Camp Douglas held a total of 30, Confederate prisoners during the Civil War.
But What About Those Northern Prison Camps?
Death also came as a result of withholding rations, torture by prison guards and neglect of soldiers who were ill. Inept record keeping makes it nearly impossible to calculate the number of dead soldiers buried in mass graves at Camp Douglas. During the Civil War, over prison camps were utilized in the north and south. One a prison camp for Confederate soldiers, Camp Butler is now a national cemetery containing the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers. Reed, lists each county in Illinois, the cemetery and the town where Confederate soldiers are buried.
You can find your town and visit the local cemetery to find out more about these soldiers who fought for the South. While the North celebrated the presidential election results confirming Abraham Lincoln as the sixteenth president, South Carolina called for a state convention to vote on secession.
On December 20, , by unanimous vote, South Carolina seceded from the Union. Jefferson Davis served in the Senate representing Mississippi. Davis was against secession but when Mississippi left the Union, Davis felt he had to follow and on January 21, , he resigned from the Senate. On February 9, Davis was elected president of the provisional government and on November 6, was elected President of the Confederate States of America.
But What About Those Northern Prison Camps?
The new Confederate government created their own constitution. Very similar to the United States Constitution, it contained a preamble and seven articles. One difference between the Confederate and United States Constitution was that the president and vice-president of the Confederacy would hold office for a term of six years.
Montgomery would not remain the capitol long, excessive heat and mosquitoes drove the members to relocate in Richmond, Virginia. General Robert E.
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Grant launched an assault forcing the evacuation of Richmond and the confederate government. Moving the government proved difficult as the Union forces began closing in on the Confederacy. A reward for the capture of Jefferson Davis made travel difficult and little could be accomplished with such chaos. During the Civil War the Confederacy moved to three different capitols. There were few troops left to rally because many soldiers had deserted their regiments to go home and bringing them back to battle would be impossible.
No matter how many soldiers the Confederacy could obtain there was no way to feed or supply troops and the Union Army would always out number them. Davis evacuated Richmond and moved the Confederate government to Danville, Virginia, the third and final capitol of the Confederacy. Danville did not welcome the government or Jefferson Davis. Many feared that the Union Army would destroy their homes or even kill them for housing the confederate government.
Danville was a temporary capitol lasting only eight days before Jefferson Davis was forced to move deeper south to protect the Confederacy. He was never brought to trial but was never pardoned for the crimes and lost his United States citizenship. Primary Sources in the Classroom.
Collection Connections Historical content and ideas for teaching with specific Library of Congress primary source collections.
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These maps were used by Generals Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson in developing strategies for battles. First Person Narratives of the American South, Containing accounts of the American South, this collection draws from diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, travel accounts, and ex-slave narratives. Themed Resources One-stop access to the Library's best exhibitions, activities, primary sources, and lesson plans on popular curricular themes.
The Civil War Examine different points of view from both the Union and the Confederacy through poetry, music, images, letters, maps and other primary documents. Lesson Plans Teacher created lesson plans using Library of Congress primary sources.
Camp Chase
Women in the Civil War: Ladies, Contraband and Spies This lesson uses primary sources - diaries, letters, and photographs - to explore the experiences of women in the Civil War. By looking at a series of document galleries, the perspectives of slave women, plantation mistresses, female spies, and Union women emerge. Civil War Photographs: The Matthew Brady Bunch Students become reporters, assigned to sort through photographs and find one that will bring the war alive to their readers.
They write a newspaper article based on their chosen photograph and publish it on the World Wide Web. Some soldiers fared better in terms of shelter, clothing, rations, and overall treatment by their captors. Others suffered from harsh living conditions, severely cramped living quarters, outbreaks of disease, and sadistic treatment from guards and commandants. When prisoner exchanges were suspended in , prison camps grew larger and more numerous.
Overcrowding brutalized camp conditions in many ways. Of the more than prisons established during the war, the following seven examples illustrate the challenges facing the roughly , men who had been imprisoned by war's end. The Confederacy opened Salisbury Prison , converted from a robustly constructed cotton mill, in In the early months of the camp's existence, the conditions inside Salisbury were quite good, relatively speaking. The or so Union soldiers interned there were fed meager yet adequate rations, sanitation was passable, shielding from the elements was provided, and the prisoners were even allowed to play recreational games such as baseball.
However, as the war progressed, the conditions at Salisbury plummeted. By October of , the number of Union prisoners inside Salisbury swelled to more than 5, men, and within a few more months that number skyrocketed to more than 10, With the increase in men came overcrowding, decreased sanitation, shortages of food, and thus the proliferation of disease, filth, starvation, and death. This is a common thread among camps over the course of the Civil War. Salisbury marks a prime example of the effects that overcrowding had on prison populations, especially given the stark contrast in its camp death rate.
Alton Federal Prison , originally a civilian criminal prison, also exhibited the same sort of horrifying conditions brought on by overcrowding. Even though antebellum prison buildings provided some protection from the elements, blistering summers and brutal winters weakened the immune systems of the already malnourished and shabbily clothed Rebel prisoners. Communicable diseases such as smallpox and rubella swept through Alton Prison like wild fire, killing hundreds.
One smallpox outbreak claimed the lives over men during the winter of alone.
Of the 11, Confederates who entered Alton Federal Prison, no fewer than 1, perished as result of various diseases and aliments. Originally constructed to hold political prisoners accused of assisting the Confederacy, Point Lookout was expanded upon and used to hold Confederate soldiers from onward. Due to its proximity to the Eastern Theater, the camp quickly became dramatically overcrowded. In September , Rebel prisoners totaled 4, men. By December of that year, more than 9, were imprisoned.
At its peak, over 20, Confederate soldiers occupied Point Lookout at any given time, more than double its intended occupancy. By the time the Civil War ended, more 52, prisoners had passed through Point Lookout, with upwards of 4, succumbing to various illnesses brought on by overcrowding, bad sanitation, exposure, and soiled water. Human error in the form of overcrowding the camps —a frequent cause of widespread disease — is to blame for many of the deaths at Point Lookout, Alton, and Salisbury. In some instances, however, simple error and ignorance devolved into treachery and malicious intent, culminating in tragic losses of human life.
Elmira Prison , also known as "Hellmira," opened in July of It quickly became infamous for its staggering death rate, unfathomable living conditions, and for its sadistic commandant, Col. William Hoffman. Hoffman forced Confederate prisoners to sleep outside in the open while furnishing them with little to no shelter. Prisoners relied upon their own ingenuity for constructing drafty and largely inadequate shelters consisting of sticks, blankets, and logs. As a result, the Rebels spent their winters shivering in biting cold and their summers in sweltering, pathogen-laden heat.
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Overcrowding was yet again a major problem. Although Union leadership mandated a ceiling of 4, prisoners at Elmira, within a month of its opening that numbered had swelled to 12, men.