CR.. HO T 
 
 Cm/ 
 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 (Report of the 
 Conf Pam #433 
 
' HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Nov. 25, 1864.— Laid m 
 the table and ordered to be printed. 
 
 [By the Chair.] 
 
 MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT, 
 
 In response to a resolution of the House, of the 8th instant, relative to the 
 special exchange of prisoners of war. 
 
 Richmond, Va., Nov. 24, 1864. 
 To the House of Representatives : 
 
 In response to your resolution of the 8th instant, I herewith trans- 
 mit a communication from the Secretary of war, relative to the special 
 exchange of prisoners of war by the Commissioner of Exchancje. 
 
 JEFFERSON DAVIS. 
 
 COMMUNICATION FROM SECRETARY OF WAR. 
 
 War Department, C. S. A., ) 
 Richmond, Nov. 21, 1864. $ 
 
 7^ the President of the Confederate States .* 
 
 Sir : I have received a copy of the following resolution of the 
 House of Representatives, referred by your Excellency to this De- 
 partment : 
 
 ♦* Resolved, That the Presi<lent be respectfully requested, if not 
 incompatible with the public interest, to cause to be furnished this 
 House with the names of all persons specially exchanged by the 
 Commissioner of Exchange of prisoners ; also, the time of their cap- 
 ture and date of exchange." 
 
 In resp'jnso, I have the honor to transmit herewith a report from 
 the Agent of Exchange upon the points presented in the resolution of 
 the House. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 JAMES A. SEDDON, 
 
 Secretary of War, 
 
REPORT OF THE AGENT OF EXCHANGE. 
 
 Richmond, Va., Nov. 18, 1864. 
 
 Hon. James A. Seddon, 
 
 Secretary of War : 
 
 Sir : In the matter of the accompanying redolution of tte House 
 of Representatives, I have the honor to make the following report: 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1864, in my report detailing the 
 operations of the Exchange Bureau, I used the follovring language 
 in relation to special exchanges, to wit : 
 
 "An error respecting special exchanges seems to prevail, both 
 amongst our people and captive soldiers. The Federal authorities, 
 with a malignity congenial to them, in the hope of causing irritation 
 on the part of our prisoners toAvarda their Government, have basely 
 and falsely represented to them that special exchanges are being 
 constantly proposed by us. A long time ago I communicated to you 
 the many grave objections to any such system. My views met your 
 entire approval, and I have, accordingly, constantly refrained from 
 making special exchanges, though frequently urged to do so. The 
 officers atid soldiers delivered to us were in all cases selected by the 
 enemy, and those of theirs who were sent in return were designated 
 by us. This was not a system of special exchange in any sense of 
 the term. If the oflicers and soldiers sent to us had been specially- 
 asked for, or if their return had been caused by any special action of 
 the Confederate authorities in their individual cases, there would have 
 been ground for the belief that special exchanges were being made. 
 The efforts' of the Government have been directed to the release of 
 all our prisoners without any discrimination in favor of particular 
 persons. To have pursued any other plan would not only have 
 showed partiality and favoritism where all have tried to do their 
 duty faithfully, but would have given to the enemy the opportunity 
 of making selections from their own prisoners in our hands to 
 such an extent as would have precluded all hope of a general ex- 
 change. With very rare exceptions, I have never knoY»'n what 
 officers or men were on the flag of truce boat until 1 visited it. Under 
 your iustructions, all of our prisoners have been considered as occu- 
 pying the same position, and each one on his return has been 
 received with as much welcome as any other. I repeat, therefore, 
 that no special efforts have been used to secure the release or 
 exchange of particular persons, and every line of policy which would 
 put any one of our prisoners in a more favorable position than that 
 occupied by the others, has been carefully avoided. The published 
 correspondence of this office shows the entire readiness of our Gov- 
 ernment to return an equivalent for any Confederate officer or sol- 
 dier sent within our lines. Who that equivalent shall be, we have 
 

 reserved the right to determine, and when the selection is made and 
 the party delivered to the Federal authorities, it is simply the return 
 of an equivalent and not a special exchange. To refuse to return 
 the equivalent, would he to doom our officer or soldier to hopeless 
 captivity after liberty fiad dawned upon him." 
 
 In addition to the foregoing, I beg leave to state that I have been 
 frequently importuned to procure the release of particular individuals 
 amongst our prisoners at the North, by proposing to the enemy their 
 exchange for any persons of their rank who might be designated by 
 them. I have refused to do so in any case, for two good reasons. 
 First, it made a discrimination amongst our prisoners. The enemy 
 holding an excess of officers, such a rule, even if all the Federal offi- 
 cers in our possession had been sent North, would hare left a large 
 number of our people in prison. Those who were not selected, and 
 their friends at home, would have had just cause of complaint against 
 their Government for thus leaving them in the hands of the enemy, 
 while others, with no better claims, had been selected for restoration 
 to liberty. Secondly, such a proceeding would have enabled the 
 enemy, in a very short time, to secure the release of buch parties as 
 they were anxious to relieve from captivity, and for whom strenuous 
 efforts had been made by influential friends. If the enemy in this 
 way had secured the release of some two or three hundred of their 
 people, they would have cared very little about the fate of the others, 
 and thus a general exchange would have been made hopeless. 
 
 For the same reasons, I have constantly refused to send Federal 
 prisoners North on their parole to secure the release of specially 
 named parties. I have, in some cases, even refused to recognize the 
 special paroles of some Confederate officers who were sent home to 
 secure the release of some particular Federal prisoner. In one case 
 the Confederate officer was sent back into captivity. In others I 
 have refused to send the designated Federal officer, and given some 
 other equivalent. The Federal authorities perceiving our resolution 
 in this respect, have for some time past refrained from giving such 
 paroles. 
 
 Whilst I have ignored special exchanges, I have taken every means 
 in my power to notify our prisoners at the North that we were not 
 only anxious for their release, but were ready at all times to give an 
 equivalent for any officer or soldier delivered to us, and at the time 
 of his delivery. The only exceptions that I am aware of to the 
 course herein indicated, have been the cases of the exchange of Brig- 
 adier General Kemper for Brigadier General Graham, in September, 
 1863, and Major Thomas D. Armesy for Major E, Gotf, some three 
 months ago. The first was proposed by the enemy and accepted because 
 it convicted the Federal Secretary of War, before his own people, of 
 gross falsehood, and in the other case the parties had been respectively 
 placed in close confinement and in irons, one in retaliation for the 
 other. Brigadier General Kemper was captured in July, 1863, and 
 Majcr Armesy early in 1S6S. I further state that in cases of retalia- 
 tion, where parties on both sides have been placed in close confine- 
 ment or in irons, I have oftered to make an exchange one for the other. 
 
It was on this principle that Major Armesy was exchanged for Major 
 Goff. I trust the exception of this class of cases from the general 
 rule will find its excuse in the release from torture of those true and 
 faithful men, who have served their country so well as to call down 
 the special vengeance of our foe. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 RO. OULD, 
 Agent of Exchange. 
 
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