The Types of Civil War Prisons

At the beginning of the Civil War, either side had made suitable plans for the imprisonment or care of prisoners. The North believed that the war would be short and over in a few months, then when it began in earnest, there was little time to be spent on prison policy. The South at first didn't believe there would be a war and did not make adequate plans for prisoners.

Early in the war until October of 1862, captured soldiers were exchanged on the battlefield. On July 18, 1863, a cartel for parole and exchange of prisoners was signed and ratified and was called the Dix-Hill Cartel. This cartel failed almost as soon as it was signed, one main reason was the South's stand on black prisoners. Most Civil War Prisons were not meant to be used for that purpose. They were warehouses, some with no buildings at all, just a stockade type fence surrounding the enclosure that held the prisoners. Whatever type of housing inside these prisons were left up to the prisoners to use whatever they could find.

Basically there were three types of prisons. First was the type that was made to hold criminals, like old penitentiaries, mainly this type was used only as a temporary holding place until the prisoners could be moved to other sites. Second are the fortifications, i.e., forts and third are the buildings that were constructed for other uses, such as warehouses, factories and barracks. All were over crowded holding many more than it was intended to.

There were many different prisoner of war sites on both sides; here are a few of the better known ones for the North:

Camp Randall was located near Madison, Wisconsin. It was only in existence for three months, yet 139 confederate soldiers died. It was originally a state fairground, it had no provisions for housing prisoners, and only wooden frame huts in a corner with stockade build around them.

Camp Chase located at Columbus, Ohio as originally used as a training ground for Union Soldiers. At first the discipline at the camp was lax, but after citizen's complaints, things changed. The Commissary Officer and Camp Commander were replaced and control of the prison was taken over by the Federal government. Conditions deteriorated as the war continued on, food was of poor quality and living conditions were very poor. Barracks leaked muddy ground with open latrines all resulting in an outbreak of smallpox. What was meant to hold 4,000 men were jammed with 7,000, by the end of the war, 10,000 was housed there. Today at Champ Chase Confederate Cemetery, over 2000 Confederate soldiers are buried.

Alton was in the abandoned Illinois State Penitentiary, located near the Mississippi River in Alton Illinois. During its time of operation, nearly 3 years, it held almost 12,000 confederate solidiers. An estimate of deaths are around 1500-2000 thousand prisoners, one of the main causes was smallpox. One sad note is that due to neglect of the old cemetery, today, the names are unidentifiable.

Camp Douglas was located in Chicago near Lake Michigan. It had the reputation of having the highest mortality rate of all the Union's prisons. It was built on low ground that flooded every time it rained. The barracks were very poor and dirty, and the food was routinely withheld from the prisoners. Many starved to death or froze during the bitter winters. In 1864, 1091 died in only four months, which was preventable if the Government would have helped. The South had Andersonville but the North had Camp Douglas, the North kept the history of Camp Douglas low key, with many of the records having been lost.

Old Capitol Prison was located in Washington DC and was originally a tavern and boarding house. After the capitol building was burned in the War of 1812, the nation's capitol was housed there. Belle Boyd and Rose O'Neal, confederate spies, were incarcerated there. The hanging of Capt Henry Wirz and the Lincoln Assassinations conspirators were done there. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court Building now stands where the Old Capitol Prison once stood.

Fort Delaware was constructed on a marshy island called Pea Patch Island. It covered 6 acres, in the shape of a pentagon. The commander was Gen Albin Schoept and was known as General Terror, and was hated by the confederate prisoners. After the battle of Gettysburg the prison population increased to almost 13,000, causing horrible conditions. Water was bad, and food scarce, smallpox, scurvy and malnutrition was prevalent.

Elmirawas a barracks in Elmira, NY before being converted into a prison in May 1864. Living conditions were terrible, only half could live in the barracks, others in tents. Elmira contained 40-acre's and was below the level of the Chemung River making drainage very difficult, therefore sanitary conditions were bad. Food was bad, a lack of vegetables resulted in many cases of scurvy. By May of 1865, the total number of prisoners was 12,122 and the death rate was 25% and Elmira was only in operation for a year.[1]

Point Lookout is located in Saint Mary's County, Maryland and was the largest and worst of the Northern Prisons. Around about 40 acres, a fourteen foot high wooden wall was built, where guards would patrol. One of the units that rotated for guard duty was from an African American regiment which many were former slaves, who were now guarding their former masters. This caused many problems, many of the guards were brutal in their treatment of the prisoners, and others were not. There were no building built for the prisoners, only tents were given to them. During the period of 1863-1865, almost 50,000 confederate enlisted men were detained there. Estimated number of deaths at Point lookout is debatable, anywhere from 14,000, which there is no evidence of this many, to 3,384 in a mass grave in the cemetery.

The following is a few of the better known Confederate Prisoner of War Camps:

Libby was located in Richmond, Virginia, the building, three stories high at the front and four stories high in the rear. The building was an about 135 feet wide and 90 feet back to Canal Street. Each story was divided into three divided into three low, oblong rooms, 45 by 90 feet with exposed beams.[2] Many escapes were made from Libby, on February 9^th, 1864 109 officers tunneled their way out, 48 were recaptured, 59 made it to Union lines and 2 drowned.

Belle Isle was a small island on the James River, west of Richmond, Virginia. This prison held only non-commissioned officers and enlisted men. There were about 5000 prisoners of war held at Belle Isle who lived in tents and was exposed the elements, intense heat in the summer and cold in the winter. At first the prisoners were allowed to swim in the river, but after Capt Henry Wirz took command of the prisons in Richmond, he gave the order to stop the swimming. Eventually all the prisoners were shipped to other prisons and it was shut down.

Castle Thunder was formed by three buildings, one main building with two smaller ones on each side. At first it housed confederate deserters and political prisoners, then Yankee prisoners of war. Castle Thunder has a reputation of being a brutal place, due to the prison commandant, Capt George W. Alexander. Capt Alexander treated the prisoners very badly and even the guards were brutal always waiting for a chance to shoot at anyone coming near the windows.

Andersonville by far the most infamous Confederate Prison. Andersonville was located in the village of Andersonville, Sumpter County, Georgia and consisted of 27 acres enclosed with pine logs that stood 20 feet high. There were no barracks for the prisoners to live in; most of them had nothing, if they were lucky maybe a blanket to make a lean-to. A dead-line was established in that if a prisoner would cross or even touch it; guards would shoot them without warning. Many prisoners died from hunger or diseases such as scurvy, diarrhea, smallpox, typhoid, dysentery and gangrene. Death by guards or other prisoners was common place. Capt Henry Wirz was the only prison commandant hung after the war for brutal treatment of prisoners. The total death rate at Andersonville was nearly 13000 Union soldiers.[3]

Civil War prisons were a necessary evil of the times, no one at the beginning of the Civil War had any idea of the costs, buildings and food that would be needed to take care of prisoners of war. They were build without much thought as to the care of the prisoners, or buildings were impressed into use that was not meant to house many people. Many thousands died from both North and South because of poor planning and unqualified people appointed to run these prisons.

At the beginning of the Civil War, prisoners were exchanged on a one to one basis. But that all changed when General U.S. Grant stopped all exchanges in an attempt to shorten the war. Before this happened there were problems with exchanges between the North & South. The South did not want to exchange African American Soldiers, and the North insisted that they be treated as the white soldiers.

The South had a real problem in trying to care for the POW's. They had little food and necessary supplies for their own army and or its citizens. Medical supplies, clothing, lumber, were all in short supply. The government had no way resupply, with the federal blockade being very effective in blocking supplies get through the lines. It would have been to the benefit to the Southern cause and to the Northern prisoners if prisoner exchanges continued.

The North had none of the problems facing the South. They had unlimited resources, no blockade to contend with. If the government wanted, the prisons could have been well care for and many POW's deaths could have been avoided. Hearing how the Northern POW's were faring in southern prisons, the North adopted the policy of an "eye for an eye".

Given that atrocities were committed on both sides, and there were brutal Prison Commander's and guards that had control over these prisoners, blame must be placed both on the North and the South. It is a sad note to the memory of thousands of American soldiers, North & South that they lie in their graves, unnamed, known only to their God.

[1] CensusDiggins.com/prispms_elmira

[2] Portals To Hell - Military Prisons of the Civil War by Lonnie R. Speer

[3] Portals To Hell - Military Prisons of the Civil War, Pg 260, by Lonnie R. Speer