December 6, 1864

William Nelson Rector Beall was paroled. Beall served as a Confederate brigadier general from Arkansas during the Civil War. He most notably served as an agent for the Confederate government to raise funds to purchase supplies for Confederate troops held in Federal prisons. Beall and other captured officers were sent to Memphis, where he spent time in the hospital recovering from sickness. Eventually, Beall and many of his fellow officers arrived at Johnson’s Island, Ohio, located on Lake Erie. Beall quickly became involved in relief efforts. In an effort to supply Confederate troops held in Union prison camps across the North, Beall was appointed as chief receiving agent in a scheme that allowed Confederate cotton to be sold in the North or to European countries, with the proceeds used for prisoner welfare.