Prisoners-of-war exchange system during the Civil War in 1861–1862

Łukasz Niewiński - Uniwersytet w BiałymstokuThe beginning of the Civil War gave rise to the problem of a recognition of the Confederated States of America as a belligerent. Such a recognition could result from governmental activities aiming at the suppression of the uprising. An exchange of prisoners-of-war is one of the most important of these activities. From the very beginning of the conflict Abraham Lincoln's administration maintained that the exchange of prisoners-of- war with the South should not take place. At the end of 1861 both governments started informal negotiations concerning this issue. Two victorious for the Union battles - of Henry and Donelson forts - led to a suspension of talks on February 22, 1862. The negotiations were resumed on July 22, 1862 in Haxall's Landing on the river James, Virginia, where a cartel stating general conditions of the prisoner-of-war exchange was signed. Both negotiators - General Major John A. Dix (on the side of the Union) and General Major Daniel H. Hill (on the side of the Confederacy) - were authorised by their governments to settle such an agreement - called the 'Dix-Hill Cartel'. After over a year of the conflict both sides could finally exchange prisoners-of-war.7517