The Threads of the Last Several Weeks: Camp Douglas and John Peter

As is the usual case, I start off at this point and end up way over there on things.  It's like getting on You Tube and listening to old music.  No telling where or how many hours later I will be.

I started on an article that compared Chicago's Camp Douglas with the Confederacy's Andersonville which led to Confederates buried in Illinois, both those who died in prisons in the state and those who died after the war while living in Illinois.  There was one in McHenry County and two in Lake County.

Then, I came across the name of John Peter, a noted businessman in Algonquin, Illinois, here in McHenry County.  he was in the 88th Illinois (2nd Chicago Board of Trade Regiment).  That led to research on its commander, Col. Francis T. Sherman and a Captain Alexander C. McClurg.  McClurg was a military advisor to several Union generals and later an important publisher in Chicago with his McClurg Building still standing.

His father and grandfather started and worked at the famed Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburgh, which supplied about 60% of the Union's artillery and also built the huge 20-inch Rodman guns.  I'll be writing about this early next month.

--Old Secesh