. The Lieber Codes, also known as General Order 100, were issued in April 1863 and stipulated that the United States government expected all prisoners to be treated equally, regardless of color. In May of 1863, the Confederate Congress passed a joint resolution that formalized Davis’s proclamation that black soldiers taken prisoner would not be subject to the prisoner exchange. In mid-July 1863 this became a reality, as several prisoners from the 54th Massachusetts were not exchanged with the rest of the white soldiers who participated in the assault on Fort Wagner. On July 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued General Orders 252, which effectively suspended the Dix-Hill Cartel until the Confederate forces agreed to treat black prisoners the same as white prisoners. The Confederate forces declined to do so at that time, and large scale prisoner exchanges largely ceased by August 1863, resulting in a dramatic increase in the prison populations on both sides.
Andersonville Prison
Part of the issue with attributing this breakdown in the exchange to General Grant is that in the summer of 1863 he was an army commander in the west and would have had little influence in the matter. He was not promoted to command of all union armies until the spring of 1864, well after the prison exchange had stopped and after prisoners had already begun arriving at Andersonville. Thus, blame for the breakdown cannot be placed on Grant, but on politicians from both sides who were unwilling to compromise their policies.
Grant’s statement needs to be placed in context. In the late summer of 1864, a year after the Dix-Hill Cartel was suspended; Confederate officials approached Union General Benjamin Butler, Union Commissioner of Exchange, about resuming the cartel and including the black prisoners. Butler contacted Grant for guidance on the issue, and Grant responded to Butler on August 18, 1864 with his now famous statement. In their conversation, Grant informed Butler that he approved an equal exchange of soldier for soldier, but did not approve of a full resumption of the Dix-Hill Cartel. His issue was with the cartel’s stipulation that the balance after equal exchanges were to be paroled and sent home to await formal exchange. Because by August 1864 the Union army held more Confederate prisoners, a resumption of the Dix-Hill Cartel would release thousands more Confederates than Union soldiers, and Grant felt that they were likely to violate their paroles and rejoin their units, while many of the Union prisoners’ enlistments had expired and were likely to go home. An agreement was not reached until the winter of 1864-1865, at which time large scale exchanges resumed.
Grant was not in command when the exchanges stopped, and when he made his statement on August 18, 1864, there were already more than 30,000 prisoners at Andersonville. The photographs taken of Andersonville Prison were taken several days before Grant made his statements, and even if exchanges were resumed in late August, Andersonville would still be the deadliest prison of the war with some 8,000 dead. It is therefore inaccurate to attribute the breakdown of the prisoner exchange and all of the sufferings of prisoners of war to a callous military directive by General Ulysses S. Grant. However, even though Grant was not responsible for the cessation of the Dix-Hill Cartel, he does bear a portion of the responsibility to the failure to resume the exchange. The United States government’s policy was to halt the cartel until the Confederacy agreed to include black prisoners. When the Confederacy finally agreed to do so after more than a year, Grant failed to fulfill the Union’s end of the agreement, and refused to fully resume the Dix-Hill Cartel as it existed in 1862-1863.
Note: do = ditto (or same as above)
SOURCES:
- Main Image (top): American Civil War Battlefield
- Civil War images – Library of Congress / Public Domain (unless otherwise noted)
- 131st Infantry N. Y. S. Vols. Reg., Marker and Roster – New York State Military Museum & Veterans Research Center
- Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 – National Archives
- One Hundred and Thirty-first New York Infantry – The Union army: a history of military affairs in the loyal states, 1861-65 – Vol. II, pages 144-5
- 131st Regiment, New York Infantry, Battle Unit Details; Myth: Ulysses S. Grant stopped the prisoner exchange – National Park Service
- Parole of Civil War Prisoners – The American Civil War online
- L.I. Newspaper articles, announcements, and transcribed snippets – Suffolk Historic Newspapers
- Salem Corwin & Charlotte L. Hulse family notes, c/o Brookhaven Town Historian
- United States Federal Census Records
- New York, State Census Records
- New York City, Deaths, 1892-1902
- New York, New York, Death Index, 1862-1948
- New York, Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900
- U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865
- U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865
- U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934
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