** The Civil War marked when the United States went from relatively small armies to really big ones. At the same time, the number of prisoners boomed right along with it.. Neither side was prepared to handle this influx of prisoners.
** For many years, Ernie Griffin operated a funeral home near the Camp Douglas grounds. He had a museum of sorts to the camp. What was surprising was that Mr. Griffin was a black man.
I was at a re-enactment in Wauconda, Illinois, several years back and a man came up to me and wanted to know if anyone in the SCV would be interested in some Confederate items from Mr. Griffin's collection.
** Montreal, Canada, was a hub for Confederate espionage operations. Some of them involved freeing prisoners up North.
** There was discussion about the SS Sultana tragedy in which so many just-released Union prisoners from Andersonville and Cahaba prisons were on their way back home when the ship sank.
** The Union officer who caused the ship to be so overloaded in order to line his pockets with money was one Ruben Hatch. He was a man who never missed a chance to enrichen himself. He had friends and connections with Abraham Lincoln which saved his hide.
Grant knew Ruben Hatch and wanted him court martialed, but couldn't because of those connections.
--Old Secesh
No comments:
Post a Comment