How did prisoner exchanges and paroles work?
Prisoner exchanges were a way for captors to avoid the responsibility and burden of guarding, housing, feeding, clothing, and providing medical care for POW’s. Exchange of prisoners began with informal agreements between the commanders of the armies after particular battles, but the practice was codified by a cartel between the USA and CSA in July 1862. The cartel was suspended by the US in May 1863, but individual commanders again arranged exchanges and paroles until the US called a halt to all exchanges in early 1864. When the CSA agreed to correct some irregularities in its earlier exchanges, and when it agreed to treat captured black troops equally with whites, the 1862 cartel was again put into operation in early 1865. Commissioners of exchange were appointed by each government, and they exchanged and compared lists and computed how many on each side were to be exchanged.
