§ 62. Exchanges of prisoners take place with prisoners of war
only—number for number—rank for rank—wounded for wounded—with added
condition for added condition—such, for instance, as not to serve for a
certain period.
§ 63. In exchanging prisoners of war, such numbers of persons of
inferior rank may be substituted as an equivalent for one of superior
rank, as may be agreed upon by cartel, which requires the sanction of
the President of the United States, or of the commander of the army in
the field.
§ 64. A prisoner of war is in honor bound truly to state to the captor
his rank, and not to assume a lower rank than belongs to him, in order
to cause a more advantageous exchange; nor a higher rank, for the
purpose of obtaining better treatment.
Offences to the contrary have been justly punished by the commanders of
released prisoners.
§ 65. The surplus number of prisoners of war remaining after an exchange
has taken place, is sometimes released either for the payment of a
stipulated sum of money, or, in urgent cases, of provision, clothing, or
other necessaries.
Such arrangement, however, requires the sanction of the highest
authority.
§ 66. The exchange of prisoners of war is an act of convenience to both
belligerents. If no general cartel has been concluded, it cannot be
demanded by either of them. No belligerent is obliged to exchange
prisoners of war.
A cartel is null and void so soon as either party has violated it.
§ 67. No exchange of prisoners shall be made except after complete
capture, and after an accurate account of all, and a list of the
captured officers, has been taken.
No exchange shall take place during or immediately after an engagement.
§ 68. A flag of truce cannot insist on being admitted.
It must always be admitted with great caution.
Unnecessary frequency is carefully to be avoided.
A flag of truce offering himself during an engagement can be admitted as
a very rare exception only. It is no breach of good faith to retain such
a flag of truce, if admitted during the engagement. Firing is not
allowed to cease at the appearance of a flag of truce in battle.
If a flag of truce, presenting himself during an engagement, is killed
or wounded, it furnishes no ground of complaint whatever.
§ 69. It is customary to designate by certain flags of protection the
hospitals, in places which are shelled, so that the besieging enemy may
avoid firing on them. The same has been done in battles, when hospitals
are situated within the district of the engagement.
An honorable belligerent allows himself to be guided by these flags or
signals of protection as much as the contingencies and the necessities
of the fight will permit.
Honorable belligerents even request by flags of truce to designate the
hospitals within the territory of the enemy, so that they may be spared.
It is duly considered an act of military bad faith, of infamy or
fiendishness, to deceive the enemy either by such flags of protection,
or by the request to hoist them.
§ 70. The besieging belligerent has sometimes requested the besieged to
designate the buildings containing collections of works of art,
scientific museums, astronomical observatories or precious libraries, so
that their destruction may be prevented as much as possible.
The United States highly commend such conduct to their armies, and
remind them that some instances of this care for civilization in the
midst of destructive war, even in remote antiquity, are recorded in
history.