Private Wilson Woods
This collection of letters regarding Private Wilson Woods, written between July 29 and September 2, 1864, explores the treatment of black soldiers captured by the Confederacy during the Civil War. Woods was injured in his calf and taken captive by the Confederacy. H. A. McCaleb, A Lieutenant- Colonel with the U.S. forces wrote to Col. William P. Hardeman of the Confederate Army inquiring about Woods’ treatment while in the hands of the Confederacy. Like many injured soldiers, Woods was at risk for death due to infection. McCaleb informs Hardeman, “those of your command who fell into our hands have had the best medical treatment. I shall expect this soldier to be held as a prisoner of war and treated as such” (McCaleb). Hardeman replied that Woods received the medical treatment available to captured soldiers, however, “negros are not considered prisoners of war,” he wrote further, that “When [Woods] is well if his owner lives in the Confederate lines he will be delivered to him, if not he will be held to slavery by the Government” (McCaleb). Besides execution, being enslaved was the most common treatment for captured black Union soldiers.
McCaleb informed Hardeman that “the government will, for every black soldier reduced to slavery, put a rebel soldier in like condition and will, for every violation of the usages of war respecting these men, exact ample retaliation” (McCaleb)This Order of Retaliation, which was issued by President Lincoln, was the practice employed when black soldiers were captured and re-enslaved or executed by the Confederacy. Hearing no response from Hardeman, McCaleb requests, “rebel soldier of same rank be turned over to [him]. To wear ball and chain and put at hard labor on fortifications on bread and water, at this Post, until positive information of the assassination of Wilson Woods can be obtained, at which time said Confederate Soldier to be executed,” reinforcing the practice that the Union expected equal treatment between black prisoners and white prisoners (McCaleb). Eventually, this practice led to the fall of prisoner exchange between the North and the South.
While we do not know what happened to Woods, we do know that an unnamed black soldier in his group was executed after capture, which was common for captured black soldiers.
Order of Retaliation and Corresponding Image
Lincoln’s Order of Retaliation, July 30, 1863, (Executive Order 252), states:
That for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war a rebel soldier shall be executed, and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works and continued at such labor until the other shall be released and receive the treatment due to a prisoner of war. (Lincoln)
Lincoln issued to address the unequal treatment between black and white prisoners in the South. Executed, enslaved, or forced into labor projects, black prisoners were treated as lesser than their white counterparts. Southerners considered black soldiers “stolen property” of the Confederacy, taken by the Union to fight. Southerners believed that enslaving black soldiers meant taking back their property. Therefore, if black soldiers were not executed they could be regularly beaten, or caused harm, with impunity.
This image (featured in Harper’s Weekly, a New York based newspaper) shows Jefferson Davis about to whip a black boy with a cat-o-nine-tails, and Lincoln holding a Con
federate soldier threatening to beat him. The caption states “Look here, Jeff. Davis! If you lay a finger on that boy, to hurt him, I’ll lick the Ugly Cub of yours within an inch of his life” (Kennedy). Lincoln, the dominating figure of the piece, looks calm, just, and in control. This image depicts his Executive Order that he would not beat the Confederate prisoner unless Davis whipped the Union prisoner. Davis looks cruel as if he has lost control of the black soldier, who is depicted as a child. The black soldier’s eyes are raised towards Lincoln, searching for protection. Harper’s Weekly, a Northern newspaper, portrays the Northern bias that ideally Lincoln was the protector of all powerless black prisoners held captive by the rebel army.
The Confederate soldier, held by Lincoln, is snarling at Davis, is clearly angered that his fate is now controlled by how his fellow Confederates treat a black man, an idea anathema to white Southern soldiers accustomed to abusing their black slaves. The Harper’s Weekly image provides us with a good illustration of the frustration the Order of Retaliation created in the South. That their treatment of black prisoners would dictate the treatment of their own rebel soldiers received at the hands of their Union captors was unthinkable to the Confederate Army leadership. Through this Order, Lincoln forced a cultural examination and change in how the South dealt with enslaved black soldiers.
Outcomes for Captured Black Soldiers
This first image is of an imprisoned man at Castle Pinckney in South Carolina. Black soldiers represented almost 80% of all Civil War executions. However, if imprisoned, they were much more likely than their while counterparts to survive in a camp. Black men, once imprisoned, were used as slaves and in some ways, were more valuable to their captors. This meant that the Confederacy gave them more food and better living conditions; by no means were they living in humane conditions, yet, they were less likely to starve to death or die of an infection like the other prisoners (Davis, 101).
This second photograph shows uniformed Union soldiers after being captured by the Confederacy. As members of The Bermuda Hundred, these men were considered “contraband” when captured. The seven men were former slaves and most likely returned to their previous masters. Other apprehended Black Union soldiers were enslaved. If they had previously been freemen, or their former masters could not be found, the men were given to the Confederate government as slaves to be used in southern prisons such as Andersonville.
This third image of a hanged man in a Union uniform was the most likely outcome for captured black Union soldiers. This man was a member of the 1st Kansas Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was overrun by Confederate troops on April 18, 1864. According to the National Parks Service, the entire troop was massacred; no prisoners were taken and almost twice as many men were killed as were wounded in that encounter (a Civil War rarity).
The Confederacy refused to be subjected to Lincoln’s Order of Retaliation (Executive Order 252). The Confederacy viewed black soldiers as contraband and should not be offered exchange for Confederate soldiers. This led to the end of prisoner exchanges in 1863 and the continued abuse of black prisoners and the Union’s mistreatment of their Confederate prisoners.The end of prisoner exchanges between the Union and the Confederacy led to overcrowding, starvation, disease, and the neglect of prisoners on both sides of the fight.
The Civil War Prison System 