Abstract:
Prisoner exchanges were a common part of military strategy during the Civil War. In 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant halted prisoner exchanges in an attempt to subdue the South, but in 1865, allowed prisoner transactions to resume. Wilmington, North Carolina was chosen as the site to release Union prisoners. History professor and author, Chris Fonvielle, addresses a number of questions about this exchange, including why Wilmington was chosen site and what the North Carolina public and political response was to the prisoner exchange.