582:, developed a procedure whereby Confederate prisoners of war and deserters could swear allegiance to the Union to gain their release. Release requests from Union officials, Confederate soldiers, and Southern family members came to Hoffman's office for review and evaluation. Hoffman believed deserters, because they had already renounced their military obligation to the Confederacy, provided an opportunity to "reconstruct" the rebel soldiers and undermine the Confederate war effort. Military field commanders could administer the oath of allegiance to deserters if they could verify their stories and be assured they were not spies. He believed that prisoners of war presented a problem, as they could return to their units or act as spies. They could only be released after Hoffman's staff reviewed each case individually and the release was approved by Secretary of War Stanton.
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The Union was not prepared to handle the number of prisoners it took in and scrambled to set up facilities. On both sides, the prison camps were overcrowded, suffered food shortages and poor sanitation, and were plagued with infectious disease. In 1862 some of the
Confederate prisoners of war refused
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Over 104,000 Confederate soldiers deserted the army during the war, with a third of them surrendering to the Union army. In addition, the army captured thousands of soldiers, whom they held as prisoners of war, transferring them away from the fronts to camps set up to house them. The two governments
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On
November 11, 1864, the office was divided into an Eastern and Western Branch. Hoffman, who had been in charge of the whole office up to that date, was placed in charge of the Eastern Branch. On February 1, 1865, it was restructured as a single unit, and Hoffman was placed in charge overall again.
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He was reassigned to
Washington, D.C. where that year he became Commissary-General of Prisoners. The Office of the Commissary-General of Prisoners had been organized on October 7, 1861, under the Quartermaster General's Department. It was made directly responsible to the
605:, from 1865 to 1866 and Fort Leavenworth from 1866 to 1868. He was on leave from March 6, 1868, to April 26, 1869, when he became the Superintendent of the General Recruiting Service. He retired from the army on May 1, 1870, as a colonel. Hoffman retired to
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To encourage desertion, the Union started to offer incentives to
Confederate soldiers, such as transportation home. Hoffman narrowed the conditions for Confederates to take the oath of allegiance, and the number of prisoners released decreased dramatically.
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Between the war with Mexico and the Civil War
Hoffman served on recruiting duty for two years before returning to the frontier. There he was garrisoned again at Fort Leavenworth and was promoted to major,
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on March 13, 1865, for faithful, meritorious and distinguished services as
Commissary-General of Prisoners during the Rebellion. He served in the post of Commissary-General until November 3, 1865.
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October 7, 1864, Hoffman was brevetted to brigadier general for faithful and meritorious services during the Rebellion, and then brevetted to
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on June 17, 1862, so when
Hoffman took the position, he had access to the top of the military and political structure.
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negotiated a prisoner exchange, which operated from 1862 and 1863 before it broke down for a variety of reasons.
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of 1858 and the March to
California the same year. Hoffman relocated to California for frontier duty in the
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for gallant and meritorious conduct in the
Battles of Contreras and Churubusco. He was also involved in the
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on September 8, 1847, for his gallant and meritorious conduct in the Battle of Molino del Rey.
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Hoffman was in San Antonio at the start of the American Civil War. He was taken as a
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Who Earned a Medal for Cutting Costs by Starving Confederate Prisoners?
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After the Civil War, Hoffman was placed in command of regiments at
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David Stephen Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler, David J. Coles (2002).
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between 1846 and 1847, Hoffman was engaged in the march through
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William Hoffman Jr. was born in New York. He was the son of
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to be exchanged, saying they would not return to the South.
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from 1837 to 1842. On February 1, 1838, he was promoted to
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People of New York (state) in the American Civil War
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397:, 6th U.S. Infantry. Hoffman then moved south to
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790:. Stanford University Press. pp. 59, 300.
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708:. W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 981–982.
308:. The West Point graduate was involved in the
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