Item No. 3708518

In this August 1864 letter signed by Union Major General Benjamin F. Butler, the general writes to John Calif of Salem, Massachusetts, regarding the exchange of his son, who had been captured in battle. Although not named, the son is Benjamin Shreve Calef, a lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters. The HDS database indicates Calef had been captured in the fighting May 5, 1864, at the Battle of the Wilderness.

In his letter, Butler writes:

I have received the communication of Genl's Ives and Huntington upon the matter of attempting a special exchange for your son. It gives me pleasure to say that Major General Birney had also made application about the same time. I had received no letter from you on the subject, perhaps for the reason that such letters pass through the exchange office and are generally matters of routine. I have made today through flag of truce book an application for the exchange of your son, and I have but little doubt but that I shall effect it.

Negotiated prisoner exchanges between the armies had generally taken place near Fortress Monroe in Butler's department. However, General Ulysses S. Grant's concerns over the treatment of Black soldiers in Confederate custody led to a suspension of the prisoner exchange cartel in April 1864. By August, only special negotiations resulted in prisoner exchanges. Despite the application of General David B. Birney, in whose 2nd Corps division the 2nd Sharpshooters served, Butler expresses some reservations about skipping over other Union officers waiting to be exchanged:

I have some scruple of conscience about the movement because he has been so little time confined and there are other officers that have been confined so long. However, I have solved those qualms by making an application for four (4) other officers who have been a long time in prison.

Although the letter is written in a staffer's hand, Butler himself signed at the end.

After his release, Lieutenant Calef would be promoted captain and would serve as aide-de-camp on General Birney's staff.

The letter was written on two pages of a 4-page bifolium letter sheet measuring about 7 3/4” x 9 3/4”, and pre-printed with the heading, “Head Quarters Dept. of Virginia and North Carolina.” Some light foxing and toning, as well as old tape repairs to interior. The full transcript appears below:

Head Quarters Dept. of Virginia and North Carolina
In the Field, Va., August 9th 1864.

Sir.
I have received the communication of Genl's Ives and Huntington upon the matter of attempting a special exchange for your son. It gives me pleasure to say that Major General Birney had also made application about the same time. I had received no letter from you on the subject, perhaps for the reason that such letters pass through the exchange office and are generally matters of routine. I have made today through flag of truce book an application for the exchange of your son, and I have but little doubt but that I shall effect it.

I have some scruple of conscience about the movement because he has been so little time confined and there are other officers that have been confined so long. However, I have solved those qualms by making an application for four (4) other officers who have been a long time in prison.

Venturing to charge you with tendering my best regards to Genl's Ives and Huntington, I have the honor to be
Very Respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
Benj. F. Butler
Maj. Genl.
Comd'g

To
John Calif Esq.
Salem Mass.