"ALL PRISONERS IN THE SOUTH WILL BE RELEASED AS RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE": RARE AND EXTRAORDINARY SIGNED THREE-PAGE AUTOGRAPH LETTER WRITTEN ENTIRELY IN ULYSSES S. GRANT'S HAND DISCUSSING THE RELEASE OF UNION SOLDERS IN CONFEDERATE PRISONS WRITTEN JUST BEFORE THE END OF THE OF THE CIVIL WAR
GRANT, Ulysses S. Autograph letter signed. City Point, Virginia, March 1, 1865. Single sheet of lined stationery, measuring 5 by 8 inches; pp. 3. Mounted at the top edge on card, entire piece measures 6 by 9-1/2 inches.
Most exceptional three-page autograph letter written by General Ulysses S. Grant discussing the logistics for the release of Civil War POWs and giving specific details about the release of Union soldiers in Confederate prisons, signed by Grant.
Written on lined "Headquarters Armies of the United States" stationery, the three-page letter reads, in full: "City Point, Va. March 1st 1865, Dear ———, Immediately in the receipt of your letter on the 27th —-. I instructed the Apt. Agt. of Ex. to make an effort to get young Whiting released at once. If he is where Richmond authorities can reach him I have no doubt about his immediate release. Under any circumstance all prisoners in the South will be released as rapidly as possible. To facilitate this matter I have agreed to receive our prisoners at Wilmington, Mobile, on the Mis. River and at Eastport, Mis. The Rebel Agt. of Exchange was glad to avail himself of this opportunity and immediately sent out orders to all prisoners in the South to deliver their charges at the most convenient of the above places. I think you need not entertain any fears about the early release of your nephew. Yours Truly. U.S. Grant. Lt. Gen." This letter is of particular interest due to its subject: the release of Civil War prisoners. During the Civil War, great controversy arose with respect to Grant and prisoner exchanges. Many believed him to be an obstructionist and accused him of keeping Union soldiers imprisoned in places such as the horrific Andersonville prison due to his alleged refusal to negotiate with the Confederacy. Strategically, Grant recognized that a captured Southern soldier took a fighting man off the battlefield and effectively rendered him a "dead soldier." Any exchange for his release simply resulted in more real dead Northern soldiers. While the policy of disallowing exchanges was unpopular, Grant realized that continually letting Southern prisoners go stood to strengthen Southern forces and prolong the war. Yet, this was not the entirety of Grant's justification. There was an active prisoner exchange system codified by the Dix Hill Cartel that began in July of 1862. Initially, black soldiers and their officers—while subject to the Emancipation Proclamation—were not included in the exchanges and could see their fellow soldiers paroled without them. Lincoln was displeased and issued General Orders 252 calling for equal treatment in exchanges and suspending Dix Hill. Large scale prisoner exchanges ceased, while small exchanges continued. Grant, in the West, had little involvement. In 1864, Grant finally did have power and it was then that he took a definitive stand on prisoner exchanges. In clear and concise words, he backed what Lincoln had already set in law. In a bold letter, Grant cut off prisoner exchanges in April of 1864 when the Confederacy refused to grant equal 1:1 exchanges in two particular cases: prisoners captured and paroled at Vicksburg and Port Hudson and black prisoners. In August, he once again held the line, realizing that Confederate prisoners vastly outnumbered Union soldiers and that most Union soldiers had completed their terms of enlistment. The date of this letter, thus, is particularly meaningful. It was written precisely as the Union was feeling relatively certain that the war had been won. Grant clearly felt he had more to gain from a prisoner exchange than he had to lose, even with the South bolstered by returning troops. With the South a mere month from surrender, he was obviously correct. Tiny blindstamp.
Fine condition.