Camp Morton - Indianapolis

[paulcalloway]

I was interested today, while reading a book by Winslow & Moore on Camp Morton, in finding the actual location of Camp Morton. Here is what I found out:

Camp Morton contained approximately 36 acres of land. Today that land is borderd by Nineteenth Street, Talbott Avenue, Twenty-second Street, and Central Avenue.

Using that information, I looked up the location of Camp Morton on the aerial view of MapQuest and this is what I came up with.

(Information from Camp Morton 1861-1865: Indianapolis Prison Camp, by Hattie Lou Winslow and Joseph R. H. Moore, Indiana Historical Society, 1995. IHS Call Number: E616.M8 W56 1995.

Some other images worth viewing:
http://images.indianahistory.org/u?/dc008,0 Entrance to Camp Morton
http://images.indianahistory.org/u?/dc008,181 Colorized woodcut of Camp Morton, Appeared in Harper's Weekly
http://images.indianahistory.org/u?/dc008,7 Prison Layout
http://images.indianahistory.org/u?/dc008,1 Inside Camp Morton
http://images.indianahistory.org/u?/dc008,2 Inside Camp Morton
http://images.indianahistory.org/u?/dc008,3 Inside Camp Morton

Website devoted to Camp Morton:

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~indiana42nd/campmorton.htm

[Old Reb]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

Paul,
Thanks you very much for posting the above information. I knew the physical address, but had never seen it from the vantage point of a map and an arerial view. The photos are excellent. My primary interest in Camp Morton dates from when I found my great grandfather had spent a number of months there after being captured at Fort Donaldson. He faired much better than his brother who was sent to Camp Douglas.

[paulcalloway]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

Tom -
Glad the above is of interest. You might be interested to note that there is a park in the lower center of that image - the Herron-Morton Place Historic Park. I'm attaching an aerial image of the park. This is apparently where the entrance was to the camp and a couple markers are there now noting the location.

Also, in one of the aerial images above a red star appears north of Camp Morton - disregard that. I think it's a beauty parlor or something that I neglected to remove.

Sadly, even the "Potomac" river is gone.

[boozie]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

That was quite a little move for the remains of the soldiers taken to Crown Hill Cemetery on 38th St. The markers for these men at Crown Hill are really something to see, as they are by state. Though, at the site of Camp Chase, each soldier has an individual marker which carrys even more power to ones mind about prison camp.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

Thanks for posting that Paul. A while back I posted asking if anything had been done there as far as preservation or marking, and as I can see through the photos, that's pretty hard to do. As an expatriot Hoosier living in Florida, I hadn't been in Indianapolis for many years and had never been to the site. By the way, the book you mentioned on Camp Morton is an excellent resource for information about how the camp ran.

[paulcalloway]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

Ross -
There's apparently a new book out regarding Camp Morton entitled, Den of Misery: Indiana's Civil War Prisonby James R. Hall. I just found out today about the book through Justin Runyon.

I'm going to look into picking a copy up.

[KyCavMajor]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

That was quite a little move for the remains of the soldiers taken to Crown Hill Cemetery on 38th St. The markers for these men at Crown Hill are really something to see, as they are by state. Though, at the site of Camp Chase, each soldier has an individual marker which carrys even more power to ones mind about prison camp.

There were bodies moved from Military Park off West Street also wern't there? Also I remember being told in the sixties by my uncle that there were still Confederate remains under the Diamond Chain Plant lot that were suppose to have been moved to Crown Hill, but all they really moved was the Headstones.
I know Military Park was the prdecessor to Morton, and an assembly area/training camp for new Indiana Regiments.

[FDTaylor]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

The book you refer to, Den of Misery by James R. Hall, was published by Pelican Publishing in Louisiana. ISBN: 978-1-58980-351-0. It should be available through Pelican's website, or Amazon, etc. It's a fairly short read (I read it in about two hours on a plane ride), but has some first hand accounts about the prison, and other sources that would be worthy of further pursuit.

Fred D. Taylor
Co. G, Portsmouth Rifles
9th Virginia Infantry

[Hoosier Yank]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

There were bodies moved from Military Park off West Street also wern't there? Also I remember being told in the sixties by my uncle that there were still Confederate remains under the Diamond Chain Plant lot that were suppose to have been moved to Crown Hill, but all they really moved was the Headstones.
I know Military Park was the prdecessor to Morton, and an assembly area/training camp for new Indiana Regiments.

I was raised on the Southside of Indy and two of my neighbors worked at Diamond Chain. They told me the exact same story about the bodies being left behind!

[MickCole]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

Paul,
Thanks for the information. My gg-grandfather Armstrong Abbott was detailed from the 59th Indiana Infantry to serve as a guard at Camp Morton. His pension record doesn't give much detail about his service other than that he contracted pneumonia shortly after arriving there, and was discharged a few weeks later. He never recovered, and it took several years and many doctors' opinions before his pension was finally approved.
I will definitely be following up on your links.
Mick Cole

[paulcalloway]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

Paul,
Thanks for the information. My gg-grandfather Armstrong Abbott was detailed from the 59th Indiana Infantry to serve as a guard at Camp Morton. His pension record doesn't give much detail about his service other than that he contracted pneumonia shortly after arriving there, and was discharged a few weeks later. He never recovered, and it took several years and many doctors' opinions before his pension was finally approved.
I will definitely be following up on your links.
Mick Cole

Good to hear his name wasn't "Baker" - that was the guard singled out in the 1891 accusations of Dr. Wyeth and his contemporaries as a person of inhuman capacity for cruelty.

[paulcalloway]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

HORRORS OF CAMP MORTON
by Dr. John A. Wyeth, of New York City

From the Memphis Commercial
HORRORS OF CAMP MORTON.
The Picture of Suffering and Hunger not Overdrawn--Rats and Cats were Toothsome Food, and Dog Meat could not be Bought--Despair and Death.
The article entitled "Cold Cheer in Camp Morton," by Dr. John A. Wyeth, of
New York city, and published in the Century Magazine, April, 1891, called forth severe criticism from many writers prominent in the North, and this induced
Dr. Wyeth to follow up the subject. He thereupon issued a circular-letter to ex-Confederate soldiers requesting such of them as were confined in Camp Morton to furnish him their personal experiences and observations as to the treatment they received.

Dr. Thomas E. Spotswood, of Fairford, Ala., who is a grandson of the revolutionary general, Alexander Spotswood, and also a descendant of the Custis family, has written the following letter to Dr. Wyeth, which the Commercial publishes by special permission:

In response to your request, published in the Southern papers, I will endeavor to give additional incidents of life at Camp Morton. But before I begin, allow me to say that your pen picture, "Cold Cheer in Camp Morton," published in the Century, is in nowise overdrawn and scarcely up to the reality. I was captured at the battle
of Resaca, Ga., on May 15, 1864, and was hurried to prison, via Chattanooga jail and Nashville penitentiary, with some forty others captured at the same place.
My experience at these points was about the same as yours.

In some instances great kindness was shown me. One cavalryman as he passed by me said: "Poor little Johnnie (I was seventeen years old), here's a coat; you'll need it where you're going"; and another pitched me a Bible, saying: "Read this and be a good boy." But as we got further away from the front our troubles began. At Nashville an Irishman wanted to kill a Reb, and when some one suggested he could find a few where we came from he lost his temper entirely, and cursed the whole South generally, and our little squad particularly. We remained one night in the penitentiary, where the hard rock floors in the halls of the prison were not conducive to sleep; but thanks to the kind United States soldier who gave me the overcoat, I was better off than the others, and managed to catch a few hours' sleep.

The trip the rest of the way was without incident, except that our captors convinced us that we were not going to prison, but only taking a trip at Uncle Sam's expense to Richmond, via Louisville, where we would be detained a few days until an exchange could be arranged. I must confess we were fully persuaded; so much so, that when one or two Texans were missing between Nashville and Louisville, we said how silly they were to try to escape, and possibly be recaptured or shot, when in a few weeks we would be in Richmond.

VAIN HOPE.
My father, who was surgeon in charge of the medical bureau of the Confederate navy, was in that city, and I had no doubt that in a short while I would see him, and have the pleasure of an introduction to President Davis and his cabinet. Foolish boy! It was many weary months ere I saw the loved ones in the Southern Capital, and then only a few weeks before the end.

After we left Nashville our guard gave his gun to one of his prisoners and went to sleep, and all could have made their escape had they chosen. We arrived at Indianapolis at daylight in the morning of the 22d of May, 1864.

Our ration of bread (one small loaf) came at 11 o'clock, and a small piece of meat
at 12 o'clock. We usually ate it as soon as received, and then drank as much water as we could hold, and tried to imagine we had a full meal. Another reason for eating it at once was to save it from being stolen, as the only way to keep it until evening was to put it under one's hat and sit on the hat; this plan being inconven- ient we made a light lunch of the whole ration and spent the balance of the day telling of the fine dinners we would have when we reached home when the cruel was over.

I remember seeing a man kill an old black cat and cook it in a tin can picked up near the hospital kitchen. I was offered a share in the feast, but declined, as I drew the line at rats and cats, though I offered ten cents for a small piece of dog, and was unable to buy it, as the possessor said he had none to spare.
During the first three months of our incarceration in Camp Morton, twenty-five per cent. of our men had died of the various prison diseases. Many would be picked up in a faint, or collapse from weakness and bowel disease, which they had no strength to combat from their long fast.

A TRAITOR IN CAMP.
I will not attempt to tell of the escapes and attempt to escape made during the summer, but will simply say that either ditches nor guards would have prevented our gaining freedom, but for the traitors among us, who for an extra ration would give the officers information that frequently led to recapture, punishment, and sometimes death. Often the dungeon and extra starvation were resorted to in these cases until a promise was extorted not to renew the attempt to escape.
The monotony of the summer months would be broken by the arrival of more poor unfortunates, and from them we would learn of battles fought and won by the South--if we had not already been apprised of the event by salutes fired and rockets sent up by our captors--all battles fought being celebrated as Union victories, whether lost or gained.

Soon after our arrival we made the acquaintance of one Sergeant Baker, who, we learned, had the reputation of having shot a prisoner, and who seemed to us to be looking out for a chance to try his hand again. Soon another poor fellow was added to his list, and shortly after he himself was missing, and the report reached us that he was dying--then that he was dead.

A worthy companion of Sergeant Baker, John Pfeifer, a fine looking young man, was put in charge. The first distardly act of his that I saw was in the early fall of '64, when, with an axe-handle, he beat and knocked down six men for some trifling disobediance of orders. Three of them with arms broken and two with heads badly damaged went to the hospital for treatment.

A FREEZING BATH.
During the winter, when the thermometer was below zero, I saw this fiend strip a man and give him a bath in a tub of water, using a common broom to scrub him with, and this fiendish deed was repeated the second time. I heard that both men died, though I do not know it of my own knowledge. I saw the baths given. I saw this man shoot a prisoner under my bunk for being up after bed-time. The poor fellow was one of the improvement kind; had sold his blanket and coat and was trying to keep warm over a few coals in the stove, when Pfeifer came suddenly to the door of the barracks; the prisoner ran under the lower bunk of my bed, and, failing to respond promptly to the order to come out, was fired on, the shell entering his heel and coming out near the knee. This bullet, no doubt, saved his life, as he was sent to the hospital, where he received kind treatment. Without blankets he could not have survived the winter of '64 and '65.

This brings me to that dreadful month of January, 1865, when we suffered most from the terrible cold. We were unable to remain outside but a few moments, as
our clothing and shoes were thin and in rags, so were forced to trot round in
circles on the mud floors of our pens, made soft by the snow brought in on the feet of the men. These trotting circles of men would last all day, new men taking the place of those dropping out from exhaustion. It was during this terrible weather
we would be forced to remain in line at roll-call for two hours at a time, because some sergeant had miscounted his men, or some poor fellow would be found dead in his bunk and was overlooked. Many men were frozen in this way and were carried to the hospital, where but few recovered, though when once in the hands
of the kind doctors and nurses they were sure of good attention and warm clothing.

DIED IN DESPAIR
Men died constantly, seemingly without a cause. They would appear less cheerful and less interested in life, and next morning, when summoned to roll-call, would
be found dead, either from starvation or cold, God only knows which. Many went this way and many to the hospital never to return. During this terrible month
our guards were changed, and the new-comers must needs practice on the poor prisoners, some of them practically dying, to see if they could not add to sufferings already to great to be borne.

One might I saw through a crack in the stable eight or ten men being drilled in the snow with a shoe in each hand, this being for the amusement of the new guard and for punishment to the prisoners for talking after going to bed. These are some of
the indignities that can be put into print, but there were things more cruel and revolting perpetrated by these guards on the defenceless men that cannot be printed.

If these numerous instances of shameful cruelty came under my personal observation, what number must have been perpetrated that none are living to record? The outrages practiced by the guards and sergeants were not all we were subjected to in December, 1864. There was an order issued by the commanding officer that the men should not remain in barracks (after the doctor has passed through) from 9 o'clock A. M. until 3 o'clock. Poorly clad, starving men were compelled to stand around in the snow until hundreds had their feet so badly frost-bitten that their toes came off. This cruel order was persisted in till many men died from exposure, when the order was countermanded. The excuse given for the order was that the men stayed in doors too much and would be benefited by exercise. Great Heavens! Had these officers raised the ragged coat or blanket from the first figure they met and looked at the emaciated, itch-scarred, vermin-eaten creature, they would have seen that the men needed more food and warm clothing to hold life in them, instead of more snow and cold north wind. I am told that the people of Indianapolis deny that these terrible things occurred in their fair city.

AN INSPECTION.
Possibly some of them will remember that during the month of December, 1864, the legislature of Indiana visited the prison in carriages, and the wretched Confederates were forced to stand in line more than an hour for their inspection. No doubt they reported the men in fair condition. Ask any one of these legislators if he stopped to raise the ragged blanket of one of these wretches, or look into his sunken eyes, and he will tell you that they simply passed them in review.
This was the only way an outsider ever saw us. No visitor could speak to us without an order from the President. My uncle, I. B. Curran, of Springfield, Illinois, came to the prison, but was not permitted to see me. Thanks to his and other friends' generosity, I was supplied with as much money, in the shape of sutler's tickets, as I needed, and all the clothes and blankets allowed by the prison rules. This enabled my comrades, Cyrus Spraggins, of Mississippi, and John Moore, of Selma, Alabama, and myself to buy the much-sought-after top bunk, and to live in comparative comfort. I was also visited by General John Love, of the United States army, who was denied the privilege of seeing me. This shows that no one was permitted to see the prisoners; therefore, the citizens of Indianapolis can know nothing of what happened in their midst.

I agree with you, sir, that the cruelties suffered by the prisoners of both armies should not have been laid before the public; but since our friends on the other side have done so much to show how cruel the South was, and still continue to publish these sad and horrible facts, and even move the prison buildings to northern cities to keep these facts fresh in the minds of each succeeding generation, it is but fair that we of the South should let the world know that the prison-pens of the North were no whit better than the worst in the South.

CONCERNING THE WRITER.
A few words about myself and I am done. At the time of my capture I was a private in Company F, Fifty-third Alabama cavalry. Shortly after the war, in 1868, I was employed by the Pensacola Lumber Company, at their mills near Pensacola, Florida, first as clerk in their store, from which place I was promoted to be superintendent of their log department and other places of trust. I remained with them six years, and when I resigned to go into business on my own account, I had the confidence of the officers of the company, and refer to W. A. Parke, of New York, who was cashier of the company at the time. I have, up to five years ago, been employed either by timber firms of Mobile or shipping timber and lumber on my own account. I refer to Edwin W. Adams & Co., of New York, and George McInestin & Co., of Boston, who were correspondents of mine. Four years ago
I accepted the position of superintendent of the Seaboard Manufacturing Company, of Mobile, and refer to the president of that company, H. D. Haven, and Messrs. Lombard & Ayers, of No. 12 Broadway, New York, who, no doubt, will give me a fair record for veracity and integrity. I am a member of the Raphael Semmes Camp of Confederate Veterans, and of the Lee Association of Mobile, Alabama. I can also refer to the Hon. R. H. Clarke and the Hon. Stephen R. Mallory, members of Congress.

Source:
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PAPERS, Vol. XVIII. Richmond, Va., Dec., 1890, pp 328 -333.

[paulcalloway]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

The article "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton" referenced above appeared in the April 1891 publication of Century Magazine. You can view the magazine and the article in the Making of America Collection at Cornell. (http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/)

Here's a direct link to Wyeth's original article.

The article put Indianapolis and the whole state of Indiana on alert. A meeting was held on April 10th, 1891 in downtown Indianapolis to formulate a defense and the result of that defense is W.R. Holloway's Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton which appeared in Century Magazine in October of that same year.

Holloway paints an almost surreal picture of life in Camp Morton - he would have you think these men stayed in Gingerbread Houses and dined on plum-pudding daily.

Wyeth wasn't disuaded, he provided a second treatise on life at Camp Morton and this time he martialed forth incriminating reports from notable and reputable citizens at least one of which was then a U.S. Congressman and another who was then a U.S. Senator.

I've read many quotes from Wyeth's reply and he made such a case for the mal-treatment of prisoners at Camp Morton that any reasonable person would be summarily convinced in the reliability of his original supposition - that Confederate prisoners at Camp Morton were abused to a remarkable degree.

They were exposed to the elements - particularly during the winter of 1864 when temperatures were said to reach negative 20 degrees. Prisoners were kept in buildings built for keeping livestock - they were 80 feet long, 20 feet wide, 10 foot tall at the eaves and 15 foot tall at the beam. While the roofing was reportedly sound there were enormous gaps in the siding and there were apparently gaps between the walls and rooflines that exceeded 1 foot in areas. There were not enough blankets and many prisoners shared a single blanket between one or two messmates. They were not well clothed - either the Senator or the Congressman I mentioned above was quoted as saying in the 17 months he was at Camp Morton he never was issued any clothing. On one morning after a particularly cold night in 1864, 18 corpses were (according to the prisoners) removed from the barracks - prisoners who had frozen to death throughout the night.

They were not well fed - they did have a bakery on site that supplied fresh bread but the rest of the rations were insufficient. One prisoner wrote to the Century noting that he could usually fit his entire meat ration in his mouth at once.

They were physically and emotionally abused - according to one of Wyeth's contemporaries men were forced to "mark time" in the snow for over an hour for various offenses. On at least one occasions this lead to frostbite, gangrene and eventually death. This Private Baker - who later became Sergeant - was a particularly cruel character who several prisoners reported as carrying a rolled up gum-blanket and regularly beating prisoners mercilessly for little or no provocation. Apparently only three prisoners were allowed at the latrine at any one time and Baker was relentless on those who dallied.

It's really an interesting study and a lot of materials can be find online.

I haven't purchased Den of Misery yet but I did read it almost in its entirety at the Fort Wayne library and its an excellent resource. The Winslow and Moore book, Camp Morton 1861-1865 - Indianapolis Prison Camp, is a must read as well - I bought a copy on Amazon for less than $10.

[KyCavMajor]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

I was raised on the Southside of Indy and two of my neighbors worked at Diamond Chain. They told me the exact same story about the bodies being left behind!

We need to get those "History's Mysteries" guys out there. I wonder if they will turn up as they build the new football stadium

[paulcalloway]

Re: Camp Morton - Indianapolis

Here was the Regiment charged with guarding Camp Morton after the 71st Indiana left in '63.

Veteran Reserve: 5th Regiment

Organized at Indianapolis, Ind., October 10, 1863, by consolidation of the 33rd, 35th, 36th, 40th, 44th, 45th, 109th, 149th, 152nd and 154th Companies, 1st Battalion. Mustered out July 2 to November 23, 1865, by detachments.

Baker - the cruel guard mentioned by Wyeth and his contemporaries would likely have been in this consolidated Regiment.

Source:
Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Compiled and Arranged from Official Records of the Federal and Confederate Armies, Reports of he Adjutant Generals of the Several States, the Army Registers, and Other Reliable Documents and Sources.Des Moines, Iowa: The Dyer Publishing Company, 1908.