On Sunday, April 17, 1864 General Ulysses Grant ordered no further exchange of prisoners until the Confederates released an equal number of Union captives. In part his decision was based on charges of atrocities against black Union soldiers, as had reputedly just occurred at Fort Pillow, Tennessee. However, Grant realized that continuing the exchange system with the South worked to the Confederates’ advantage. Returning prisoners helped to replace the South’s battlefield losses; while stopping the exchange program potentially meant condemning thousands of Union prisoners in squalid camp conditions in the South, it would mean ending the war sooner and thus saving lives in the long run. Grant would resume prisoner exchanges in early 1865 only when his army was threatening Richmond and the outcome of the war was virtually assured.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.