Chales DeVilliers: Capture and Escape

As I wrote in the last post, he was taken prisoner on July 17, 1861 (the Battle of Bull Run was July 21) and sent to Richmond.  About the middle of September he escaped  in the guise of an aged, infirm and nearly blind mendicant Frenchman.  (Okay, I had to look up mendicant.  It means a beggar.)

He was able to get the prison commandants permission to go to  Fort Monroe (still under Union control) under a flag of truce that he might embark "for his dear old home in France,"

After a two week delay, the supposed Frenchman was assisted on board a transport in Norfolk and taken to a Union boat.  When safely under his own flag, he cast off his pack, green goggles and rags, thanked the officers for their politeness, shouted a loud huzza for the stars and stripes and gave them the pleasing information that they had just parted with Colonel De Villiers of the 11th Ohio.

He arrived safely in Washington, rejoined his regiment, and was brigadier general, 10 October 1861.

He had been military instructor for Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth.

His discharge from the Army on 23 April 1862, and returned to France.

--Old Secesh

Ellsworth & the U.S. Zouaves-- Part 15: Charles DeVilliers

CHARLES DeVILLIERS--  Colonel of the 11th Ohio Infantry.  Captured and sent to prison, but escaped.  Once back in the Union Army, he was court martialed on 13 counts of misconduct, including stealing from local citizens and selling to Army members.

Dismissed from service and returned to France.

This was from our speaker but I forgot his name.

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Looked up this man and found this on Virtual American Biographies.

CHARLES A. De VILLIERS

Soldier born in 1826.  He had been an officer in the French Army and afterward became colonel of the 11th Ohio Infantry.

At the beginning of the Civil War he was taken prisoner, 17 July 1861 and sent to Richmond.

Next...  His Escape.  --Old Secesh

Edward Kittoe Inspects Camp Douglas in Chicago-- Part 2

Continued from February 6, 2023.

The part of Camp Douglas where the Union guards were quartered were by and large very good.  However, when it came to the Confederate prisoners being held there, it was quite another story.

The prisoners stayed in quarters built in 1861, when Camp Douglas was used for traing Union troops.  The floors were not raised to allow the flow of  of air beneath.  The floorboards were taken out to prevent tunneling and as a result floors were a "mass of mud and filth."

The buildings were 100 feet by 30 feet and into which 125 to 150 men were crammed, "who are mostly in a filthy and disgusting state and swarming with vermin."

They are supplied with ample rations, but arrangements for cooking are poor and food improperly prepared, resulting in much waste.  There is a great "neglect of police duty"to the grounds.

--Old Secesh

Woodstock, Illinois, in the Civil War

Taken from 80th Anniversary edition of the Woodstock Sentinel, 1937.

Page 7.

"There was a general illumination Monday evening in honor of Lee's surrender.  The square  presented a lively and animated appearance...."

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"The remnants of the 15th Illinois (many from McHenry County), so long confined in rebel prisons, had been confined in rebel prisons had been paroled and were in Vicksburg awaiting transportation home.  The men who had escaped with Hanaford and Lascelle were recaptured and one of them wounded."

Hopefully none of them were on the Sultana.

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The 15th Illinois suffered big casualties at the Battle of Shiloh, including the death of Captain Harley Wayne who I have written a lot about.

--Old Secesh

America's First Black War Correspondent, Thomas Morris Chester-- Part 2

Chester wrote about black troops in the Philadelphia Press saying:  "Every many looks like a soldier, while inflexible determination depicted upon every countenance."

Formed in April 1864, the Army of the James contained two divisions of white soldiers of the XXIV Corps and one division of black troops of the XXV Corps.  The Blacks consisted of two brigades of  seven regiments with 5,000 men.

Chester was embedded with the XXV Corps on the front lines and didn't shy away from describing the carnage they faced.  Once, he wrote about two men who had been on picket duty and had been hit be a shell:  "...quivering pieces of flesh indicated the locality of the frightful scene, while fragments of hearts and intestines were hanging upon the branches of the neighboring trees."

He also was well aware of how bad it would be for a black soldier to be captured by Confederates.  "Between the Negroes  and the enemy, it is  a war to the death," he wrote  on August 22, 1864.  The colored troops  have cheerfully accepted the conditions of the Confederate government, that between them, no quarter is to be shown.  Those here have not the least idea of living  after they fall into the hands of the enemy."

Indeed, black prisoners of war were not even treated as prisoners of war.   Many received harsh treatment from the rebels -- some tortured, some killed and others sold or returned to slavery.  And, of course there was also the massacre at Fort Pillow.

--Old Secesh

Fort Delaware

I wrote about improvements to be made at this fort in my last post.

From Wikipedia.

A former harbor defense facility designed by U.S. Army Chief Engineer Joseph Gilbert Totten and located on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River.

During the Civil War, it was used as a prison for Confederate prisoners of war, political prisoners, federal convicts and privateer officers.

In the 1890s, a three-gun concrete battery of 12-inch guns named Battery Torbert was erected in the  fort.  By 1900, the fort was a part of a three-fort concept, the first forts of the Coast Defenses of Delaware,  working in conjunction with Fort Mott in Pennsville, New Jersey, and Fort DuPont in Delaware City, Delaware.

--Old Secesh

Capt. Harley Wayne at Fort Donelson and the Rebel Officer Who Didn't Want to Give Up His Sword

From the Nay 30, 1987, Northwest Herald (McHenry County, Illinois) "The captain's word disappears" by Jeff Kuyper.

On February  16, 1862, at 10 a.m., the Confederate command at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River in Tennessee, surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant.

An hour later Captain Harley Wayne and the others with the 15th Illinois Volunteer Infantry were on the scene.

"I never saw such confusion and excitement as existed all around," Wayne wrote his wife later.  :We landed and touched on shore and received on board about 500 prisoners.

"I was officer if the day and it was my duty to take entire control of them.  I had to examine them individually and take away all weapons, pistols, knives and so firth.  There were a great many Bowie knives, hideous looking weapons."

Several prisoners were reluctant to turn over their weapons.

"One, an officer, yet had his sword.  I asked him to deliver it up,"  Wayne wrote in his February 18, 1862  letter home. 

(Unfortunately, the article does not say whether Harley Wayne's Confederate officer gave up his sword.  Of course, I can't imagine capturing an enemy and not immediately checking for weapons they might still have on them.)

--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

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

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

The Answers to the 'Frank' Questions-- Part 2: Andrew Jackson Riddle

Who was Andrew Jackson Riddle?

He was a Civil War photographer probably best known for his pictures of Andersonville Prison in Georgia.

In the early 1850s, he moved to Columbus, Georgia, and opened a photography studio and  enlisted in the Confederate Army when the war began.   He served three years and was captured three times and even spent eight months at Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C..

Two of the three times he was captured, he was carrying photographic supplies from New York to Virginia through enemy lines.

--Old Secesh

Camp Douglas POW Prison in Chicago: Deaths of 62nd North Carolina Infantry Prisoners

From ncgenweb  "Rock Island, Illinois  Confederate POW Camp and Cemetery.

Deaths of Prisoners of War from the 62nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Camp Douglas Prisoner of War Camp.

Go to Confederate graves; Rock Island, Il  NCGenWeb.

The 62nd North Carolina was surrendered by its commanding officer on 10 September 1863, at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, after which 442 of its members were transferred to Camp Douglas.

Forty-four percent of them died there, including David Messer who I wrote about in the previous post.

There is a list of all the members of the regiment who died at Camp Douglas at the site.

--Old Secesh

More Mascots-- Part 3: "The Barking Dog Regiment" from Ohio, Custer and Jack of the 102nd Pa.

The 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry became known as the "Barking Dog Regiment" because of its mascot named Harvey.  He was one of three dogs the regiment had, but served the longest.  He would bark at the enemy and was wounded at least twice.

The first time he was wounded, he was also captured, but returned the next day under a flag of truce.

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George Custer was rarely without a dog during and after the war.

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The 102nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry had Jack.  Many of the regiment came from Pittsburgh and one company had men from a local fire department who had Jack before the war.  When they enlisted, Jack went along with them in 1861 and served until 1864.

Jack was in many battles and skirmishes and would run to the front and along the lines.   He twice received wounds.  The first time was a serious one at the Battle of Malvern Hill, but medics were able to save him.  The other time was at Fredericksburg.  And, he was captured twice.  The first time he escaped six hours later.  The second time, he was exchanged for a Confederate prisoner.

--Old Secesh

Colonel Lewis Merrill-- Part 1: At the University of Missouri

From Univ. of Missouri ROTC Battalion History.

During the Civil War, in 1862, The 2nd Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, under Colonel Lewis Merrill garrisoned the school in January 1862.  They took residence on the first floor of Academic Hall.

In  August of that year, some 200 Confederate soldiers, members of the Missouri State Guard, stormed Columbia, Missouri (where the university is located), and were routed by Merrill's men.  The third floor of the Academic Hall was used to house the prisoners for a time.

During the occupancy, some Union soldiers found a box of unsigned degrees and game themselves their own commencement ceremony.

--Old Secesh

History of the University of Missouri-Columbia-- Part 3: The Civil War

The Civil War also had other detrimental effects on the university as well.  Classes were suspended for ten months, partly because  of the troop occupation, and also because the university was short on staff. 

Only one staff member, chairman of the math department, Edward T. Fristoe, joined the Confederacy.  Students joining one side or the other cut the enrollment from 112 in 1860 to just 40 during the war.

After the Union troops left in 1865, the curators filed a claim against the federal government for damages incurred while the soldiers were there.  Horses and wagons ruined the grounds, holes were cut into walls and floors by prisoners trying to escape, books from the library were used for fires, and over 100,000 specimens in mineral and fossil cabinets were reportedly damaged.

It was also reported that Union soldiers found a box of blank diplomas and held their own commencement, awarding themselves university degrees.

And Gee Whiz, I Never Even Went To School.  --Old Secesh

John G.B. Adams-- Part 2: Wounded at Gettysburg, Captured at Cold Harbor, Nine Months a Prisoner

The Medal of Honor that Adams won was one of 18 awarded Union soldiers at the Battle of Fredericksburg.  And seven soldiers in the 19th Massachusetts  received them as well.

John Adams was later commanded to captain and commanded Company I of the 19th at Chancellorsville and was severely wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2.  Returning in time o be at the battle of the Wilderness and then Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor, where the entire regiment was captured June 22, 1864.

Over the next nine months, he was held at Libby Prison and later Macon, Georgia, and Charleston, S.C., where he was placed on Morris Island to stop the naval bombardment.

The last place he was held at was Columbia, S.C., where he managed to escape, but was recaptured.  He was a prisoner for nine months.

Adams is buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, Massachusetts.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meets Saturday

The McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) will meet Saturday, May 25 at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois, by US-14 and Main Street.

We start at 10 am and go to noon.

This month's topic:  Union Prisons.

We all know about how bad Confederate prisons were, especially Andersonville.  But, Northern prisons were as bad.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT: The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal-- Part 3: Capture of Generals Kelley and Crook

One way of disabling the canal was to breach it.  This meant putting a hole in a side of it and letting the water out.

After it was determined that Maryland was not going to join the Confederacy, frequent raids were made on it.

Union Brigadier General Benjamin Franklin Kelley and Major General George Crook were captured along the canal by a small group of Confederate partisans near the end of the war, on February 21, 1865.  They were taken to Richmond but were released by a special exchange on March 20.

His Army career didn't last long after that as he resigned on June 1.

--Old Secesh

William Beall-- Part 3: Sick A Lot, On Brother's Operation

Present on January and February rolls.

Hospitalized 4/18/63

Hospitalized for "Diarrhoea" 5/2-7/21 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Detailed 10/4/1863 by S.O. 253 to report to John Y. Beall;  POW 10/4/1863 Accomack Co. Virginia

Confined  11/16/1863 Fort McHenry, MD.

Confined Fort Monroe, Va.  Exchanged 3/16/1864.

Kind of interesting that he was detailed the same day he was captured and must have been operating on one of his brother's expeditions.

--Old Secesh

William Beall-- Part 2: Captured At 2nd Manassas

Co. G, 2nd Virginia Infantry, Stonewall Brigade, Johnson's Division, 2nd Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, CSA.

Enlisted 6/8/1861 at Bolivar Heights, Virginia.  On 9/8/1861 he mustered in as a private in Co. G., 2nd Virginia.

Absent sick 10/3/1861.

POW 8/27/1862 in 2nd Battle of Manassas, Va.;  Exchanged 11/20/1862; granted Medical Furlough.

--Old Secesh