The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1880-12-23
III this Mr.. Richardson shows very

All this Mr.. Richardson shows very
well. but he exercises after all in re-
gard Il the government of the prison,
and the condition of the prisoners,
charity which is so gentous that 1t tips
the scale beyond the limits of justice.
We cannot here follow his minute
and studied argument in these respects.
A.the writer SAYS. tine South pursues
a difficult defensive The You re an
other phase of the defense, offsetting
the lot of the Confederate prisoners IN
Northern prisons. is their most forcl-
bic answer it is not properly a defense
but il shows that the barbarities o.
war were not all on one side.
The whole strength of ;he South, in
6ne, rests Oh The position of the fede-
raj government regarding exchanges.
There seems. in view of NJ. Richard
sons careful examination. 40 escape
from the conclusion that the matter
was Intentionally made difficult of ad-
justment. The Confederate authori-
ties e~ndeavorei tu restore the old car
tel the federal, fenced with them, of
fering to exchange man for man until
Gen. Butler. the most obnoxious agent
possible. was selected to negotiate on
the Plan of full exchange of man for
man and full equality o. the negro pII.-
oners. Then ticn. Grant began his
campaign OF le64, telling Butler mot
to let the Con'ederates have another
able bodied man under any c'rcumstan-
ces." Mr.. Richardson thinks that
Grant expected to finish up the war in
quick time. an. that if this achieve
ments had been equal 10 his expecta-
tons, the climax Of tragedy at Ander-
~sonville would not have been reached.
The climax came in August, l,64,
when the Confederate government re-
ceived from special agent a report on
condition of the prison at Anderson
Vile, which the Adjutant-General in
dOrsed, in passing it to the Secretary
of War, as "a reproach TO u. as : ma
ton" Jefferson Davis plea that he
never heard of this report until 1876 IS
not and never can be accepted, though
Mr.. Richardson does not dispute IL. 1t
was followed, at ali events, by a most
earnest effort on the part of Judge Ould
to make an exchange Of prisoners on
The basis of exchange of man for man,
practically giving up all previous re
.trictions or the part of the Contedc-
racy. Mr.. Guild pressed the matter per
.istently, and the only answer he re-
ceIved was proCrastinary and evaslve.
Following this came an appea! from
the sergents at Andersonyille, and
then q letter from General Stoneman
and 1.SO0 officers at Charleston, ask
ing that the lives OF the privates at
A~ndersOnville might be saved by i'm
mediate exchange, waving the rights
of the negro prisoners which were
scarcely more than theoretical in this
matter. These appeal. we.e not heed
ed, and the Democratic conven-
ton that nominated Mcclellan made
an issue of them, which of course, was
ineffective. The fact is patent that IAN
exchange would have been a gratui-
Gus Strengthening of the armies OF the
Confederacy,' but thi. was not avowed.
Then finally general Butler was appoip-
ted to write a%letteT, singing the South
IN every line, declaring that by the
Southern acceptance of rhe proposed
even terms of exchange, the United
StdlCS LAdSl uuiCi Sidut tih all Z piN
sious acts discriminating against the
negro soldier were abrogated, yet only
conceding that this would remove .
~''principal difficulty AS Mr. Rich
Richardson says: The l%etteri. a mas
terly execution Of the task proposed
for it made the exchange impossible,
and gave asa ground upon which we
could stand.'' yet an equal amount of
strategy differently directed could have
released every prisoner, negroes inclu-
ded. In short. the United States gov
eminent was, says Richardson, respon
sibie for the failure of exchanges in
the last year OF the war, the year in
which the dread mortality of the pris-
Ons occurred and it became so solely
as a matter OF military policy. 1t 10 a
fearful feature of war that party
to it can, at times. choose wheth-
er ii will lose soldier. by privation apd
disease in an enemy's prisons. or in the
march and on the field before an enc
mys armed attacks.