Pres. Lincoln and Alec Stephens Agreement at the Hampton Roads Peace Conference

[David Lockmiller]

At the close of the Hampton Roads Peace Conference of February 3, 1865, President Lincoln and Alexander Stephens made an agreement for an exchange of prisoners as a personal favor to Lincoln’s old friend. In return for President Lincoln’s release of Stephens’ nephew, Alexander Stephens was supposed to authorize the release of a Union “officer of the same rank imprisoned at Richmond whose physical condition most urgently requires his release.”

President Lincoln immediately obtained the release of Stephens’ nephew from the prison for Confederate officers on Johnson’s Island in Lake Erie. He let John Stephens remain in Washington as long as he chose, which was five days, and on February 10, 1865, Lincoln gave Lieutenant John A. Stephens papers to enable him to pass through the Union lines and the following note addressed to his uncle, the Hon. A. H. Stephens, requesting that Alexander Stephens then keep his part of the bargain made with President Lincoln at the peace conference.

Executive Mansion,
Washington, Feb. 10, 1865
Hon. A.H. Stephens

According to our agreement your nephew, Lieut. Stephens, goes to you bearing this note. Please, in return, to select and send to me that officer of the same rank imprisoned at Richmond whose physical condition most urgently requires his release.

Respectfully, A. Lincoln

(Basler’s Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. 8, page 287)

Apparently, things did not go as President Lincoln had planned. Alec Stephens had left for Georgia on the 9th of February and reached his home the 20th, where he remained in “perfect retirement,” until he was arrested by Union forces on the 11th of May. (“Our One Common Country,” by James B. Conroy, page 225.) Allegedly, “Lieutenant John Stephens was carried down the Potomac and transferred through the proper authorities to the Confederates, not paroled, but duly exchanged.” (“Lincoln Herald,” June, 1943, Volume XLV, Number 2, page 20 of “An Incident of Friendship,” pages 18-21, by Dr. Robert Stephens, a son of John A. Stephens)

In early May, 1865, “all of the Stephens’ blood and name in Georgia, accidently, or providentially rather, met at the old homestead. . . . John had just got home from Johnson’s Island where he had been a prisoner a long time . . . . Mr. Lincoln, at my request, had granted him a special parole, for which I was truly obliged; this parole he had promised me at Hampton Roads, and had complied with his promise. He had written me a letter by John which I never saw until after his assassination. I almost wept over the letter when I saw it. He had sent to Johnson’s Island for John. Had a personal interview with him [in Washington], treated him very kindly, spoke in kindly terms of his former acquaintance with me, all the particulars of which John gave me in detail. He let John remain in Washington as long as he chose, which was five days, I believe." (“Recollections of Alexander H. Stephens,” pages 141-42)

“[John A. Stephens] became attached to the staff of General John Echols with the rank of Major and served in this capacity until the surrender of the Confederate armies in April. He then began his long ride back to his home in Taliaferro County, Georgia, reaching there sometime around the first week in May. Soon after this he saw his uncle and delivered to him Mr. Lincoln’s letter. Mr. Lincoln had been dead several weeks when this letter reached Mr. Stephens.” (“Lincoln Herald,” June, 1943, Volume XLV, Number 2, page 20 of “An Incident of Friendship.”)

The implication of all this material is that Lieutenant John A. Stephens was exchanged for an unidentified Union officer or soldier(s) [I understand that one officer would be exchanged for three privates or one officer], and thus not meeting the specific terms of the agreement outlined by President Lincoln in his note to Alexander Stephens. This must have been a major personal disappointment for President Lincoln when the Union “officer of the same rank imprisoned at Richmond whose physical condition most urgently requires his release” never showed at the White House.

National Archives and Records Administration has records regarding such prisoner exchanges or paroles, I believe. Does anyone know how to access these records to answer the question regarding the specific terms of exchange for Confederate Lieutenant John A. Stephens?

I did find a reference to 31 pages of records regarding John A. Stephens of the CSA Signal Corp which would appear to be the correct person at http://www.fold3.com. This site is supposed to be free on a trial basis. However, it has been my experience that "free" things are too expensive. The website requires credit card information up front and disputes are settled by arbitration according to the terms of agreement.