Prof. Francis Lieber
United States War Department
“As the number of prisoners of war grew during the American Civil War and details of the terrible conditions in the prisons emerged, there was increasing political pressure for exchange of prisoners and better treatment of those imprisoned. In 1863, President Lincoln called upon Professor Francis Lieber of Columbia College to develop a set of uniform rules for the treatment of prisoners of war. The Lieber Code was issued by the U.S. War Department on April 24, 1863, as Order 100. It was a milestone in the history of war.”