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| Where the value of a man was calculated After a cartel of exchange had been agreed upon between the Federal General John A. Dix and General D. H. Hill of the Confederate army, July 22, 1862, Aiken's Landing on the James River was made a point for exchange of prisoners in the East. These were brought from Richmond or from Fortress Monroe by boats bearing a white flag. The two commissioners met, exchanged rolls, and worked out their exchanges. They had a regular table of equivalents in which the private was a unit. A non-commissioned officer was equivalent to two privates; a lieutenant to four; a captain to six; a major to eight; a lieutenant-colonel to ten; a colonel to fifteen; a brigadier-general to twenty; a major-general to forty; and a general commanding to sixty. A similar table of equivalents was worked out for the navy. Therefore, though one side might have an officer of higher rank than the other, it was easy to work out his value in officers of a lower rank or in privates, according to the tables. Aiken's Landing had served for this purpose only a few weeks when the meeting-place was changed to City Point. The exchange table is in an appendix. |
