Captain Dixon and his detachment of Vicksburg parolees were officially declared exchanged at the end of July 1864 as part of special exchange agreement between the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department and the Union Department of the Gulf. Dixon's parolees were in parole camp near Pineville, Louisiana. I have a partial list which I reconstructed from examination of the individual CMSRs, but there is no complete list of who these men were. I have a complete reconstructed list of Vicksburg parolees.

Following the exchange declaration, the 3rd Louisiana Infantry regiment was restored to duty and Dixon's Detachment of the 12th Louisiana Infantry attached to the 3rd Louisiana at Shreveport, Louisiana. Officers from the regiment serving in Georgia arrived in August with the mission of recovering the many absentees from this regiment who were at home in Louisiana and getting them back across the Mississippi River to the regiment. While Dixon had more than 150 men in parole camp at one time, he was only able to persuade about 29 Vicksburg parolees to accompany him back across the Mississippi River to rejoin the regiment. These men along with about 20 more absentees and new recruits accompanied Captain Dixon and made the crossing in December 1864 using the smugglers route through the swamps of Concordia Parish over to a point near Natchez. This is the route they used to come home after being released on parole at Big Black Bridge on 10 JUL 1863. Lieutenant General Richard Taylor used this same route when he crossed the Mississippi from Louisiana to take command of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. Dixon's group rejoined the regiment at Tupelo, Mississippi in January 1865 and participated in the final campaign of the war in North Carolina.

Randy and I co-authored an article on Captain Dixon several years ago. If you would like a copy, contact me directly by e-mail at HeyHugh@rhsresearch.org and I will send you a copy.

Hugh