Civil War Prison Camps?

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Growing up in the Richmond Suberbs I had the oppurtunity to visit Belle Isle many times...Belle Isle is an island sitting in the middle of the James River and was the site of a C.S. prison camp for the detainment of Federal soldiers. The site of the camp was a few acres on the North side of the island and although not much survives of the camps today, not much was there to begin with...visiting the site, one actually has a fair oppurtunity to visualize the camp as it was ca. ACW era.

Recently while working in Northwest Ohio, I had the oppurtunity to visit Johnson's Island (an island sitting just to the Northwest of Sandusky Bay~off of Lake Eerie) and site of a Federal prison camp for the detainment of primarily Confederate Officers. The experience; kind of a let-down...while it was cool visiting a place I had never been before...virtually nothing of the camp survives to this day other than the prison cemetary w/ Moses Ezekiel's statue "The Lookout" standing silent vidual over his fallen comrades. This is fast being encroached upon by more recent developement.

My question...out of the dozens of prison camps...how many survive without developement? Are these well-marked and identified, are there local museums/visitors centers?

[cprljohnivey]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

Visit Ft. Delaware. Other than converting the fort for some Span-AM disappearing guns... half the fort is pretty much the same. The wooden barracks are all gone but they have a nice repro there now.

[Southern Cal]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

Andersonville is worth visiting, especially on a clear, hot day in August, to get the full experience. The entire stockade perimeter is marked by white stakes and the "dead line" is marked by smaller stakes. One gate house and one corner of the stockade, along with a guard tower, has been rebuilt. The bases of the original posts apparently remained in the ground which made laying out the perimeter and accurate reconstruction of part of the camp possible. In the reconstructed corner of the camp, a bunch of shelter halves and improvised shebangs are erected to give one a sense of how cramped and squalid were the conditions at Andersonville. The remains of Confederate earthworks surrounding the camp at Andersonville are also evident, designed to keep Union forces from relieving the camp. In the town of Andersonville is a small obelisk memorial to Capt. Henry Wirz, the Commandant of the prison camp, executed after the war. A small eatery across the street sells broken pieces of Kaolin, apparently mined in the area, packaged in cellophane as "Genuine White Georgia Rocks".

[3alabama]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

There is Governor's Island at the southern tip of Manhattan. It still has the building known as Castle William that house CS enlisted and the fort housed the officers. It is a NPS site but does not have a vistor center. The only way onto the island is by ferry, no bridge over to it. The back side of the island has been developed because this was used as a coast guard base until recently. From what I understand most of that stuff built for the CG will be torn down. The island is larger now that during the ACW but what was there at the time still remains. It is a cool place to visit.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

I'd have to add Fort Pulaski, on Tybee Island near Savannah Georgia. Well maintained and interpreted, with a little museum.

A small eatery across the street sells broken pieces of Kaolin, apparently mined in the area, packaged in cellophane as "Genuine White Georgia Rocks".

You know what that's for, don't you? Folks weren't call "clay eaters" for nothing.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Southern Cal]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

I've been to Fort Pulaski and thought well worth the visit. I wasn't aware or have forgotten that it was used as a military prison. The first time I saw any CW reenactors in person was at Ft. Pulaski, in 1993. They formed a battery of Confederate artillery and put on a great demonstration for the public. Nice uniforms all trimmed in red. Their NCO went completely out of his way to gave me a lift all the way back to the riverside in Savannah. Saved me a fifteen dollar taxi fare. I know what remedy Kaolin is used to make. "The Sinks" forum is an appropriate place to mention it.

[jchristiansen]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

To add to the list of sites and current status:

Ft. Jefferson, Dry Tortugas - an NPS site

Castle Pinckney, Charleston harbor - currently undeveloped

site of Immortal 600 compound on Sullivan's Island, Charleston - currently undeveloped

Old City Jail, Charleston - currently houses a school for learning historic trade skills

Florence, South Carolina - site is undeveloped, Nat'l Cemetery, CW Trails marker on-site, I believe the city history museum has mention of it

Johnson's Island - partially developed

Camp Chase, Columbus, OH - cemetery remains

Camp Douglas, Chicago - mostly developed, dead at Oak woods Cemetery, Chicago Historical Society may have some exhibit or info

Ft. Warren, Boston - undeveloped, open to public

Point Lookout, MD - a state park

Rock Island, IA - currently a US arsenal, has museum, cemetery, other sites

Ft. McHenry, Baltimore - NPS site

Ft. Mifflin, Philadelphia - state park

Elmira, NY - prison site developed but a monument is there, cemetery exists

Camp Ford, TX - county historical park

Camp Asylum, Columbia, SC - until recently park of the state mental health complex, this area is currently being developed for residential use but the historic structures will be retained (supposedly)

Salisbury, NC - national cemetery, seems to be mostly undeveloped, garrison house survives

Fort Norfolk, VA - although the fort is a US Corps of Engineers site, it is oversahdowed by development


Also keep in mind that many local jails, North and South, housed POWs being transported across the country for a night or two.

I found a dissertation on this subject when doing my thesis. I'll put the title from my bibliography tonight and post it. You should then be able to get it on interlibrary loan.

[paulcalloway]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

Camp Morton, Indianapolis is completely gone. A neighborhood called "Herron-Morton" place occupies most of the former Camp Morton grounds now. A small city park sits near what was the entrance of Camp Morton - it's only marked by a rock, placed there around 1916 by some elementary school students.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Johnson's Island

The attached picture is all that has been "preserved" of the Johnson's Island Prison Camp. It's the cemetary, and a few monuments.

I did find it odd...that within the cemetary are Confederate, Federal and even a few unidentified civilian graves.

For you Masons; several of the headstones also had masonic insignia, and the base of the statue was donated by the masons as well.

Paul

[Watchdog]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

Paul,

RE: Johnson's Island: Did you note the remains of the deadline, the CW era boat landing and the trenches around one of the earthen forts? There is an active preservation group trying to preserve what remains. I understood that there is an effort to replicate one of the buildings.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

Paul,

RE: Johnson's Island: Did you note the remains of the deadline, the CW era boat landing and the trenches around one of the earthen forts? There is an active preservation group trying to preserve what remains. I understood that there is an effort to replicate one of the buildings.

Bill,

I have heard of the local preservation group...even picked up one of their brochures in Marblehead (where they operate a small museum). Unfortunately, I did not make it over to the "museum" until the weekend after their season ended.

While discussing with some of the locals, it was mentioned that part of the deadline still existed (although I couldn't locate this). There is alot of New Construction on the Island, and it's becoming more residential. I do plan to contact the local preservation group and get an "in-house" tour to see what really, if anything remains.

I have heard nothing of replicating the buildings...and to be honest I'm not really sure where they would put it...some pretty expensice Bay homes are going up on the island...in addition to what's already there...my fear is that in the end "PROGRESS" will win this one!

Curious as to what you classify as a CW era boat landing (as there can be quite a difference in interpretation of this).

Link to local Johnson's Island Preservation Group:

http://www.johnsonsisland.org/

Anyone up for a weekend LH at Johnson's Island? Maybe it will be possible to organize something with the local preservation group?

Paul

[Rob Weaver]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

I'd come out to Sandusky to guard you!
On the site of the Elmira NY prison camp, there is a small information kiosk and the flagpole which was originally on the grounds. There are several prison-related items in the local historical society museum, free admission. The Confederate cemetary has a lovely bronze and is a very moving visit.

[jchristiansen]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

The PhD dissertation I referrred to in my earlier post is:

Roberts, Nancy A. "The Afterlife of Civil War Prisons and Their Dead." PhD. diss., University of Oregon.

I don't have the year it was written. As I recall, it was sort of a preservation survey of the remains of various POW camps, mostly in urban settings, and how the local communities had chosen to commemorate (or not) these sites. Again, you should be able to get it on interlibrary loan through your local library.

[GarrettG1993]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

The prison, Camp Ford is pretty nice. The Smith County Historical Society has funded the reconstruction of several of the huts the Union soldiers built the also have a small visitor center and museum that kind of looks like the main gate. Most of the original prison is undeveloped, with exception of the main gate which is under a highway.


Garrett Glover
1st Texas Light Artillery
Battery K

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Civil War Prison Camps?

I'd have to add Fort Pulaski, on Tybee Island near Savannah Georgia. Well maintained and interpreted, with a little museum.

Fort Pulaski is on Cockspur Island. Tybee Island is a mile or so away and is the location where most of the Federal batteries (that shelled Pulaski into submission in 1862) were situated.

Nothing remains of the U.S. prison camp at Elmira NY--most of the camp site was developed into single-family housing in the 1920s. Today the city's water filtration plant (potable water supply--NOT a "sewage plant" as is often alleged) sits on part of the camp site. There's a nicely done roadside monument with various displays commemorating the camp. The graves of 3,000 Confederate prisoners who died there in 1864-1865 are located a couple miles away at Woodlawn National Cemetery.