"There is an oft repeated over simplification in regard to prisoner handling during the later stages of the Civil War. I'm sure you've heard or read that the Federals, specifically Lieutenant-General U.S. Grant, ceased all prisoner exchanges (which thus, in some jaded eyes, lead directly to the horrors of Andersonville). However, it is not the case that no exchanges took place. As any student of the war will quickly realize, exchange activity continued through the war. Some limited exchanges, such as the "original fifty" at Charleston. In other cases, the exchanges were larger in scope, such as that between Generals Sherman and Hood after the fall of Atlanta.
However, a significant difference emerged through 1864 on this matter. More and more the discussion of exchanges, as well as prisoner handling in general, became an instrument of war into itself. Today, we might call this "Strategic Communication" while other generations would identify elements of propaganda. No matter how you label it, both sides used the prisoners as a token at play on the chess board. The status of prisoners, be that at Charleston, Andersonville, or Fort Delaware, was offered to the general public to solidify support while disparaging the other side (North or South).
Appearing somewhat anachronistic in that light, the military authorities continued to rely upon regulations and policies for prisoner handling. The discussion was tense, but practice had to comply with conventions. Such was the case on September 23, 1864. Earlier in the month, Confederates had released several Federal surgeons, medical personnel, and chaplains under the conventions of the time for non-combatants. Upon receiving the list of those to be exchanged, Major-General John Foster identified some of these men properly as combatants who's status was mistaken (by no part of deception on anyone's part). To demonstrate good faith, Foster suggested his Confederate counterpart, Major-General Samuel Jones, accept five privates as part of the exchange…"
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Armand
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