The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1863-12-04
The Exchange of Prisoners.


ious to embarrass the Government than to have
justice done to the rebels, have for some time
past been clamoring against the Administration
for not coming to some understanding with the
rebels, by whchIour prisoners in the rebel dun
geons can be released, we give below an extract
from recent letter of Major. General Hitch
cock showing what is the real reason why the
exchange of prisoners is stopped. General
Hitchcock says:
1t has been supposed, even in many parts of
the North, that the proposition of Mr.. Ould, of
the 10Th of October, for an exchange of pris-
oners, is fair, and ought to be accepted but it
does not appear to be considered that Mr.. Ould
has not proposed to yield to us certain num-
Der of prisoners Of war, and receive like num-
Der in return, which would be q most happy
consummation that would be at once accepted
by this Government But bis proposition is
that we shall deliver to him all of the prisoners
in our possession, amounting now to about 49,
900 men, and receive in return about 5000
men, leaving about q 900 men, who might, for
few days, be considered on parole not to take
arms unless duly exchanged and then what
would MIR. Ould do with these men
done he would undoubtedly assume to discharge
those men from all obligations under parole,
and put them into the field to fight against the
national troops, standing under an unstained
national fag-the very troops who gallantly
captured those men upon bloody battle fields,
within the past few months.
To show the extreme probability of this it is
only necessary to refer to Il few facts, beginning
with the statement of Mr.. Ould to Gen, Mere.
dith, officially communicated to me, that be,
Mr. Oud, would proceed to make declarations
of exchanges whenever he consc;entiously felt
the right 10 do so, for the purpose of putting
men into the field " thus openly setting aside
the cartel and the laws and usages Of wor in
his individual sense of right-whlch sense of
right in Mr.. Ould, is 80 obtuse and wild as to
justify him in making use of " tabular state
ment OF alleged captures, principally in the
Western States, amounting 10 over Is, COG men,
considerable portion OF whom were updoubt-
eddy captured by guerrilla parties, and were not
soldiers, but, Tor the most part peaceable citi-
xens of the country, probably known as friends
to the Uuion, who for that reason were seized
and compelled to take an oath not to take arms
against the Southern Coniederacy and this
class of persons Mr. Ould expects us to accept
in exchange for rebel troops, captured mostly
at Vcksburg, who, having been paroled in the
South, were I" declared exchanged by Mr.
Ould, without any conference or understanding
with our agent in violation of the provisions OF
the cartel and in violation OF the uSages of war
The letter also makes this statement:
" General Meredith, for the purpose of with
drawing our suffering prisoners from Richmond,
distinctly proposed TO Mr. Ould that he would
send him II 600 or more Confederate prisoners,
as many as he might hold Of our men, and re-
celve IN return our PRISONERS held IN The South
which proposition Mr.. Ould refused to accept
but said that he would agree to general ex-
change; the effect of which would undoubted y
be to cancel the excess of prisoners in our hand.
by delivery of about 40, 900 for about $4,000
to lave the rebel authorities the entire DISPOSE
ton of such colored troops and their white off
GERS as they might capture"
I" 1t should be stated also that an offer was
made to the rebel agent some days ago to receive
al of the prisoners from Richmond under sol
emn pledge that they should not be allow &c
to take arms unless duly exchanged with tn,
CONSENT of the re!el autho rites, without refer
ence to existing difficulties on the subject of OK
change; and that this Government would pedg,
itself to both feed and cothe all rebel prisoners
in our hands"
twill be readily seen from these statements
OF General Hitchcock, which party is in fault il
the refusal to exchange prisoners.
The rebels, with u fenGish cruelty born of thei
inhsman and brutal institution of Slavery, no
only refuse to exchange soldier for soldier, an,
officer for officer, but in order to compel oul
Government, through its sympathy with its suf
fering soldiers in rebel dungeons, to release al
rebel prisoners in its hands on parole, as un
questionablyi resorting to the slow torture o
starvation, in their treatment of the unfortun4t
Union Soldiers now languishing and dying il
Confederate dungeons. Summers startling des
cription of the barbarism of slavery, had no col
or 80 dark and deviish, as this new disclosu =,
OF tho horrible treatment Of prisoners of wal
by the shareholders. But tho crime of slave
holding leads legitimately and irresistably to al
other crimes, and conjures to its aid the fiend
OF murder, haogings, burnings and starvation
to do its terrible work Of destruction. And yet il
the face of these shocking disclosures of tn,
abandoned wickedne ss Of treason, and the s,ut
led cruelty of slaveholding civilization. Their
are northern men who can apologize for the on,
and declare that the other is founded on the e,
erlasting rock of divine and infinite trutl
justice and mercy