Jeez, the war is winding down. Trading 5 commanders for one private may seem like a bad deal, but it's just what happens at the end of wars. It's tradition. Unless you were going to put them in front of the firing squad for whatever crimes, and they all seemed to be whatever as far was their crimes go, it seems like a good trade. I mean, you could hold out for 10 tons of raw opium, but you can trade the rest of the captured commanders for that.