Lee and His Generals-- Part 3: William Henry Chase Whiting

He was at Fort Fisher when it was captured by Union forces on January 15, 1865, and wounded.  Taken to Fort Columbus on Governor's Island in New York Harbor as a prisoner, he was recovering from the wound when he contracted dysentery and died March 10, 1865, becoming the highest ranking Confederate officer to die in a Union prison.

He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in New York City, but his widow Kate had the body exhumed in 1900 and sent to Wilmington, North Carolina's Oakdale Cemetery.

One of W.H.C's brothers was Major Jasper Strong Whiting who died of scarlet fever December 25, 1862.

Another brother was Robert Edward Kerr Whiting was later in charge of Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

--Old Secesh

Answers to MCCWRT Prisons Quiz-- Part 2: Fort Fisher and a Great Lakes Warship

9.  Enlisted Confederates captured at Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865, were mostly sent to Elmira Prison Camp in New York.

10.  The Confederate nickname for this prison was "Hellmira" because of the horrific conditions.

11.  Two of the main prisons to which Confederate officers were sent during the war were  both in bodies of water.  One was Fort Columbus in New York Harbor.  The other was Johnson's Island in Lake Erie.

12.  Who was the highest ranking Confederate officer to die while a prisoner?  Maj. Gen. W.H.C. Whiting.  He was wounded at Fort Fisher, recovered from the wound, but died from dysentery.

13.What U.S. warship was the target of a Confederate plot to free officers held at Johnson's Island in Lake Erie?    USS Michigan

14.  The USS Michigan served for a long time but near the end of its career, its name was changed to the USS Wolverine.  Why?  So the name Michigan could be given to the battleship USS Michigan (BB-27).

How'd You Do?  --Old Secesh

The Bodies of John Yates Beall and W.H.C. Whiting

John Yates Beall's body was taken from Fort Columbus and originally interred in New York's Green-Wood Cemetery.

On March 22, 1870, the body was reinterred at Zion Episcopal Cemetery in Charles Town, West Virginia.

After the death of Confederate General W,H.C. Whiting, also at Fort Columbus, his body was also buried at New York's Green-Wood Cemetery.  His widow Kate Whiting had his body exhumed in 1900 and moved to Wilmington, North Carolina's Oakdale Cemetery.

Whiting is the highest ranking Confederate prisoner to die while in northern prison.  Of course, he was also a big player at Fort Fisher.

--Old Secesh

The Gallows At Fort Columbus Where Beall Was Hanged

From the February 25, 1865, New York Times.

"The gallows, the same used at the execution of GORDON, the slave trader, is not built with a drop, but furnished with weights and pulleys, by means of which the condemned man is jerked into the air with a sudden motion which instantly dislocates the vertebrae of the neck.

"Around one of the uprights, an inclosure of rough boards is erected, and the weights and pulleys, as well as the executioner, are thus concealed from view.  The noose is separate from the main end, and is provided with an iron ring, which hooks on to the gallow's rope.

"This horrible instrument of death was erected on the southerly slope of the island, facing southeast."

"The noose is the same one used to hang HICKS, the pirate GORDON, the slave trader, and the negro HAWKINS, who was executed for murder on the high seas."

Confederate Major General W.H.C. Whiting of Fort Fisher was at this fort at this time. I have to wonder what he thought of all this.

A More Humane Gallows?  --Old Secesh

The N.Y. Times Reports Beall's Death-- Part 2: The Gallows

PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXECUTION.

Beall's Personal Appearance.

The Death March.

 Under the Gallows.

The Executions.

His Last Words.

Death.

--Old Secesh

John Yates Beall-- Part 5: Lincoln Refuses to Get Involved and His Execution

Beall was then transported to Fort Columbus on Governors Island  in New York Harbor to await execution.

Then, the story of Beall's arrest and trial had reached the newspapers and efforts were made in his behalf to save him.  Appeals were made to President Abraham Lincoln by many prominent people, including six U.S. senators and 91  members of Congress.

But Lincoln refused to intervene. He usually would issue a pardon with that many requests.

Beall was executed February 24, 1865.

--Old Secesh

New York City's Defenses During the War-- Part 2

Twice during the early part of 1861, relief expeditions were sent to Major Anderson's troops at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor from  Fort Columbus (Fort Jay).  The Army secretly dispatched troops in the steamer Star of the West the first time but the ship was turned back by the cadets from Charleston's Citadel.  The second attempt resulted in the firing on Fort Sumter and the start of the war.

Once hostilities commenced, Fort Columbus was used as recruitment center and a hospital.

Confederate Major General William H.C. Whiting died of dysentery at the fort in February 1865 while being held prisoner at the base hospital.  He had been captured at Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865 and was the highest-ranking Confederate officer to die as a prisoner of war.

--Old Secesh

New York City's Defenses During the War-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

In my Not So Forgotten War of 1812 blog I have been writing about New York City's defensive fortifications during that war.  Two of them, however, have a Civil War connection.

These two fortifications were built to defend from an attack from the sea.

CASTLE WILLIAMS on Governors Island, called East Battery, was used as a center for new recruits in the early part of the war and then had a garrison for defense.  Later it was a a prison for captured Confederate enlisted soldiers.

FORT JAY (FORT COLUMBUS) was also located on Governors Island.  During the war, its armament was seriously upgraded to some of the largest caliber cannons in the North's arsenal, nearly 50 10-inch and 15-inch Rodman guns.

The North Barracks were used to house captured Confederate officers awaiting transfer to Camp Johnson in Ohio, Fort Delaware or Fort Warren in Boston Harbor.

--Old Secesh