Edward Kittoe Inspected Camp Douglas Prison in Chicago in 1864

From Official Records War of the Rebellion.

Report of inspection made by Edward Kittoe by order of  Cpl. R.C.  Wood, Assistant Surgeon General , U.S. Army,  on January 18, 1864.

He reported that the site was not very good  because of drainage and proximity to Lake Michigan and exposure to cold, damp winds.  "Marshy character of the soil" perfect for fostering diseases.  Plus, at time of inspection ground covered by frost and snow.

As far as prisoners, the soil is excellent for tunneling for escape.  Plus, proximity to large city pf Chicago makes it hard to guard against southern sympathizers.

Barracks and latrines of guards in very good shape.

However, this can not be said for the conditions of the prisoners.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County CW Round Table Prisons Discussion-- Part 7

Continued from April 6, 2021.

Continued from the March meeting of the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group.

**  Barracks were more often built in Northern prisons than Southern ones.

**  56,000 from both sides died in prisons.

**  13,000 alone died at Andersonville.

**  At Andersonville, one group of Union prisoners called the Raiders and Regulators were buried separately.  they were tried by the other prisoners and eight executed and others forced to "Run the Gauntlet."

**  In contrast, during World War II, German and Italian prisoners held in the United States had it made.

**  At Rock island, food was distributed to barracks and prisoners passed out proportions.

**  Boston Corban, who shot Booth, spent four months at Andersonville.

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The topic of discussion for April will be April/May 1865, which was a very important period of time in the war with the fall of Richmond, surrenders, assassination of Lincoln and hunt for Booth.  This was our first hybrid Live/Zoom meeting and it was a success with four in attendance and four more on Zoom, including one from Florida.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Civil War Prisons-- Part 2:

Some more prison questions:

7.  William Butler, for whom Camp Butler was named, was a member of what famous Illinois group of politicians which included Abraham Lincoln?

8.  How did this group get their name?

9.  Enlisted Confederates captured at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, on January 15, 1865, were mostly sent to what prison in New York.

10.  What was the nickname Confederates held at this prison gave it?

11.   Two of the prisons in which Confederate officers were sent were in New York Harbor and Lake Erie.  What were the names of these two prisons?

12.  Who was the highest ranking Confederate officer to die while a prisoner?

13.  What was the name of the U.S. ship which was the target of a clandestine operation to free Confederate officers held in the Lake Erie prison?

14.  Why was this ship later renamed the USS Wolverine?

Answers in Next Post.  --Old Secesh

McHenry Civil War Round Table Discussion Group Meeting Today: Here's Your Quiz

We'll be trying a hybrid live and Zoom meeting at 10 a.m. at Stucky's in Johnsburg, Illinois.

Today's topic:  Civil War Prisons North and South.

Here are a few questions to get you started:

1.  How many prisons were in Illinois?

2.  Where were these prisons?

3.  The Alton Military Prison was replaced by what Illinois prison?

4.  Who was Camp Butler named after?

5.  William Butler was a member of what famous Illinois Lincoln group? 

6.  The Joliet Prison was featured in two movies.  Name one of them.

--Old Secesh

Springfield, Illinois' Camp Butler: Union Training Camp, Confederate POW Camp

From the Springfield 2016 Visitors Guide.

CAMP BUTLER NATIONAL CEMETERY

Camp Butler was once the site of a Union Army training camp for regiments raised in Illinois.  It later became a Confederate prison.  Now, it is a national cemetery for veterans and their descendants.

It was named for Illinois treasurer at the time, William Butler, not Benjamin Butler as I had thought at one time. William T. Sherman helped pick the site.  It was the second-largest training camp in Illinois, after Chicago's Camp Douglas.  By the end of the war, some 200,000 Union troops had passed through it.

More than 25,000 individuals are buried here, including over 1,700 Union and Confederate soldiers.  As many as 700 prisoners died there during 1862 as an epidemic of smallpox and other diseases ran rampant. There are 866 Confederate graves with a marker placed in their midst in the early 2000s by the Illinois Division Sons of Confederate Veterans.

5063 Camp Butler Road

Camp Douglas Prison -- Andersonville of the North-- Part 6

Gale F. red has compiled separate rosters for Confederates buried at the Alton Confederate Cemetery (Alton Prison), Camp Butler National Cemetery (Camp Butler Prison), Rock island National Cemetery (Rock Island Prison), Oak Woods Cemetery (Camp Douglas Prison) and Mounds City National Cemetery (Mounds City Cemetery.

These were all prisons for Confederates in the State of Illinois.

Most people in Illinois are unaware of the large number of Confederate buried in the state who died while prisoners of war.  But most also know about the horrors of Andersonville.

--Old Secesh.