, 1863-12-05
THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS,
important Statement from Major
General Hitchcock,

i 1
l Important Statement from Maj
General Hitchcock, '
3 Why. the, Exchange Of Prisone
/ was. Stopped---Rebel Sabter-
y fuges and Quibbling.
,. Major General Hitchcock has written
, important statement to the New York Tin
: On the subject Of the exchange Of prisoue,
which thiows rew light on the subject. {
J planning why the exchange was stopped a,
| revealing the rebel subterfugos.. After qut
J ing from JEFF: Davis message to the reb
States in January last, declaring it was to
his determination to deliYesr to the State a
thorities all commissioned officers captur.
within the States embraced by the Emancfp
tion Proclamation, and that the practice
the South Inns been in keeping with that d
c1aIntion. The writer says:
1t has been supposed, even in mapy parts
the North, that the proposition!of Iii. on,
of the 20th Of October, for IN exchange ,
prisoners Is fair, and ought to be accc6ted
but 1t does not appear to be considered th,
Mr.: onld has not proposed to yield TO us
certain plumber Of prisoners Of wnr.and =,
ceivc Ike number In return, which woul
be q most happy consummation TINT Woul
| be at once accepted by this Government. Bu
hts proposition Is that we shall deliver to hin
all OF the prisoners in our possession, amount
ing now to about q, 900 mon, and receive il
! return about IS, ,0o0 men, leaving about 81, 90
on parole not to take arms unless duIy ex
changed; and then what would Mr.. Ouid d,
with those men?
Judging by what le has actually recent1,
done, he would undoubtedly assume to dis
charge those men from all obligations undel
their parole, and put them into the field t.
tight against national troops, standing under
an unstained national flag-the very troops
who gallantly captured those men upor
bloody battle fields within the past 1fen
months. -.
ginning With the statement Of Mr., Ouid to
Gen. Meredith, officially communicated to me.
that he, Mr. Ou1d, would "proceed to make
declarations Of exchanges whenever he con.
scientiously felt the right so to do, for the
purpose Of putting men into the field ~ thus
openly setting aside the cartel andt tho laws
and usages OF war in favor Of his Individual
sense Of right-Which sense OF right, in Mr.
Ou1d, is SO obtuse and wild a. to Justify him
In making use Of "tabular statement" Of
alleged captures, principally IN the Western
States, amounting to over il, 600 men, q con
siderable portion of whom Were undoubtedly
captured BY guerilla parties, and were not
soldiers, but, for the most part, peaceable
friends Of the Union, who for that reason
were seized and compelled to make IN oath
not to take up arms against the Southern Com
fedcncy and this class Of persons Mr.. Ould
expects us to accept in exchange for rebel
troops, captured mostly ut Vicksburg, who,
having been paroled in the South, were Il do.
conference or understanding with our agent,
In violation Of the provisions Of the cartel.
and in violation Of tile usages OF war.
It must be borne in mind that the cartel
vas virtually abrogatcd by. the message Of
Mr.. Davis; not, indeed, as to its binding
character upon the South, for Mr. Davis had
no power under the laws Of war to abrogate
the provisious Of that instrument; but his
declared purposes, In violation of the cartel,
would have fully justified the United States
Government In declaring its provisions nun
and void willie, at the same time, the Gov
eminent has been at liberty to require its OBJ
seryance on the part Of the South.
I do not mean to deny, In the reference lust
made to the tabular statement prepared by
Mr. Ould, hnt that there were some men in
cluded In that statement who had been 1cgiti-
mately made prisoners Of war, though not de-
AVetea according to the cartel; but, for the
.npes patl, ne pIahonels mcl9uea IN that
sao1,a ~ haa ea4asns t we're not SCI Gown - hav-
al ~ ossA etEtulsu UPON any Known battle-
any known Federa! commander; nor arc they
reported as having been delivered to any Fed
eral commander; but they are.eet down as
= as.Ss p.eu sapt91ea ~ large in the state OF
sts4e n9 ,fa.nnessy noDooy Knows Mhere; or IN The
Wa.t ~ " in.5eee, sa3 u II otaeF states OF the
Instances tcv are ren5rad ~ 10 tGss inan tonr
captuled IN Aentueky aud Tennessce''-
tne tWo eta1es pe1ng s1us coupled together
u'aAtnX IL arnpossiote, from tho tabular state |
oasa.t mEas aaseL5 ~ uetelmtne HaeFe they were
ea!t,1rse, ,.pa+ mns'1sa, lnuesa any military
n Ehioisam,a "ele maae except few
y ~. SnlGkamanga, and possibly faW at one or
lw2 N} otnc5 PAGES.
,,,I - ouiu - Aele AgenI 1nder tbe cartel,
y ~ ~ nas no poHcs ocyond 1hose recognized !
ons, get ne has recently assumed to decide
" NJ; 1mpoffanI p IF. question, IN Which he under
na arole te Thoie ~ ~ sne nr;sGSa o. thelr
= = Porf Man py General Banks
~ ~, ~ " - uason, anu pafoieo oy Gen- Banks
.o.r1,sods ee'a' aseeement WILL tie rebel
Tha 1rus1i
,,e,d,fo, ~ ;nt ~, as tnose prisoners fell
4 tha snrr.,;a- rteg Past nas s oi aen. banks
Ranks tnI {ba x,n,rn. -. S@aH.A |
Sorth As naM !. ine ne power 70 send them to the
mt i,c naan ~ aAu ~ oeen ns pleasure to do soi
aH ~. ~ i4aae m agreement with the rebel
sYa.t"d y~14sa t. 70 Ieiease them on parole, and
h. onraaIs,t .nsa IL Aoone In conformity with
I liz h cuTtei suai1t for the cxchono. ~
~ wy tmo pisces 1or their delivery, ,towit:
=, T.. ~. nit.9 IN Sames h1Fef, and vicksburgh
= .1 tae ~ MMlss1ssipP1; but IT provided also, that
,,s,,asin4 Sinsr 81 these places should become
~, .alaoic y INC c3lgenc1cs or War for the |
snrsai ". ~ min;ops1s, mn p. otnef points might be
~ III. IT,. oy .ns commanders In the
ia1 s,,.-..i' "as P[eElse!y "nat happened.
ararat eSaalRn Iia'tns Aalen INTO, the hands of
naSaiiaS1a c Htan., Maa, " lnat extgencJ, become
,1d;ar. n, !9t % .he %uenFslJ OF captured rebel
49, ., auG nneu, subsequently, Genernl
nd 7,r;eannra .ntU pgssesslon @ O. several thou
y nf Po1t H1d:on ,uG he a1eoaa1aonal o9 snrren.
ith The rehei GensrcI IL carana. Al agreement
puf9rr fn Ie1ivcr S;s ,,-isae.' .as.' aeir COM
obfie. and dii So, ' t'4eoue'@ VI parole at
Mr. ou1d, without any proper authority {
nateveT, assumed to write letter on the {
IN OF october last, copy of which he has | !
! ! furnished as, but which has been pub I
neg IN hichmond newspaper, in which +
attempts TO release all Of those prisoners /
IN op1gat1ons under their parole. because, i
Ae 9hdertakes to decide, they were not de. =
eieu az Places named In the cartel, when ! a
!, / carte! Itself provides for other places Of G
uFeFy 1Aan those expressly named In the :,
.el, Nneh rendered necessary By the ext-
lies ~ q war. N the meantime, however,
'csf 1not oe doubted that the body Of men In II
a;r ,;a 4aFe peeq put Into the field to fight
ntnr1.p "a saeiat .1oops, ~ Whom they were K