Were Confederate officials given amnesty after the war?

Answer 1

Even while the Civil War was in progress, the federal government offered amnesty to Confederate citizens in an attempt to encourage loyalty to the Union and to begin the process of reconstruction. The Confiscation Act of 1862 authorized the president of the United States to pardon anyone involved in the rebellion. The Amnesty Proclamation of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office, had not mistreated Union prisoners, and would sign an oath of allegiance. Another limited amnesty that targeted Southern civilians came into effect on May 26, 1864.

On April 9th 1865, when General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant, the men and officers were allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside. This stipulation allowed Confederate soldiers to return to their homes without the threat of trials for treason.

On May 29, 1865, President Andrew Johnson provided for amnesty and the return of property to those who would take an oath of allegiance. However, former Confederate government officials, officers with the rank of colonel and above from the Confederate army or lieutenant and above from the Confederate navy, and people owning more than $20,000 worth of property had to apply for individual pardons. Though it was difficult for ex-Confederates to ask for a pardon for something they did not believe had been wrong, thousands did ask for and receive amnesty from President Johnson.

On Christmas Day 1868, Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all Civil War participants except high-ranking military and civil officials. In May 1872 the Congressional Amnesty Act gave the right to hold office again to almost all Southern leaders who had been excluded from public office by the 14th Amendment.

Former President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis was arrested on May 10, 1861, and charged with conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln. The US Government had planned to bring Jefferson Davis to trial, for treason or other charges. For some of the charges, such as conspiracy in the assassination of Lincoln, there was not enough evidence; for charges of treason it seemed quite possible that Davis would be acquitted.

The government wanted Davis to ask for a pardon, but he refused this, feeling that to do so would be an admission of guilt. Davis actually wanted to stand trial for treason, because he felt certain that he would be vindicated. On May 5, 1867 he was freed on bond at Richmond, and soon after he traveled o a home that had been prepared for him near Montreal, Canada. In October it appeared that he would have to go back to Richmond for a trial, but that likelihood evaporated and he never stood trial at all.

Captain Henry Wirz was the commanding officer of Camp Sumter, a Confederate prisoner of war camp located near Andersonville, Georgia. While commanding this camp, Union prisoners were subject to extreme overcrowding, starvation, little or no protection from the elements and mistreatment at the hands of the guards. Wirz was arrested by federal authorities in May 1865 and charged with conspiracy to impair the lives of Union prisoners of war. He was convicted of the conspiracy charge and 11 of 13 murder charges. He received a death sentence. Wirz asked President Johnson to grant him clemency, but he never received a reply. He was hanged on November 10, 1865.

Henry Wirz was one of only two Confederates, tried, convicted and executed for war crimes during the Civil War. The other was Samuel "Champ" Ferguson. Ferguson was a Confederate Guerrilla who admitted to killing more than 100 people, mostly civilians, who were sympathetic to the Union. He was tried for 53 murders and on October 10, 1865 was convicted and sentenced to death. He was hanged on October 20, 1865.

Answer 2

Not right away. At first individuals, upon surrendering, were forced to take the "oath of allegiance" and were "paroled" as was usually done with prisoners of war, allowed to go home and remain there undisturbed so long as they took no further part in the war, until "exchanged" for a Union man held by the Confederacy. In 1868 there was an Amnesty that excused anybody, from either side, for anything they had done, and I mean anything, as long as they could claim to have been in the military when they did it. This was so broadly worded as to preclude prosecution even for mass murderers where I live, who had forced victims to kneel and then shot them "execution style" in the back of the head. But this Amnesty specifically excluded high officials of the Confederate civilian government, and military officers above the rank of colonel (which is to say all generals). There was another Amnesty Act in 1872, which pardoned all but the top 500 Confederate officials, civilian and military. Those individuals were allowed to apply, on an individual basis, to have their rights "restored". Robert E. Lee for instance made such an application while he was serving as president of Washington College for the last years of his life, but heard nothing from it, not even an acknowledgement that his application had been received. Lee's citizenship was "restored" after he had been dead some years. But no one was ever actually tried for "treason", as many today claim should have been done. This was because the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the noted abolitionist and former Treasury Secretary for most of the war in Lincoln's cabinet, Salmon P. Chase, had advised that it was far from a sure thing that a conviction for treason was legally sustainable, given that before the war there was no explicit prohibition on secession. Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president, was captured in May, 1865, and imprisoned for close to two years at Fortress Monroe in Virginia, and was actually indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for treason. But he was never brought to trial, and was eventually just released, without the indictment ever having been withdrawn. This was probably partly due to a desire to try to get past the raw feelings, partly out of a desire to avoid creating martyrs, and probably partly due to the difficulty in making a conviction stick as pointed out by the Chief Justice.