GENERAL ORDERS, 
No. 190. 
WAR DEPARTM ENT, 
ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE, 
Washington, May 3, 1864. 
1. Orders heretofore published, place the supervision of prisoners ot 
war and political or State prisoners, in the hands of the Commissary 
General of Prisoners, and it is hereby required that commanders of de- 
pots, and other places at which prisoners may be assembled, be directly 
accountable for them to the Commissary General of Prisoners, from 
whom they will receive orders direct, and to whom they will report di- 
rectly in all matters relating to prisoners. 
2. When the Commissary General of Prisoners has occasion to order 
the transfer of prisoners from one post to another, he will furnish a copy 
of the order to the General commanding the department in which they 
are held, that he may be apprized of the movement; and when the Com- 
missary General of Prisoners finds it necessary, he is authorized to call 
on department commanders for such assistance in the execution of his 
duties as the case may demand. 
3. If not otherwise provided, guards for depots and prison stations will 
be detailed by the Department Commander on the application of the 
Commissary General of Prisoners, and they will not be relieved or 
changed without informing him of the fact; but all returns and reports 
of these guards will be made to department commanders, to whom they 
are responsible for discipline, as in the case of other troops. 
4. The principal depots for prisoners are at Point Lookout, Maryland; 
Fort Delaware; Johnson’s Island, in Sandusky Bay; Camp Chase, 
near Columbus, Ohio ; Camp Morton, near Indianapolis, Indiana ; Camp 
Douglass, near Chicago, Illinois; and at Rock Island, Illinois. Generals 
who order temporary depots, will appoint suitable officers to take charge, 
which will be immediately reported to the Commissary General of Pris- 
oners; and the officers so appointed, will be directed to make all returns 
and reports required from the permanent depots. Prisoners will be for- 
warded from the temporary depots to the permanent ones with as little 
delay as practicable. 
- 5. Commanders of departments and of armies in the field, in all cases, 
when having prisoners in possession, will require full rolls, giving rank, 
regiment, and company, and time and place of capture, to be forwarded, 
without delay, to the Commissary General of Prisoners, with a letter of 
transmittal, showing what disposition is made of the prisoners, and giving 
any other information that may be useful, All rolls should be signed by 
the officer who is in charge of the prisoners at the time they are pre- 
pared. 
In relation to Prisoners of liar and State Prisoners. (i. Sick and wounded prisoners of war will be collected at such hos- 
pitals as may be designated under the instructions of the Surgeon Gen- 
eral, for their exclusive use, as far as practicable ; and a suitable guard 
will be detailed by the department commanders, or the General in im- 
mediate command, which guard will be responsible for the security of the 
prisoners. The commander of the guard will make all the returns and 
reports required of depot commanders. 
Convalescent prisoners will be sent to the permanent depots as often 
as may be convenient. 
7. 1 he attention of commanders is called to the regulations in relation 
to prisoners of war, contained in appendix “B,” of the Revised Army 
Regulations of 1863, page 523, as follows - 
117. Officers and soldiers of the United States who are or may be- 
come prisoners of war, shall, during their imprisonment, be entitled to 
and receive the same pay as if they were doing active duty. 
118. I he rations of prisoners held in the rebel States shall be com- 
muted for and during the period of their imprisonment; the commuta- 
tion to be rated at cost price. To entitle a soldier to this commutation 
he must furnish to the Commissary General of Prisoners such evidence 
of the fact of capture and time of detention as he may consider neces- 
snn, to be laid before the Secretary of War, and if approved, a certifi- 
cate will be issued by the Commissary General of Prisoners, on which 
payment will be made by the Subsistence Department. 
119. A General commanding in the field, or a department, will make 
anangements for the safe-keeping and reasonable comfort of his prison- 
ers. l or this purpose he will place them under a guard already on 
duty, or detach a guard for the special service. The General will give 
no order exchanging prisoners, or releasing them, except under instruc- 
tions from the Secretary of War. 
UO. In emergencies admitting of no delay, the General will act upon 
his own authority, and give any order in relation to his prisoners the 
public interest might require, promptly reporting his proceedings to the 
War Department through the Adjutant General. 
121. In time of war a Commissary General of Prisoners will be an- 
nounced, whose general duties w ill be those of an inspector, and all 
communications relating to prisoners will pass through him. Depots for 
piisoners will be designated by the Secretary of War, to which suitable 
uiid permanent guards will he assigned, the whole to be under the orders 
ol the Commissary General of Prisoners. He will establish regulations 
loi issuing clothing to prisoners, and will direct the manner in which all 
funds arising from the saving of rations at prison hospitals or stations shall be accounted for and disbursed by the proper disbursing officer, in 
providing such articles as he may deem absolutely necessary for the 
welfare of the prisoners. He is authorized to grant paroles to prisoners 
on the recommendation of the medical officer attending the prison, in 
cases of extreme illness, but under no other circumstances. 
12?. The Commissary General of Prisoners has authority to call for 
such reports from officers in command of guards over prisoners as may 
be necessary for the proper discharge of his own duties, and he will be 
prepared to furnish such information in relation to prisoners as may be 
called for by the Adjutant General. 
]?:’. A full record of all prisoners will be kept in the office of the 
Commissary General of Prisoners, in suitable books, giving the name, 
rank, regiment, and company of each military prisoner, the residence, 
county, and State of each civil prisoner, with the charges against him, 
and the time and place of capture or arrest. Any special information 
of importance will be added from time to time in the column of remarks. 
When disposed of by exchange or otherwise, the fact and the authority 
for it, with the time, should be noted on the record. 
124. The Commissary General of Prisoners is empowered to visit 
places at which prisoners may be held, and will recommend to the 
General whose guards are responsible for them, whatever modification 
in their treatment may seem to him proper or necessary, and report the 
same to the War Department. 
125. The Commissary General of Prisoners has charge of the United 
States officers and men on parole, and correspondence relating to them. 
All details concerning them will pass through him. 
126. Generals commanding departments, or in the field, may, at their 
discretion, send their prisoners to the general depots, furnishing a proper 
roll with them, showing the rank, regiment, and company, and when 
and where captured; after which their charge of them will cease. Im- 
mediately on the arrival of prisoners at a depot, the commanding officer 
will forward to the Commissary General of Prisoners, a copy of the 
roll received with them, noting such changes as may have been made by 
escape or otherwise. 
127. The principle being recognized that medical officers and chap- 
lains should not be held as prisoners of war, all medical officers and 
chaplains so held by the United States, will be immediately and uncon- 
ditionally discharged. 
12H. Whenever prisoners of war are released on parole and sent 
through the lines, the officers who release them will immediately send 
rolls to the Commissary General of Prisoners? containing an exact list ot the prisoners’ names, rank, regiment, and company, date and place 
of capture, and date and place of parole. These rolls are indispensable 
in effecting exchanges of prisoners. 
129. Blanks for monthly returns and for rolls of federal and other 
prisoners of war will be furnished from the office of the Commissary 
General of Prisoners, on their being called for by commanders who re- 
quire them. 
By order of the Secretary of War : 
E. D. TOWNSEND, 
Assistant Adjutant General. 
Official : 
Assistant Adjutant General.