Prisoners of War

Prisoners of War

Prisoners of War
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 8 to 10
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.52

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		parolee, stockade, overtax, well-equipped, determined, rejoining, better, unsanitary, saying, ventilation, latrine, exposure, swampy, prisoner, arrival, minimal
	content words:		Civil War, Dix-Hill Cartel, Union Secretary, War Edwin Stanton, New York, President Davis

Print Prisoners of War
edHelper.com subscriber options:

	Print Prisoners of War (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)
	Quickly print reading comprehension
	Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on Prisoners of War

Leave your feedback on Prisoners of War (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Prisoners of War
By Mary Lynn Bushong

¹     When the Civil War began, there was no real need to build prison camps. Prisoners were exchanged right after the battle was over or within days after the fact. One private was traded for another, a general for a general, and so on. If there were not enough men of a certain rank to exchange, they could be paroled instead. The specific rules for this were worked out in the July 1862 Dix-Hill Cartel. A parolee was under promise not to return to the battle until the right number of men had been exchanged to even the balance.

²     The Dix-Hill Cartel soon failed due to several problems. The Confederate government refused to exchange black prisoners, saying they would be treated as runaway slaves. Also, many Southern parolees did not honor the agreement. They quickly returned to duty, which is what happened after Vicksburg.

³     An interesting pattern began to develop regarding exchanged prisoners. Those from the Union often went home after being exchanged. Those from the South often went back to their units to continue fighting. They were in it for the long haul, and their experience made them more valuable.

⁴     Union Secretary of War Edwin Stanton decided in October 1862, that prisoner exchanges would stop. The Federal government was well aware that the Confederacy had limited resources, and if the North couldn't win on the battlefield, they would do it through depletion. By forcing the South to house, feed, and guard prisoners, they could use up valuable resources.

⁵     Soon prison camps were springing up all over the North and South. Some of the prisons were fortifications, but most were former jails, altered buildings, fenced barracks, and open stockades. Many of the converted buildings in the South were tobacco warehouses and factories. They often had poor ventilation and minimal facilities. Andrew's Raiders were kept in similar buildings at the start of the war before being exchanged.

Paragraphs 6 to 12:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Copyright © 2008 edHelper