The men of the seven companies of the 40TH Ala. Inf. Regt. that were captured on 04 July 1863 at Vicksburg, Mississippi were paroled at Vicksburg, except for those in hospitals, on 09 July. The Vicksburg troops then were marched away with only their personal belongings, i.e. canteens, haversacks, blankets, knapsacks, officers only being allowed to retain their sidearms. No wagons, camp equipments, etc. allowed. The men were marched to near Enterprise, Mississippi (near the Alabama border) and were all given leave until 23 August 1863. I believe this was on or about 12 July 1863. On 23 August 1863 they were to report to a parole camp at Demopolis, Alabama to await exchange. There seems to have been some confusion among the men if they were to report before they had been exchanged. In fact several officers had to be detailed to round up some of them to get them to report. Because of the apparent confusion, these men were not punished for their tardiness except to have their pay deducted for the unauthorized time away from their unit. Under the terms of their paroles the men were forbidden to perform military duties until properly exchanged. This did not mean that they were no longer in the army nor subject to military orders,but they could not do guard duty, participate in military operations, be detailed to ordnance production facilities,etc. Some took it to mean they were released from the army in all respects. It is at present unknown to me exactly when they were declared exchanged, but I do know that they left Demopolis for the vacinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee on 29 October 1863 to rejoin the other three companies of the regiment, "A", "D", and "I", that had evaded capture at Vicksburg. They arrived at Lookout Mountain,Tennessee 04 November 1863 and the regiment was once more united. Another bit of trivia: It seems that there was confusion and disagreement between the C.S. and U.S. exchange agents as to when some units captured at Vicksburg were properly exchanged. All service records that I have so far seen of men of the 40TH that were captured at Lookout Mountain or Missionary Ridge have the notation on them that they were Vicksburg prisoners on parole and were recaptured under arms. This even applies to the men of the three companies that were not captured at Vicksburg. The Yanks had no record of these men having been captured, but just assumed that the entire regiment had been paroled prisoners from Vicksburg, even though they had individual names on record for all those paroled. Fortunantly, there seems to have been no extra punishment given to these men.

I'll be glad to assist you in any way that I can with members of the 40TH Ala. Inf. Regt.