In June, 1864, fifty Union prisoners of war, all officers, were held in the besieged city of Charleston, South Carolina within range of the Federal guns in an effort to discourage further bombardment of the city. Although they were eventually exchanged for 50 Confederate officers of similar rank, the use of these POWs as human shields was roundly criticized in the North as a violation of the laws of war.
These events and the subsequent reprisals against some Confederate prisoners (“The Immortal 600”) is told more completely in this earlier post.
In the list of the “First 100” that follows, those who the evidence suggests were present at the Battle of Gettysburg are in all capital letters. Those who were captured at that battle are in bold.
The First 50 Union Officers
BG Charles A. Heckman
BG Eliakim P. Scammon
BG Truman Seymour
BG ALEXANDER SHALER
BG Henry W. Wessells
COL Henry C. Bolinger, 7th Pennsylvania Reserves
COL HIRAM L. BROWN, 145th Pennsylvania Infantry
COL EDMUND L. DANA, 143rd Pennsylvania Infantry
COL Enrico Fardella, 85th New York Infantry
COL IRA G. GROVER, 7th Indiana Infantry
COL Walter Harriman, 11th New Hampshire Infantry
COL Isaac R. Hawkins, 7th Tennessee Cavalry (US)
COL Oscar H. LaGrange, 1st Wisconsin Cavalry
COL Horace C. Lee, 27th Massachusetts Infantry
COL Theodore F. Lehmann, 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry
COL Richard White, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry
LTC CLARK B. BALDWIN, 1st Massachusetts Infantry
LTC Walter G. Bartholomew, 27th Massachusetts Infantry
LTC John N. Burnham, 16th Connecticut Infantry
LTC William R. Cook, 2nd Tennessee Cavalry (US)
LTC Christopher J. Dickerson, 10th Michigan Infantry
LTC John F. Fellows, 17th Massachusetts Infantry
LTC Granville A. Frambles, 59th Ohio Infantry
LTC William H. Glenn, 89th Ohio Infantry
LTC Edwin L. Hayes, 100th Ohio Infantry
LTC THOMAS H. HIGINBOTHAM, 65th New York Infantry
LTC Henry B. Hunter, 123rd Ohio Infantry
LTC GEORGE C. JOSLIN, 15th Massachusetts Infantry
LTC William P. Lasselle, 9th Indiana Infantry
LTC Wilson C. Maxwell, 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry
LTC James D. Mayhew, 8th Kentucky Infantry (US)
LTC Warren E. McMackin, 21st Illinois Infantry
LTC David Miles, 79th Pennsylvania Infantry
LTC Stephen Moffitt, 96th New York Infantry
LTC EGBERT OLCOTT, 121st New York Infantry
LTC John J. Polsley, 7th West Virginia Cavalry
LTC Andrew F. Rodgers, 80th Illinois Infantry
LTC JOHN P. SPOFFORD, 97th New York Infantry
LTC James W. Stewart, 2nd Indiana Cavalry
LTC Frederick W. Swift, 17th MI Infantry
LTC Alexander W. Taylor, 101st Pennsylvania Infantry
MAJ William F. Baker, 10th USC Infantry
MAJ Erastus N. Bates, 18th IL Infantry
MAJ Charles H. Beeres, 16th IL Cavalry
MAJ Daniel A. Carpenter, 2nd Tennessee Infantry (US)
MAJ JOHN E. CLARK, 5th Michigan Cavalry
MAJ Walter Crandall, 85th New York Infantry
MAJ Horace D. Grant, 4th Michigan Cavalry
MAJ JOSIAH HALL, 1st Vermont Cavalry
MAJ James H. Johnson, 11th Tennessee Cavalry (US)
The First 50 Confederate Officers
MG Franklin Gardner
MG EDWARD JOHNSON
BG JAMES J. ARCHER
BG GEORGE H. STEUART
BG M. Jeff Thompson
COL WILLIAM M. BARBOUR, 37th North Carolina Infantry
COL JOSEPH N. BROWN, 14th South Carolina Infantry
COL RICHARD WELBY CARTER, 1st Virginia Cavalry
COL Benjamin Everett Caudill, 13th Kentucky Cavalry
COL NORVELL COBB, 44th Virginia Infantry
COL Basil Wilson Duke, 2nd Kentucky Cavalry
COL MILTON J. FERGUSON, 16th Virginia Cavalry
COL WILLIAM HENRY FORNEY, 10th Alabama Infantry
COL J. M. Hanks, Buford’s Kentucky Brigade
COL John A. Jaquess, 1st Louisiana Regulars
COL Richard C. Morgan, Morgan’s Kentucky Cavalry
COL WILLIAM HUBBARD PEEBLES, 44th Georgia Infantry
COL James A. Pell, 6th Confederate Cavalry
COL ALEXANDER S. VANDEVENTER, 50th Virginia Infantry
COL William W. Ward, 9th Tennessee Cavalry
LTC James Fielding Brewer, 1st (Carter’s) Tennessee Cavalry
LTC John William Caldwell, 1st Kentucky Cavalry
LTC JOHN THOMAS CARSON, 12th Georgia Infantry
LTC PHILLIP EDWIN DAVANT, 38th Georgia Infantry
LTC WILLIAM LEE DAVIDSON, 7th North Carolina Infantry
LTC Alcee Dupree, Gen. Gardner’s Staff
LTC WILLIAM THOMAS ENNETT, 3rd North Carolina Infantry
LTC JOHN PATERSON FITZGERALD, 23rd Virginia Infantry
LTC J. E. Groce, Gen. Wharton’s staff
LTC CHARLES LEWIS HAYNES, 27th Virginia Infantry
LTC THOMAS C. JACKSON, G. T. Anderson’s brigade
LTC DOUGLASS HENRY LEE MARTZ, 10th Virginia Infantry
LTC WILLIAM MURDOCK PARSLEY, 3rd North Carolina Infantry
LTC Oliver A. Patton, Patton’s Kentucky Partisan Rangers
LTC Marshall Joseph Smith, Crescent Regt. Louisiana Infantry
LTC A. L. Swingley, Forrest’s Brigade
LTC Joseph Thomas Tucker, 11th Kentucky Cavalry
LTC Frederick Fraser Warley, 2nd South Carolina Artillery
MAJ DAVID W. ANDERSON, 44th Virginia Infantry
MAJ E. M. Henry, Hunter’s Cavalry
MAJ Horace A. Highley, Gen. Bragg’s staff
MAJ WILLIAM HENRY MANNING, 6th Louisiana Infantry
MAJ EDWIN ACTON NASH, 4th Georgia Infantry
MAJ LYNNVILLE J. PERKINS, 50th Virginia Infantry
MAJ Edward J. Sanders, 9th Mississippi Cavalry
MAJ George H. Smith, Gen. Wheeler’s staff
MAJ Theophilus Steele, 7th Kentucky Cavalry
MAJ THOMAS EDWARD UPSHAW, 13th Virginia Cavalry
MAJ Thomas B. Webber, 2nd Kentucky (Morgan’s) Cavalry
MAJ J. MOORE WILSON, 7th Louisiana Infantry
