Alan:

You wrote: >>>…the folks in Vicksburg were paroled but these guys {captured in Bolivar County, Mississippi on 4 JUL 1863} were shipped north so I assume they weren‘t part of that agreement?

Correct. The Federal War Department was in the midst of reneging on the Dix-Hill Cartel, a general exchange agreement signed a year earlier between the two War Departments. This agreement required that all captives held by either side be paroled for exchange and returned within ten days of their capture to their respective side to await an exchange declaration. In practice, this process stretched out to about three weeks.

The defenders of the Post at Helena, Arkansas were captured on 4 JUL 1863 and ended up in the Alton Military Prison where they held until spring 1864. . Many then came to Fort Delaware and remained for another year. They were paroled for exchange in early March 1865 and delivered to Confederate authorities at Boulware’s & Cox’s wharves on the James River east of Richmond.

I examined James R. Shireley’s (aka J. E. Shirley & J. R. Shirley) Compiled Military Service Records via www.fold3.com. He was 30/31 years old when he enlisted on 20 FEB 1862 for 12 months service at Hampton, Calhoun County, Arkansas. Federal POW records show that he was captured in Bolivar County, Mississippi on 4 JUL 1863 and several weeks later confined at Gratiot Street Prison on 26 JUL 1863. He was forward from St. Louis on 7 AUG 1863 and confined at Camp Morton, Indiana on 8 AUG 1863. This was at the direction of the Commissary General of Prisoners’ office in Washington.

James remained at Camp Morton nearly 20 months. His name appears on a roll of POWs at Camp Morton “who desire to take the Oath of Allegiance”. His sworn signature was witnessed by 1LT Mark A. Hoyt, Inspector General, USA on 8 JAN 1864. The remarks section of this record tells us that he “enlisted 5 MAY 1863 in Calhoun County, Arkansas” and that he “desires to take the Oath of Allegiance, go to Arkansas & remain loyal”. The Federals did not allow these men to take the Oath and go home because they would have been in reach of Confederate Conscript patrols and cavalry raiders. At Fort Delaware some 300 of them were housed in separate “citizens barracks” for their own safety. The date of enlistment James gave the Federals is in conflict with the Confederate company muster rolls. It may be the date he was forced to extend his service commitment to cover three years or the duration of the war although that should have occurred in May 1862. Hampton is the county seat of Calhoun County, Arkansas. BTW, this is the only record in the collection which presents his name as James R. SHIRELEY.

The final POW record in James’ file shows that he was paroled for exchange at Camp Morton on 15 MAR 1865 and sent via the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for exchange. There is no further record documenting his delivery. I have been tracking deliveries on the James River as I do this look up work. Private William J. Metcalf, Co. B, 29th North Carolina infantry was captured at Yazoo City, Mississippi on 16 JUL 1863 and sent to Camp Morton. Metcalf was paroled for exchange at Camp Morton on 15 MAR 1865 and sent east via the Baltimore & Ohio in the same shipment as James R. Shirley. They were among 1,011 paroled prisoners of war delivered to Confederate Captain W. H. Hatch. Assistant Agent of Exchange on 23 MAR 1865.

No further records were found for James. Assuming that James was able bodied, he would have been sent west by train in an attempt to return him to the Trans-Mississippi. In need of hospital care, he would have been hospitalized in Richmond or further west and south in Virginia or North Carolina.

Hugh Simmons
Fort Delaware Society
E-mail: society@fortdelaware.org
Website: www.fortdelaware.org