So, I hope this does not violate the rules in as much as asking a specific, comprehensive question, as I think the discussion would be rather specific.
My family has a story that is bandied about that I find somewhat implausible. It is almost too good of a story- like it came out of a movie or something, so I am curious as to how these things were handled during the American Civil War. I understand no one would be able to prove or disprove it happened, but something along the lines of “Yeah, no, that’s not how any of that worked” or “Yeah, I suppose it could happen” is just fine with me.
Anyway, the story-
My family comes from the Appalachian mountains of NC, specifically Ashe, Avery, Allegheny Counties.
I had a great (a few times over) grandpa that either joined or was conscripted into the 37th North Carolina. He fought several battles and was wounded and taken prisoner at Gettysburg, having lost his left arm. He was put into a POW camp somewhere in Northern Ohio. At this point I have no reason to suspect anything is amiss.
The story continues, however, that he wrote his mother about his predicament and the conditions of the camp. I know medical care was...... rudimentary at the time, even more so in a POW camp I would imagine (Andersonville?). Anyway his mother, a full blooded Cherokee Indian received the letter, and literally walked up to Ohio, made her way to the camp, was able to meet with the Colonel in charge, negotiated for her son’s release to her custody (I find his lack of an arm to possibly make it more plausible as he was not someone who would return to arms) brought him back from Ohio to Ashe County NC, staved off infection using Cherokee know-how, kept him alive and he eventually married and we are all alive because of this event.
If true, holy cow, great great great great (or so) grandma was one hell of a badass.
On the other hand, I cannot imagine civilians, particularly wounded soldiers, could really move freely from the Union to the Confederacy and back again. I also don’t know if a Colonel would/could be like “Ma’am, you make a compelling case, I will release your son post haste.”
So I guess my question really deals with how POW’s were held, if they were ever swapped or “paroled” and how the borders between the belligerents were policed?
Is this plausible, or so implausible to reach the point of de facto impossibility?
Also, for the record, I am not a pro-South, War of Northern Aggression, it was fought over States rights kinda guy- my ancestor took up arms against his nation, in support of a government that recognized and perpetuated one of history’s greatest evils. I am glad his cause lost.
Sounds like Camp Chase.
Much, much more can be generally said about prisoner exchanges and paroles in the Civil War , here, but specifically it does seem as though Confederate prisoners were sometimes exchanged from Camp Chase for Union prisoners. In 1861 , 23 were exchanged, put on parole: which meant that they were not to resume fighting in the Confederate Army. Perhaps there were more later on. Oral tradition could have transformed your family story from simple parole into something more heroic.
That batch of 23 were from Kanawha Co. in what's now West Virginia. None of them were named Carpenter, which may be important, because here in WV we have a story of a prisoner from the Kanawha region also getting released from Camp Chase for an irregular reason. Solomon "Devil Sol" Carpenter of Clay Co. was captured and sent there. Knowing there were several good fiddlers in the camp, the commandant one day announced that the fiddler who could play the best tune could leave. Devil Sol added a couple of notes to the tune George Booker, won the contest, and was turned loose. Of course, every fiddler back in Clay immediately wanted to learn it, and lots of fiddlers still want to learn Camp Chase , when they hear the story. There is something immensely attractive about a fiddle tune that might be able to get you sprung from jail.
When the Smithsonian recorded French Carpenter , back in 1964, he told the story and played the tune. You can hear a bit of French Carpenter here, and Erynn Marshall doing Wilson's Douglas' version of the tune here.
Again, oral tradition being what it is, both your ancestor and Devil Sol might have simply been paroled, and it's just not in the surviving records. But let's hope not.
The other thing to consider, besides your ancestor's likely camp described in the other comment is the region which he was from, the mountain region of North Carolina.
The mountainous western region of NC was generally known by Northern authorities to be only very loosely under Confederate control. By 1863, many men in mountain counties were openly avoiding military service under the confederacy and any contribution to the war effort. The following years, 1864 and 1865, disaffection in the mountains boiled over into feuds, banditry, and a low boil insurgency. Bands of union aligned men and confederates struggled for local control of each mountain valley. The drain of manpower and the instability inhibited agriculture, so provisions became scarce in a hungry and violent time.
During this time, their was little to stop wounded soldiers or other persons from moving around. It was still quite dangerous, and travelers of either allegiance could be subject to random attacks from armed bands making assumptions, or simply robbing. Stopping at a farmhouse to beg for food could be dangerous.
A wounded mountain man being sent home from Ohio and making the journey is by no means implausible.
Source: Trotter, William. "Bushwackers: The Civil War in North Carolina: The Mountains"