The Confederate soldier at left was Nathan Nesbitt (1837-1928) of Tennessee. He was taken prisoner in 1862, but exchanged and returned to service only to be taken prisoner again in 1864. I don't know what is more remarkable, the fact that he survived the war and two prison camps or that he lived to be 91. The handsome Union soldier is unknown.
These are probably links to Mr. Nesbitt:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LX9K-MRT
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77445899/nathan-bennett-nesbitt
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Nesbitt-3085
Thanks for the references, Jim. I used at least one of them to write the caption.
DeleteLucky that he survived at all as he probably broke his parole after being exchanged the first time and could have been executed when captured again.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up an interesting point. The two sides developed a rather complicated bureaucratic system of parole and exchange. Most were paroled and forbidden to resume service unless and until they had been formally "exchanged" for an equivalent. This was usually done in groups. So Nathan Nesbitt, having been formally exchanged, faced no penalty for being captured a second time.
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