Union POW parole

[BigCity]

If a Union soldier POW was paroled at Wilmington, NC, is there a way of finding out what prison he was held at?

 

[Gary Morgan]

Check his "Memorandum from Prisoner of War Records" form at the end of his Compiled Military Service Record (available through the National Archives). It should list all of the places a soldier was held.

 

[BigCity]

Thanks Gary!

 

[Allyn]

The Memorandum for my family's POW is fairly clear in indicating where he was and where he went while being paroled; the problem is the slightly confusing muster rolls after his parole. The poor young man, who was not in good shape, must have been further exhausted going hither and yon in the months after his release. I think I can make sense of the muster rolls, but feel free to make corrections if there is something I have misunderstood.

MEMORANDUM FROM PRISONER OF WAR RECORDS
Conrad, David C., Private, 12th Penna. Cav., Co. L
Captured at Charlestown, VA, Nov. 29, 1864, brot. from Staunton, VA and confined at Richmond, VA, Dec. 7, 1864; born in US
Paroled at Richmond, VA, Crew [and Pemberton Prison], Feby. 15, 1865; reported at C.G.B. [College Green Barracks], Md., Feby. 17, 1865
Sent to Camp Parole, Md., Feby. 18, 1865, where he arrived the same day.
Granted 30 days' furlough on 4 March

Company Muster-Out Roll
Age 18 years, Harper's Ferry, VA, March 11, 1865
Remarks: Taken prisoner Nov. 29, 1864, at Charlestown, VA, while on picket
[should have been heading home at this point]

Company Muster Roll
March and April 1865, Absent – Prisoner of War since November 29, 1864
[should have been on furlough home until early April - why listed as absent rather than furloughed?]

Detachment Muster Roll, Paroled Prisoner
for March and April 1865, Camp Parole, Annapolis, Md., present or absent – not stated
[should have been on furlough for part of this time]

Company Muster Roll
for May and June 1865, Present, stoppage $32 paid at Camp Parole
[apparently had returned to Camp Parole after furlough]

Company Muster-Out Roll
Age 19 years, Winchester, VA, July 20, 1865
Has been on prisoner of war ---- Novemb. 29, 1864 to Feby. 16, 1865

Any thoughts?

 

[Gary Morgan]

The Memorandum for my family's POW is fairly clear in indicating where he was and where he went while being paroled; the problem is the slightly confusing muster rolls after his parole. The poor young man, who was not in good shape, must have been further exhausted going hither and yon in the months after his release. I think I can make sense of the muster rolls, but feel free to make corrections if there is something I have misunderstood.

MEMORANDUM FROM PRISONER OF WAR RECORDS
Conrad, David C., Private, 12th Penna. Cav., Co. L
Captured at Charlestown, VA, Nov. 29, 1864, brot. from Staunton, VA and confined at Richmond, VA, Dec. 7, 1864; born in US
Paroled at Richmond, VA, Crew [and Pemberton Prison], Feby. 15, 1865; reported at C.G.B. [College Green Barracks], Md., Feby. 17, 1865
Sent to Camp Parole, Md., Feby. 18, 1865, where he arrived the same day.
Granted 30 days' furlough on 4 March

Company Muster-Out Roll
Age 18 years, Harper's Ferry, VA, March 11, 1865
Remarks: Taken prisoner Nov. 29, 1864, at Charlestown, VA, while on picket
[should have been heading home at this point]

Company Muster Roll
March and April 1865, Absent – Prisoner of War since November 29, 1864
[should have been on furlough home until early April - why listed as absent rather than furloughed?]

Detachment Muster Roll, Paroled Prisoner
for March and April 1865, Camp Parole, Annapolis, Md., present or absent – not stated
[should have been on furlough for part of this time]

Company Muster Roll
for May and June 1865, Present, stoppage $32 paid at Camp Parole
[apparently had returned to Camp Parole after furlough]

Company Muster-Out Roll
Age 19 years, Winchester, VA, July 20, 1865
Has been on prisoner of war ---- Novemb. 29, 1864 to Feby. 16, 1865

Any thoughts?

Yeah. If a POW came back, he was expected to return to his regiment if his enlistment was not up. Sometimes they'd give him a 30 day furlough if he was in rough shape, but after that, he was expected to rejoin the Union Army to finish out his term.

Your guy was captured in November, paroled - but not exchanged, since at this point the South just wanted the prisoners out of the south, since they were pretty much out of resources and didn't want to have to wait for the North to come up with the individual men of equal rank to make 1:1 exchanges - on Feb. 15th and arrived at Camp Parole on Feb. 18th. Most of the prisoners in the Eastern Confederate prisons were sent there and held there until they could figure out their enlistment status and where their regiments were. Some were also held there for medical treatment until they were healthy enough to travel, be it to home or back to the war. He was given a furlough, at which time he likely traveled back home to regain his strength, but he was expected to return when his 30 days were up (side note - the Federal government would give him the money for a ticket home, but would deduct it from his pay).

The 12th Penn Cav was guarding the railroads from Harper's Ferry to Winchester until March, 1865. After that, it looks like they were on the move. The Muster Roll was kept by the regiment, so it is quite probable that they did not know Conrad's current status or location, and since he was not present with the 12th PA Cav, they continued to mark him as a POW because they didn't know that he'd been turned over to the North, and that's why he's absent as a POW on the muster roll for March and April. Muster rolls were recorded every two months, and by May/June he was back with the regiment ("Present") by way of Camp Parole, where $32 of his pay was deducted, likely for the cost of his transportation home, but also probably because they were charging him for any equipment that he may have had on his when he was captured.

It looks like he returned to the regiment (likely in April) and so he finished the War with his regiment ("Present"), likely mustering out with the rest of his regiment in July, 1865.

Hope this helps!

 

[Allyn]

Thanks bunches! That clears up a couple of things that just didn't make sense about the muster rolls. Looks like he was one of the honorable ones who went back to Camp Parole after his furlough, and stayed there until he got reunited with his regiment. (Although the parole camps didn't sound like great places to be, per Rebecca Morris' A Low, Dirty Place: The Parole Campus of Annapolis, MD, 1862-1865).

I suppose the "equipment" he lost when captured at Charlestown might have included his horse, although it was noted that most of the horses in camp at that time were old nags.

 

[Gary Morgan]

Thanks bunches! That clears up a couple of things that just didn't make sense about the muster rolls. Looks like he was one of the honorable ones who went back to Camp Parole after his furlough, and stayed there until he got reunited with his regiment. (Although the parole camps didn't sound like great places to be, per Rebecca Morris' A Low, Dirty Place: The Parole Campus of Annapolis, MD, 1862-1865).

I suppose the "equipment" he lost when captured at Charlestown might have included his horse, although it was noted that most of the horses in camp at that time were old nags.

You're welcome. I met Rebecca Morris a few years ago at a symposium and sat with her at lunch (I think I may have freaked her out a bit when my friend and I started talking about ghost stories out of Andersonville Prison). Camp Parole had an interesting history, and if I recall correctly, by 1864/5, Camp Parole was on its third location. The first one had to be moved because the guys who were there kept wondering off and making a nuisance of themselves in the nearby town after heading to the local bars. Apparently the townspeople objected to this. Can't say that I blame them.

The horse may well be what his pay was docked for, even if it was a "nag." If the horses belonged to the cavalry, the army would have set the value of it. (In the Confederate Cavalry, if you supplied your own horse, you got a boost in your pay.)