Many people fail to understand or appreciate the importance of these paroles.

At the end of the war, General Lee, General Taylor and other Southern leaders were very concerned with the status of their soldiers. Honor being all that was left to them, these officers took steps to secure favorable consideration of those (in Lee's words) "whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen."

Rather than simply disbanding, as many did, going home with paroles in hand was the honorable way to leave the army. Paroles also gave Confederate soldiers immunity from prosecution for their military service, an action threatened by some supporting the Federal cause.