Q: What does “paroled” mean? Does it simply mean that he was slated for exchange with an equal ranking Union soldier (having registered his oath), but not ready for release?
A: In practical terms I believe that paroled means paroled for exchange, although the final negotiations for the Dix-Hill Cartel, the formal exchange system, would not be signed until 22 July 1862. Parole did not necessarily mean that the parolee was allowed to go his own way.
Q: Winchester is nowhere near the Delaware River, so John Frank had to travel over land some distance. Why would the Union have involved Fort Delaware at all, if he was paroled? It’d be a lot shorter trip from Winchester to Confederate territory than to skirt the north end of the Chesapeake bay into Delaware. If he was paroled in June, why did it take two months for him to be released from Fort Delaware?
A: Based on what I have seen from the records of the 42nd Virginia, and from stories in both the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pennsylvania Daily Telegraph, Union authorities collected the men captured in the Valley of Virginia near Winchester and then on 13 June 1862 shipped 400-460 of them through Martinsburg, W.Va., to Harrisburg, Pa. Arriving by rail at Harrisburg on 15 June, they were held at Camp Curtin. On 18 June a reporter for the PDT declined to give the names of the prisoners because he said many had deserted from the CS forces and were willing to take the oath of allegiance. Although I suspect the use of the word "many" in the story, simply because of the tone of the overall report, there were, no doubt, some among these 400+ who did not desire to return South. On 25 June, 490 CS prisoners left Camp Curtin for Philadelphia and Fort Delaware and were delivered there on 26 June. Among these 490 were at least 10 men from the 42nd Virginia, all captured in the Valley between 30 May and 9 June 1862. Apparently as part of Union efforts to consolidate CS POWs in ancticipation of the Dix-Hill Cartell, another group of 350 CS prisoners who had been held at Old Capitol Prison, Washington, DC, were sent from DC to Philadelphia on 4 July; arriving there in the early morning hours of 5 July, these CS POWs encopuntered an angry crowd in Philadelphia who threw at least three rocks that injured CS prisoners. Among this group were 9 soldiers from the 42nd Va, and at least one officer, Capt. Beckwith West, of the 48th Va. All had been captured at Front Royal on 30 May.
Q: If he was paroled in June, why did it take two months for him to be released from Fort Delaware?
A: I suspect a part of the delay was tied to the process of finalizing the terms of the Dix-Hill Cartell, negotiations on which began as early as February 1862.
Q: Is it possible that the Coatzacoalcos made multiple trips between Fort Delaware and Fort Monroe, some before August? And had he joined the Union army, I’m assuming he wouldn’t have ridden the Coatzacoalcos at all.
A: I am not sure about the various sailings of the Coatzacoalcos, but it was a shallow draft steamer that could negotiate the James River.
With regard to records of what may have happened to John Frank Johnson, assuming he did not return South with his fellow POWs, you might want to contact Hugh Simmons of the Fort Delaware Society thru the Civil War Prisons link on this site. Hugh has told me that about 300 Ft Delaware CS POWs, of some 3000 exchanged in August, opted to take the oath of allegiance. Whether his records can shed any light on John Frank Johnson specifically, I do not know.