. Autobiography and personal reminiscences of Major-General Benj. F. Butler; Butler's book . d atonce three months fur-lough and were taken tocamps and allowed to gohome to recuperate, whichfew of them did, and fewerstill came back to ourarmies. Now, the comingcampaign wras to be de-cided by the strength ofthe opposing forces, forthe contest would all cen-tre upon the Army of thePotomac and its immediateadjuncts. His propositionwas to make an aggressivefight upon Lee, trusting tothe superiority of numbersand to the practical im-possibility of Lee gettingany considerable reinforce-ments to keep
. Autobiography and personal reminiscences of Major-General Benj. F. Butler; Butler's book . d atonce three months fur-lough and were taken tocamps and allowed to gohome to recuperate, whichfew of them did, and fewerstill came back to ourarmies. Now, the comingcampaign wras to be de-cided by the strength ofthe opposing forces, forthe contest would all cen-tre upon the Army of thePotomac and its immediateadjuncts. His propositionwas to make an aggressivefight upon Lee, trusting tothe superiority of numbersand to the practical im-possibility of Lee gettingany considerable reinforce-ments to keep up his had twenty-six thou-sand Confederate prisoners,and if they were exchangedit would give the Con-federates -a corps, largerthan any in Lees army, ofdisciplined veterans betterable to stand the hardshipsof a campaign and morecapable than any other. To continue exchanging upon parole theprisoners captured on one side and the other, especially if wecaptured more prisoners than they did, would at least add fromthirty to perhaps fifty per cent, to Lees capability for Gen. U. S. a Photograph taken in Field. 594 BUTLERS BOOK. Or, if the Confederates chose to turn them against Sherman theywould bring his force to such inferiority in numbers as to determinehis campaign. While the great sufferings of our prisoners remainingin their hands was much to be regretted, yet, being held, it gaveus their equivalent and many more, because in their desperation therebels would have no hesitation in putting, as they had done, theirparoled prisoners before exchange was declared, directly into theirarmies, which we had never done ; and this ought to be taken intoconsideration as to the question of exchange. He was further in-clined to think that if exchanges were to cease that fact would takeaway the great temptation to that class of our soldiers who werenot Americans, or if Americans who had not enlisted voluntarilyinto our armies or were induced by great bounties
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