"those little, livid brown, ash-streaked,monkey-looking dwarfs. are they really mumbled, dwindled corpses? they lay there, most ofthem, quite still, but with a horrible look in their eyes and skinny lips, often withoutenough flesh to cover their teeth. if they can be called living, many of them are mentallyimbecile and will never recuperate." uttering those words was walt whitman, perhaps oneof the most favorite and famous linguists
Blue Dog Bakery Recall, to come out of the civil war era. walt whitmanwitnessed a number of union soldiers returning from belle isle, a prisoner of war camp inthe confederacy's capital in richmond, virginia. i'd like to welcome you all here today toour next winter lecture series: "can those be men?" the prisoner of war experience in1864. over the last several years, as the
national park service has been commemorating the sesquicentennialevents of 1861, 1862, and 1863, we've looked at a lot of battles, a lot of commanders,we've looked at the casualty rates, and those who have been wounded or killed in these engagements,but one of the stories that we have not talked about are those men that went missing. thosethat were captured, those who would sit out the rest of the war. for those men, theirexperience would change drastically, 150 years ago in 1864. my name is dan welch, and i'mthe education programs coordinator for the gettysburg foundation, i recognize many familiarfaces here. you're probably scratching your head and wondering, "isn't this the guy whoused to wear the hat with the green pants
and the grey shirt," and yes i did. for anumber of years i was here as a seasonal park ranger for gettysburg national military park.one afternoon, i was looking for something upstairs and ended up in a vacant office andthe foundation just started giving me a paycheck, so now i work for them, and i'm happy to behere full-time in gettysburg. and so, with that, if you have any questions today, i askthat you just hold them until the very end, i'll be around as long as you'd like to talk, perhapsif you're looking for some further information on an individual ancestor that was a prisoneror perhaps a good study, a good book to read as well, i can point you in that direction.before we get to 1864, what was the prisoner of war experience like in 1861, 1862, 1863?when the fighting broke out at fort sumter
in april of 1861, the war's first land battle,significant land battle at manasass in july of 1861, the federal government adopted areal tough attitude toward the confederacy and the rebels in general. the lincoln administrationwanted to avoid any recognition, official recognition, of the confederate governmentin richmond. this includes dealing with prisoners of war, military captives. in the north, publicopinion during 1861 on prisoner exchanges began to soften, however, particularly afterthat first major land battle, the battle of first bull run or manasass, when confederatesoldiers ended up capturing about 1,000 union soldiers. what do we do with them at thispoint? well prior to the cartel's creation that we're going to talk about in just a moment,union and confederate forces throughout 1861
would exchange prisoners very sporadically,usually as an act of humanity between opposing field commanders. it was not a regulated experiencefor the prisoners of war, particularly amongst official channels. in some cases, a transferof only sick or wounded men may take place. exchanges of just a couple prisoners betweensides could prove very time consuming to achieve, and so only a very few number of militarycommanders in 1861 that were unfamiliar with the practice and reluctance to engage in theseexchanges would do so without the explicit, and i mean explicit approval and instructionfrom their superiors. and most often it was not their military superiors, most often itwould be coming from the respective governments in richmond and in washington. but as 1861began to dwindle into 1862, progress toward
and agreement of how do we deal with theseprisoners of war, began to take hold. throughout the initial months of the civil war, as imentioned, the support for prisoner exchanges grew very small but incrementally in the north.petitions from prisoners in the south that had been captured in april, may, june, july1861 and so on, as well as many articles written in popular newspapers in the north increasedpressure on the lincoln administration to do something. what should we do with thesemen? and as the year of 1861 is coming to a close, on december 11th, the united statescongress finally acted, they'll pass a joint resolution calling on president lincoln to"inaugurate a systematic set of measures for the exchange of prisoners in the present rebellion."just months before in missouri, in october
and november of 1861, union major john c.fremont and major general sterling price of the missouri state guard, approved an exchangesystem of their own, exchanging prisoners and agreeing to terms for the transfer of futurecaptives. however, president abraham lincoln relievedfremont of his command on november 2ndfor his heavy-handed actions in missouri and major general david hunter, fremont'sreplacement, refused to recognize the agreement. so as 1861 comes to a close the prisonerof war experience is very irregular.
those captured on the field may experienceonly several hours as a prisoner of war, others may experience more time in a prisoner ofwar camp, many of those camps temporary. but as the war moved on, significant meetingsthat would take place on february 23rd and march 1st, 1862, respectively, would leadto what is known as the dix-hill cartel. union major general john e. wool and confederatebrigadier general howell cobb met to reach an agreement regarding prisoner exchanges.they discussed many of the provisions that would later be adopted in what will becomeknown as the dix-hill agreement. an earlier cartel of arrangements used between the unitedstates and great britain during the war of 1812 provided a model for this agreement,so they were not starting from scratch as
they began to discuss the terms. differencesover which side should cover the expense for prisoners' transportation would stymie thenegotiations, however, between wool and cobb, respectively. another issue arose during the agreement thatthey were working on; how do you handle the surplus of prisoners held by one side, whichproved to be an insurmountable problem. cobb would not agree to wool's proposal for aneven swap of prisoners at that time, while deferring resolution of the surplus issueto later negotiations. as the months of 1862 continued to move forward, general cobb wouldmeet with union colonel thomas m. key, an aide to major general george b. mcclellanin another attempt to reach an agreement for
prisoner exchanges. key discussed other matterswith cobb beyond the topic of prisoners, and in reply, secretary of war edwin stanton fireda sharp comment to mcclellan that "it is not deemed proper for officers bearing flags oftruce, in respect to the exchange of prisoners, to hold any conference with the rebel officersupon the general subject of the existing contest or upon any other subject than what relatesto the exchange of prisoners." even by june of 1862, the lincoln administration is waryof enacting or adopting any sort of resolution or agreement that gives credence or credibilityto the existence of a government in richmond, and this will directly relate to the prisonerof war experience. the negotiations were not done in 1862, the next round would begin onjuly 8th, when secretary of war stanton would
appoint major general john a. dix. by earlyjuly general cobb became ill and could no longer represent the confederate authorities.cobb's replacement would be an up and coming general by the name of robert e. lee. leewould find the campaigns of 1862 too arduous to carry out the negotiations himself andhe would thus name a subordinate general, d.h. hill, just days after malvern hill onjuly 14th, 1862. to prepare for his negotiations with his confederate counterpart july 1862,general dix requested that war secretary stanton provide a copy of all of general wool's correspondencewith the rebels relating to the prior cartel discussions. thus as 1862 moved further intohistory and memory, the cartel agreement was established, and it was established on a scaleof equivalence to the management of the exchange
of military officers and enlisted personnel.for example, how would the cartel work? a naval captain or a colonel in the army wouldexchange for 15 privates or common seamen, while personnel of equal ranks would transferman to man. the agreement named two locations throughout the country in which these exchangeswould occur. one would take place at aiken's landing below dutch gap, virginia; the otherat vicksburg, mississippi. each government would appoint an agent to handle the exchangeand parole of prisoners. the agreement also allowed the exchange or parole of captainsbetween the commanders of two opposing forces. in addition, the agreement permitted eachside to exchange non-combatants. by 1862, a number of civilian and political dissidentshad been take as prisoners. these citizens
were also accused of disloyalty, civilianemployees or contractors of the military such as teamsters and sutlers. authorities wereto parole any prisoners not formally exchanged within 10 days of capture. so according tothe new agreement, your duration as a prisoner of war in the middle part of 1862 would notlast more than 10 days. the terms of the cartel prohibited police or guard or constable dutyas well as the performance of field, garrison, or other type duties. thus in the first weekof august 1862, the cartel's newly appointed agents confederate robert ould and union brigadiergeneral lorenzo thomas conducted their first official prisoner exchange under the agreement'sterms with a transfer of 3,021 union personnel for 3,000 confederates at aiken's landing.the prisoner exchanges functioned well for
the next several months, the next quarterof the year exactly, until december of 1862 when confederate president jefferson davissuspended the parole and exchanges of union officers following the execution of williammumford, a new orleans citizen, by union general benjamin "beast" butler earlier that year.in reaction, union secretary of war edwin stanton ordered a halt to all exchanges ofcommissioned officers. and thus, this cartel that worked so grandly for 4 months, was comingto a screeching halt. further difficulties developed when the confederate governmentrefused to parole and exchange any african american soldiers taken captive who mighthave escaped from slavery. confederate authorities decided instead to treat this prisoners asrunaways, suitable only for return to their
former owners. as 1862 drew to a close andthe spring campaigns were about to begin in the spring of 1863, the confederate exchangeagent robert ould sent a letter to confederate president jefferson davis with these complaintsabout the union's exchange efforts. he said, "iam more and more satisfied every day that the federal governmentdoes not intend to keep faith with us in the matter of prisonersor exchanges. i believe its officials are taxing their ingenuity to find out the mostavailable methods of deceit and fraud. i received yesterday official evidence that some 40 officersentitled long ago to their release and who, in fact, are exchanged under existing agreementsare now imprisoned at camp chase, and yet
the federal agent with an earnestness intendedto be peculiarly impressive, assured me 3 days ago that not one of these officers wasconfined in that place. not one day passes that some evidence does not come to the handof yankee fraud and mediocrity. four weeks ago the federal agent informed me in writingthat it was not the intention of his government to make any more arrests of non-combatantsin our territory and yet more have been made since that declaration than during any previousequal space of time." as the battle of gettysburg and the gettysburg campaign grew ever closer,by early june of 1863, with the battle of chancellorsville a month behind them, andnumerous war prisoners taken in to prisoner of war camps, the exchanges had effectivelystopped. the prisoner of war experience in
1863 was growing in length. and as that lengthincreased, so did the challenges that they would face. on june 12th, 1863 confederate vice presidentalexander stevens wrote to president jefferson davis offeringhis services to travel to washington d.c. in order to renegotiatea new agreement over prisoner exchange, as well as some larger diplomatic issues between theconfederate and union governments. davis accepted theoffer and in july of 1863, he appointed stevensas "a military
commissioner under flag of truce to approachthe authorities in washington." his primary mission was this:"to establish the cartel for the exchange of prisoners on such a basis as to avoid theconstant difficulties and complaints which arise, and to prevent for the future whatwe deem the unfair conduct of our enemies in evading the delivery of prisoners who fallinto their hands, and retarding it by sending them on circuitous routes, and by detainingthem sometimes for months in camps and prisons, and in persisting in taking captive non-combatants."by the summer of 1863, just one year after that dix-hill cartel was being initiated andworking so well, and when you as a prisoner were only held in captive hands for 10 days,your prison stay now had grown, not to days,
but to months. as vice president alexanderstevens of the confederate government approached washington, federal authorities refused toaccept him and his request to negotiate. as abraham lincoln was traveling to gettysburgto deliver those now immortal words, union general benjamin butler requested permissionfrom secretary of war edwin stanton to negotiatefor the resumption of prisoner exchanges. keep inmind, in 1862, you were on average a prisoner of war forabout 10 days. these holding facilities for thousands ofprisoners were meant as a temporary stop-over on yourway
to aiken's landing or vicksburg, mississippito be exchanged. but now these temporary facilities were housing men for months at a time. more battles, morecampaigns were taking place in the intervening weeksand months and the confederate and union prisoner ofwar populations began to balloon. after reviewing correspondences from theconfederates, major general ben butler had an idea that the rebels would exchange captives withoutregard to their color, caste, or condition.
since the federals held twice, twice as manyprisoners as their opponent in november of 1863, butler proposed that a renewal of the exchangeswould deplete the number of prisoners held by the confederates. if "the colored prisoners and their officerswere not handed over, then the union's remainingsurplus of rebel prisoners would serve as hostagesfor possible retaliation and reprisal." on december 17th, major general ethan allen hitchcock appointedbutler
as a special agent for the exchange of prisoners. while conducting these new exchanges, theprotection of the government would remain for "coloredsoldiers of the united states and their officers commandingthem." butler was to avoid the question of parolein excess now pending between the two sides, and withindays, butler started exchanging prisoners with theconfederates and continued the transfers into the earlymonths of 1864. despite his original mandate, however, butlertried
to resolve the outstanding cartel issues withthe rebel authorities while facing general hitchcock'sgrowing opposition over the scope and conduct of hisactivities. as 1864 began to dawn 150 years ago,union general ulysses s. grant was tasked to review the situation of prisoner exchange. grantordered the halt of all exchanges, all exchanges, until the confederates recognized "the validityof the paroles of prisoners captured at vicksburg
and port hudson, and stopped discriminationagainst colored soldiers." by 1863 and 1864, the prisoner of war experience was not oneon an average scale; officers treated differently than enlisted men, and men of african americanheritage treated different than their fellow white prisoners of war. in august of 1864, robert ould accepted aunion proposal to make equal exchanges, officer for officer and man for man, with the firstreleases going to these longest in captivity. while ould's offer circulated through thefederal government, ben butler wrote to ould in september posing a special exchange ofall sick and invalid officers and men unfit for duty and likely to remain so for 60 days.to make the transfer easier, he proposed that
the exchange occur at fort pulaski outsideof savannah, georgia, and by the end of november, the belligerents had transferred several thousandprisoners near savannah and conducted a second transfer under similar terms in charleston,south carolina. what was taking place for the prisoners of war in 1864? as 1864 began,as we just noted, authorities on both sides privately confided a number of concerns thatthe previous lack of organization and planning were taking a toll within the military prisons.overcrowding, which doubled and tripled the original set capacities, were becoming thenorm, while smallpox spread through the northern camps chronic diarrhea and dysentery hit prisonsin the south. again, as i noted, in 1862 and even the first half of 1863, prisoner of warcamps were temporary; they were supposed to
house these men for several weeks at most,and now the duration for a prisoner of war would be months, perhaps years. and so, theiroriginal design, these original camps set up to house 500-1,000, are now beginning tohouse 3,000-5,000 men, with no increase into the camp's size of facilities. many prisonersin 1864 were worn down by disease, fatigue, and hardship and these conditions were beingaggravated by the confinement and hardships inseparable from prison life, the cause ofdeath for many, and others, to be totally unfit for the duties of a soldier. one soldiernoted that he respectfully suggested that "all such federal prisoners be paroled andoffered to the federal agent of exchange for return to the north, and that at the sametime an application be made for similar privileges
for our own soldiers held as prisoners ofwar in the united states." this coming from confederate medical director william a. carringtonon january 15th, 1864. general winder, in charge of confederate prisoners in richmond,virginia, the capital of the confederacy noted this. he said: "the mortality rate is incidentto prison life. i do not contend that the quarters, fuel, and rations of the prisonershave been such as were most conducive to their comfort. the deficiency in the commissarysupplies, which has not been confined to this department, and for which i am not responsible,has prevented the supply of rations necessary to the health of the prisoners." colonel hoffmantalking about a new facility that was going to be opening up in the north in 1864 wrotethis. he advised secretary stanton on the
problems emerging in the union's prisons.he said: "it would facilitate the management of the affairs of prisoners of war and leadthem to more direct responsibility if the commanders of the stations where prisonersare held could be placed under the immediate control of the commissary general of prisoners.through frequent change of commanders, it is impossible to establish a uniform and permanentsystem of administration." so as 1864 is moving further forward into the historical future,the situation for the prisoners of war has drastically changed. no longer are they incaptivity for several days, weeks, or months, many have been in captivity for almost a yearat this point in time. the union and confederate governments are grasping to create some sortof system to deal with the prisoners they
currently have under their charge. again,according to the old agreements, these men were paroled or exchanged very quickly; nowthat they're being held in captivity for weeks, months, and years, who's in charge of them?who's in charge of the prison sites? who's in charge of ordering supplies such as clothing,blankets, food? where do those supplies come from? do the come out of the quartermasterdepartment? should those supplies be stripped from field armies to be able to equip andbetter serve prisoners of war behind the lines of opposing armies. the prisoner of war experiencein 1864 was not only felt by the prisoners themselves, but also with the military andpolitical institutions that are trying to grapple with the situation as well. and so,today, we are going to explore two prisons
to get a better understanding of what theprisoner of war experience was truly like 150 years ago. we will begin our journey focusingon elmira prison, in new york. one of the hardest parts about studying this topic isgetting a clear view of what it truly was like 150 years ago. many of the accounts ofthe prisoner of war experience of union and confederate soldiers happened 20, 30, 40,even 50 years after they were a prisoner of war, and by that point it seemed that everyprisoner during the american civil war was naked and unfed. if they were fed it was generally dogsand rats, so finding contemporaneous accounts, accounts written by men that were actuallyliving the conditions day by day in 1864 is a challenge. and so the accounts that youwill hear of our two prisons today, that of
elmira and that of libby prison in richmond,virginia, will be contemporaneous accounts, accounts written in letters and diaries 150years ago without the luxury of historical hindsight and the "lost cause" mythology ofthe high victorian era. now what about elmira prison? historian lonnie speer noted that"the tragic period of civil war concentration camps was inaugurated with elmira prison inthe north. the most remarkable aspect about elmira prison is that unlike the other powfacilities around the country up to that time, it didn't start out as a fairly acceptableplace of confinement and then denigrate into a concentration camp, elmira prison was onefrom the very day it began." colonel seth eastman, associated with elmira prison, recommendedat most no more than 5,000 prisoners could
be accommodated. quartermaster general montgomerymeigs declared accommodation of 10,000. a military bureaucrat in washington d.c. decidedthat twice the suggested prisoner population of a man on the ground, colonel seth eastman,was appropriate, and here was the start of a massive problem. the maximum capacity thatcould be accommodated at elmira prison, according to colonel seth eastman, was 4,000 men. theother 1,000 would be housed in tents, 4,000 in wooden constructed barracks. you see, in1861 and 1862, elmira was a training facility as well as an enlistment depot, and so theywere going to re-appropriate its use. meanwhile, however, in many reports in d.c., quartermastergeneral montgomery meigs continued to declare that at the opening of elmira prison in julyof 1864, it could hold a capacity of 8-10,000
men. by the end of july 1864, 4,424 prisonerswere confined there with 2 escapes and 11 dead. by the end of august, there were morethan 9,600 pows confined at elmira. the initial arrivals had filled the barracks and a-tents,as you see in this photo from 1864, were now in use. by august 7th, the tent supply wasexhausted, and by the end of august, there were 115 more deaths; in september, another385 perished. what did elmira look like 150 years ago? as i noted, at the beginning ofthe war, it was a general recruiting depot, but in july of 1864 it became division no.3 of the barracks, called afterwards as camp chemung, noted for the nearby river and wasconverted into a prisoner camp. this division was situated on the riverbank a mile and aquarter west of the town and the sight was
believed to be healthy; it was very level,as you can see in the photographs pictured in front of you. it was level, but it hada little sandy soil resting throughout the imprisonment itself, and to help deal withsome of the sandy soil gravel was mixed in several feet below the sandy soil's surface.but overall, the camp provided good drainage. at the date mentioned, 20 of the old barrackbuildings were considered fit for the occupation of prisoners, the 4,000 men, and 10 new oneswere to be constructed. those barracks that you saw previously measured 88 by 18 by 8 feet. they were intendedto accommodate, each, 100 men. the barracks to be constructed later were going to be 80by 25 by 12 feet and were each fitted with bunks for 148 men. "mess halls and kitchenswere situated and suitably furnished. the
barracks were built of pine, they were well-lit,warmed by stoves, and provided with ridge ventilation," noted the u.s. surgeon generalin later reports. the bakery could turn out 6 or 7,000 rations per day, that was builton site, good water was obtained from 2 wells and any deficiency was supplied from the riveritself. lavatories and baths were not at first specially provided, drainage by means of pitsdug into the porous subsoil. these sinks were covered pits which were filled up when necessary.the grounds itself consisted of about 35 acres. they were surrounded by a 12 foot high fencethat you'll be able to see a little bit better in this image. the fence itself had a platform4 feet from the top. in august, over 1,000 tents were pitched each to accommodate 5 persons.in one inspection report the drainage, again,
is said to be into an open pond within thecamp. this pond is going to be another problem, thus forming what was called a "perfect pest-hole"but on the recommendation of the inspector this pond was afterwards drained and an undergroundsewer constructed, while defects in the surface drainage were remedied from time to time.nevertheless, the grounds were frequently reported as in a muddy condition during wetseasons. one prisoner that experienced elmira in the very early phases was a man by thename of berry benson. berry benson may be one of those prisoners formed for morningroll call at elmira, in 1864. benson was not quite 18 years old when he left his home inaugusta, georgia to join the army. he would witness the first shots fired on fort sumterand was soon singled out for his abilities
that would serve him well as a scout. notonly was he a crack shot, a natural leader, and a fierce southern partisan, but he hada kind, restless energy and curiosity. he loved to take risks, the risks of an 18-year-oldand was an instant and infallible judge of human nature. he would go on to fight at suchbattles as cold harbor, seven days, manassas, sharpsburg, and fredericksburg, leading upto his capture in 1864. he was captured not many days after the fighting at the wildernessand spotsylvania courthouse on may 16th, 1864 and would spend some time both at point lookoutand old capitol prison in washington d.c. before being transferred to elmira. when hearrived, he noted this: "the prison was said to be a mile in circumference. in the rearof it ran a river some 20 yards distance. through
the middle of the prison, paralleling theriver lay a pool of water probably 3-6 feet deep and about 40 feet wide." benson's attitudewould change drastically during the next several weeks of his stay at elmira. for g.t. taylorof the 1st alabama heavy artillery though, he had a different opinion of the time atelmira. he said: "elmira was nearer hades than i thought any place could be." f.s. wade,a texas scout wrote this upon his arrival: "if there was ever a hell on earth, elmirawas it." as these men were becoming acclimated to prison life at elmira prison, in richmond,virginia, many prisoners at a prison that had become known as libby prison had beenthere for quite some time and had already become quite acclimated. libby prison waslocated in a 3-story brick warehouse on 2
levels on tobacco row at the waterfront ofthe james river. prior to use as a jail, the warehouse had been leased by captain lutherlibby and his son george w. libby. they operated a shipping and grocery business on the jamesriver. now the confederate government started to use this facility as a hospital and prisonin 1861, reserving it for union officers in 1862, because of the influx of prisoners.so libby prison by 1862 was not for your general enlisted man, it was going to be for unionofficers exclusively. the building itself contained 8 low-ceilinged rooms, each 103by 42 feet in length. the second and third floors were used to house prisoners, windowswere barred and open to the elements, increasing the discomfort. lack of sanitation and overcrowdingcaused diseases. from 700 prisoners in 1862,
the facility totaled over 1,000 by 1863. andnow the breakdown of prisoner exchange is beginning to be seen. mortality rates werehigh in 1863 and 1864, aggravated by shortages of food and supplies. by the winter of 1864,the prison was well-protected against escape, however. one soldier noted that, "throughthe cellar floor which colonel thomas rose and his associates had dug their tunnel hadbeen masoned over," reported one prisoner, "and other later arrangements of the guardsit would have been impracticable to secure admission to this floor without observation."in response to having this ballooning prison in the capital of the confederacy citizensof richmond began to place a demand for tighter security, worried about these types of tunnelsbeing dug out of libby itself, so a system
of ropes and pulleys were installed at theprison staircases which could then be raised or lowered at the discretion of prison officials.the prisoners were now confined to upstairs rooms only. by the winter of 1864, the interiorof the prison was still damp and the walls were spotted with lichen. half of the prison's76 windows were without glass, wood rations were limited to only 2 or 3 armloads for eachroom which had 2 stoves to accommodate up to 400 men. eventually the overcrowded conditionsat libby in 1864, along with lack of sufficient sleep, food, and heat, led to an increasein illness. among them: scurvy, chronic diarrhea, dysentery, and typhoid pneumonia became themost prevalent diseases and before long, 2 or 3 deaths per day were not uncommon. onesoldier captured in july of 1863 on this very
battlefield, lieutenant colonel f.f. cavadaof the 114th pennsylvania, would find his was to libby prison. this is how describedit upon his arrival. he said: "the prison stands close by to the lynchburg canal and infull view from the river. it is a capacious warehouse built of brick and roofed with tin.the building has a front of about 140 feet with a depth of about 105. there are 9 rooms,each one 102 feet long by 45 feet wide. the height of the ceiling to the floor is about7 feet, except in the upper story which is better ventilated, owing to the pitch of theroof. at each end of these rooms are 5 windows." following these men's experiences, we willbegin with their arrival. what was the first thing that happened when you arrived at aprison camp? what were your expectations?
how did that process occur? first lieutenantlewis bisbee of the 16th maine recalled his arrival at libby prison. he said, "i passedthrough the office where we were searched and registered, all money and contraband articlesbeing taken from us. the money was placed to our credit and later it's equivalent inconfederate money was issued. the prison officials did not like the prisoners to have much money.they were afraid that on some night, dismal and dreary, a guard might recognize a greenbackeven if it was dark." already we begin to see an experience for prisoners arriving tothese camps; personal possessions would be taken from you. money would be taken fromyou. haversack, knapsack, extra clothing, blankets, rations would be taken. in a letterof july 18th, 1863, a man by the name of tattenhall
paldy of the 6th united states cavalry wrotehome from libby, captured during the gettysburg campaign. he said: "all of us were marchedinto the lower room of the building and then out on the street again by a rank, and thoroughsearch being made of each of our canteens, haversacks, blankets, stationery, knives,and amounts of money exceeding $20 were taken away, and the name, date, and place of captureentered on the books as each passed out. the whole party were then confined in a largeroom on the second floor of the building and locked up." not only were your personal possessionstaken upon arrival, you were entered into the roll. roll would be taken daily to makesure no one had escaped. lieutenant colonel f.f. cavada also captured at gettysburg aswe previously learned said this: "had we known
that we were entering this loathsome prisonhouse not to leave it again for many, many weary days and months, more than one heartwould have grown faint with a mournful presentiment, for there were among us some who were doomednever to recross its threshold as a living man." this was the experience of union officersin richmond. berry benson would recall his arrival at elmira, a camp for confederatesenlisted. he said, "reaching elmira on sunday, july 24th as we were marched through the streetsto the outer edge of town where stood the prison with a wooden fence around it." hesaid, "inside we were drawn up in the roll call, then assigned to our quarters, baxter,atkinson, and i being assigned to the same long room with bunks fitted up on both sidesin two tiers. the bunks were made of unplaned
pine boards, and as we had no blankets, theywere left bare during the day and at night occupied simply by ourselves. later, baxterwas given a blanket and a piece of cloth by a friend and these he shared with me." t.c. davis of the 40th north carolina wrotethis about his arrival. he said, "we arrived at elmira at about 8 o'clock in the eveningin 4 feet of snow and many prisoners had neither blankets nor coats. we were kept standingin ranks in the street for half an hour before starting for the prison. we were halted inan old warehouse and robbed of all of our valuables. then, we were sent to the barracks.board shanties about 50 yards long containing one stove." it was not just for union officersthat personal possessions would be taken,
but for enlisted confederates as well. oncegoing through the shock of arriving at one of these camps, a bit of a routine would beestablished. berry benson of the 1st south carolina, as we've heard from before, talkedabout the routine at elmira itself. he said, "meanwhile, daily life at elmira followeda routine regular as clockwork. roll call came first, then breakfast at 8. the menutoo followed a regular routine - so many days we had pork, so many days beef, so many daysbean soup for dinner, so many days vegetable soup. the vegetable soup was made of a compoundof several kinds of vegetables, dried and pressed together in cakes resembling a plugof tobacco, not much liked by our men, the bean soup being much more popular." so themen will arrive at these camps, they'll begin
to establish some sort of routine by the camp'scommandants, and the routine would generally consist of roll call, sick call, several mealsa day, 1 to 2 meals a day, several servings of perhaps other things throughout and inbetween those meals, and the rest of the time was up to the men to occupy. one of the challengesthey faced during this time was simply surviving. here you see a contemporary sketch of libbyprison. what were the conditions like in these camps? looking through some of the data ofthe "medical and surgical history of the civil war" one officer wrote this: "here will beshown on the general subject of the sickness and mortality among prisoners of war, thatthe treatment of the prisoners by the united states authorities was very different fromwhich the prisoners in the hands of the confederates
received. as a general rule, they were housedin wooden barracks provided with ridge ventilation, quite as good as those used by the unitedstates troops in permanent camps." would that hold true to libby? well contemporaneous accountsfrom libby prison said this of the living conditions. first lieutenant lewis bisbee of the 16thmaine said that: "mice were abundant in libby. they amused themselves during the silent watchesof the night by promenading over us as we lay on the floor and they were not particularabout avoiding our faces. in the morning the taste and odor of mouse was sickening." aletter to harper's weekly on february 20th, 1864 said this of the conditions in libby:"there were put up bare wooden bunks for about half of us, the rest must sleep on the floor.pillows and mattresses there were none. a
blanket you might have if you were fortunateenough to have brought one with you, otherwise, none." lieutenant colonel f.f. cavada wroteof the living conditions at the time. he said: "the prison is crowded to its utmost capacity,"again a symptom of the overcrowding and the breakdown of the prisoner exchange. he said,"every nook and corner is occupied. we jostle each other at the hydrants on the stairs,around the cooking stoves. at night, we must calculate the horizontal space required onthe floor for the proper distribution of our recumbent anatomy. everywhere there is overcrowding,wrangling, and confusion." the symptoms that the union officers experienced in richmond,virginia would be the same in elmira, new york. again, an officer wrote in the "medicaland surgical history of the civil war," "that
elmira was unduly crowded and the influencethis caused was exaggerated at elmira by the existence in the camp grounds of a stagnantpond, into which the drainage of the camp flowed for 6 months of the year, representedby the reports." the name of the pond inside elmira became known as foster's pond, and at first,according to contemporary prisoner accounts, men used to fish. there were actually fishin the pond itself, but the pond not only began to serve its purpose for fishing anddrinking water, it also became a purposeful place for trash, leftover meal waste wouldbe thrown in there. then it became a place to both urinate and defecate. then it alsobecame a place in which to wash what little clothing and blankets they have. certainlythe overcrowding around foster's pond would
be an issue for elmira. g.t. taylor of the 1stalabama heavy artillery wrote this of the conditions at elmira. he said: "we were inshacks some 70 or 80 feet long and they were very open, but with one stove in the house.we had bunks 3 tiers high with only two men to a bunk, while we were allowed only one blanket to the man.our quarters were searched every day, and any extra blankets were taken from us." f.s.wade, a texas scout said that: "there were about 6,000 confederate prisoners, mostlyfrom georgia and carolina, when i arrived. we were housed in long prison buildings, say120 feet long by 40 feet wide, 3 tiers of bunks against each wall. a big coal stove,every 30 feet was always kept red hot. but for these stoves the most of us would havefrozen. around each stove was a chalk mark,
5 feet from the stove, marking the distancewe should keep so that all could be warm. we were thinly clad and not half of us hadeven one blanket." finally, t.c. davis of the 40th north carolina wrote this of elmira. he said:"our beds were planks without blankets. there were about 7,000 prisoners confined thereand those who had preceded us were in much want. they were dirty, pale, emaciated, and scantilyclothed." as 1864 continued to push on and prisons grew by leaps and bounds, 2,3,4 timesthan what they were able to accommodate, the living conditions would only decrease. partof the living conditions that the men would have to face as well was the weather. weatherwould be a very different condition, depending on what camp you went to. perhaps out at campdouglas or camp chase, elmira in the north,
andersonville, libby prison in virginia andgeorgia respectively. some prisoner of war camps in alabama. what did they face in termsof the weather? well for those arriving at elmira, the weather would be a challenge inearly 1864 as many of the men would be housed in tents. for those arriving at libby, itwould also be quite a bit of a challenge as mentioned earlier, most of the windows inlibby had been knocked out, broken out. in addition to that the confederate officialswould make the union officers at libby scrub the floors and walls quite consistently. theproblem with that is that the floors and walls never dried, and so there would be a consistent,damp, musty, and in some cases as the one account told us, lichen actually growing insidethe prison. getting more into the conditions
at libby itself is captain robert t. cornwellof the 67th pennsylvania volunteer infantry. cornwell is another face of a prisoner ofwar in 1864. he was college educated, he was a prep school teacher and college instructorbefore the war. he had been captured at winchester in june of 1863 as the gettysburg campaignwas making its way northward towards pennsylvania, and then was imprisoned at libby for 9 months.his diary and letters have the advantage of as i noted being contemporaneous eyewitnessaccounts at libby and to the peak of its overcrowding. he was 26 years of age when he volunteeredin 1861. he had been married just for two years and was the father of an infant son.on february 16th, 1864, he had now been imprisoned for 8 months. he wrote this in his diary regardingthe challenges of facing the weather. he said,
"the weather is still colder, too cold to sitdown, to write even for a few minutes. we cannot resist cold here as we can when out,for our systems have in great measure lost the power of reacting against it. neitherdoes the food enable us to resist the cold. hundreds here are obliged to eat nothing butthe worst of cornbread and a little rice." two days later he wrote this: "still colder,it is hardly possible to keep warm, even wrapping oneself with all the clothing he has. we havea stove, but for the great portion of time, no wood." a month later on march 23rd, hewrote this in his diary: "i think last night was the most disagreeable i have ever spentin libby. the floor was wet and the howling wind drove the snow into my face all night.my covering was insufficient to keep me warm.
so busy was i fighting the cold all nightthat i slept but very little. this morning the snow was then 11 inches deep, much drifted.we have had another very uncomfortable day, many a poor soul has suffered their last night.i am glad to know that very few of our men about 300, are now on the island," referring to belle isle, "andare tolerably comfortable." another soldier at libby prison that discussed the weatherwrote to harper's weekly on february 20th, 1864. he said: "and there we were, huddledtogether in the street, the most merciless sun beating down upon us, scorching out ourvery lives as we stood there. the air was stifling loaded with so many breaths. thehot, glaring sun beat inpiteously as the broken unshaded windows added to which at that momentwere the fumes of the single stove allowed
for cooking the rations." that same unidentifiedsoldier wrote to harper's weekly and said that: "the weather was growing colder andthe wind whistled most unpromisingly through our broken windows. stoves were put up butno fuel was given to burn in them and sleeping on bare planks without mattress or coveringwas getting to be a problem." clearly the weather in richmond was not consistent in1864 as the winter dried out and the spring developed. periods of snow, blowing snow,blinding and cold, drifting snow, with hot sun beat into the brick building that housedthe prisoners of war at libby. this person that wrote harper's weekly said this though.he said: "the weather was growing colder and the wind whistled most unpromisingly throughour broken windows. stoves were put up but
no fuel was given to burn in them and sleepingon bare planks without mattress or covering was getting to be a problem." lieutenant colonelcavada of the 114th pennsylvania said that: "in this unusually hot weather," in the springof 1864, "the prison is heated into huge oven in which several hundred human beings arethoroughly baked in the most approved style of first-class steam bakery." weather wasalso a challenge for prisoners in the north. at elmira prison, anthony keely of the 12thvirginia said that: "for at least 4 months of every year, anything here short of a polarbear would find locomotion impracticable." f.s. wade, a texas scout, can you imaginecoming from texas and experiencing winter in elmira, new york? he said: "if there wasa hell on earth, elmira prison was that hell,
but it was not a hot one for the thermometerwas often 40 degrees below 0." trying to stay warm without proper clothing, proper blankets,enough fuel for burning stoves, fires, was a challenge, but what proved a harder challengefor these men in 1864 to fight the cold, as one of our eyewitnesses testified, was enoughfood. food to provide nutrition to fight off infection, disease, and other complicationsof health. prison fare, no matter if you were enlisted or an officer, if you were in thenorth or the south was widely varied. in addition to that was it widely varied on how much orhow little you would receive. you're seeing a contemporary sketch of a mess in libby prisonin front of you. captain robert t. cornwell, that 26-year-old officer, father of an infantson from pennsylvania, the 67th pennsylvania
volunteer infantry wrote, on january 22ndin his diary about the food that he had been receiving in libby prison. he said: "we havebecome today the victims of a new grief. heretofore we had been permitted to pass through allthe six rooms of this building in which prisoners are confined but today with no other apparentmotive than to render us more uncomfortable the doors communicating between the 3 departmentshave been nailed up and this small gratification denied us. no rations have been issued forthe past 8 days except a half a loaf of cornbread, very coarse and as hard and heavy as lead,once in a while, a handful of rice to a man." first lieutenant lewis bisbee of the 16thmaine said: "for a while our rations consisted principally of soup and cornbread cooked andbrought in to us. i do not know what the soup
was made of but it had the appearance of swilland was brought in swill pails. sometimes maggots would be found in it. the bread wasmade of coarse cornmeal mixed with water and baked in large sheets about 3 inches thick.cut in square pieces, they would weigh about three-quarters of a pound and issued one aday to a person." he continued, "in addition to the rations already mentioned, fresh beefand bacon were occasionally issued. the bacon was of the shoulder variety. it had the appearanceof having been thrown about in the mud and dirt. the shoulder was about the thicknessof two hands and had a long leg attached. after washing off the mud and digging themaggots from the crack and crevices the meat was sweet and good." tattenhall paldy of the6th u.s. cavalry wrote a letter to his mother
from libby prison. he said: " there is nodoubt but that the rebels are in great straits for provisions from the mixture of mutton,beef, and bacon which are brought here in small quantities for us. sometimes we getno meat at all and the ration consists of half a small loaf of cornbread and a littlerice." the unidentified soldier that wrote harper's weekly in february of 1864 said this:"the rations were scanty but the water, the muddy, brackish water of the james river waseven more sparingly dealt out." and still further, lieutenant cavada, captured in julyof 1863 noted this of the food in libby prison: "nothing but bread has as yet been issuedto us half a loaf twice a day per man. this must be washed down with james river waterdrawn from a hydrant over the wash trough.
tomorrow we are to be indulged with the luxuryof bacon soup. we have tasted of the promised soup. it is boiled water sprinkled with riceand seasoned with rank juices of stale bacon. we must shut our eyes to eat. the bacon ihave no doubt may have walked into the pot of its own accord. it is brought up to usin wooden buckets and we eat it in most cases without spoons out of tin cups." but whatthe union officers at libby prison had that many other soldiers in other prison campsin 1864 did not have was boxes and packages of food being shipped from loved ones at home.for a while at libby prison these packages would be delivered. they would come up thejames river, the name would be on the package, brought in to the prisoner, and usually itwas many non-perishable type items, in addition
to that stationery, candles, and things ofother nature. but as 1864 continued on the confederates stopped issuing them. many timesthe ships bringing these boxes and rations and things shipped from home, including fromorganizations such as the sanitary commission and christian commission were either lefton the boats on the james river to be seen by the officers out the windows of libby prison,or to be unloaded in the prison yard, not to be touched, to simply stand and go to waste.there was also many an occasion when the men, during the day would see the boat unloaded,see the boxes and packages unloaded with their names on it stacked in the prison yard, wouldgo to bed that evening and wake up the next morning to see the boxes and packages opened,rifled, and gone through, never to receive
those items. but what they did receive fromthese packages and boxes is far more than what many other prisoners would be supplementedwith by relatives and commissions from home at other prison camps. as we move back northward,to elmira, in "the medical and surgical history of the american civil war" one officer inparticluar described the rations at elmira as this. he said: "the rations were quiteliberal and the difference in money value between the ration issued and that allowedto the united states soldiers was credited to a prison fund on which the surgeon in chargewas authorized to draw for the purchase of vegetables and antiscorbutics for the useof the sick." berry benson, however, of the 1st south carolina noted this about the food.he said, "another item of fare which was not
on the list furnished by the government wasrat. the prison swarmed with them. big rusty fellows which lived about the cookhouse asthe kitchen was always called and also under the houses used as quarters." he said, "ourdrinking water came from wells into which the rats used to fall down. the water becomingso unbearable that somebody would have to go down in and clean it out. it seemed tome that they we always cleaning out the wells." f.s. wade of texas wrote this: "our rationswere 10 ounces of bread and 2 ounces of meat per day. my weight fell from 100-160 poundsin a month. we invented all kinds of traps and deadfalls to catch rats. every day, northernladies came into the prison and some of them followed by dogs or cats which the boys wouldslip aside and choke to death. the ribs of
a stewed dog were delicious but a broiledrat was superb." g.t. taylor of the 1st alabama heavy artillery said: "our rations were veryscant. about 8 or 9 in the morning we were furnished a small piece of loaf bread anda small piece of salt pork or pickled beef each and in the afternoon a small piece ofbread and a tin plate of soup with sometimes a little rice or irish potato in the soupwhere the pork or beef had been broiled." t.c. davis of the 40th north carolina notedthat: "our rations consisted of loaves of stale bread an inch thick though pieces ofsteak and occasionally broth could be found." so as you can see, from the accounts at bothlibby and elmira, prison food varied. it varied in quantity, having none for several daysto an abundance, at times, of things. it varied
from broth soups to stale bread to fresh bread,meat with maggots or without maggots, some things the prisoners enjoyed, othersthey didn't, some exotic fare such rats, dogs, and cats. it truly, truly varied. and likethe variance at libby with the boxes, there was a variance at elmira as well. as the federalgovernment was beginning to organize a systematic operations to prisons and prisoners of warin 1864, they finally established a pretty secure command chain. but what they beganto find out as 1864 moved into the fall is that that command chain was not efficient.men in washington d.c. were trying to make decisions for federal prison camps in illinois,in new york, in ohio; they weren't on the ground to see what was actually needed, whatwas site-specific. so eventually, some of
those command responsibilities were takenout of washington d.c. and given to those respective commanders at their prison sites.unfortunately, there was one prison official at elmira that was responsible for the issuingof beef. there was a large cattle area just outside of elmira where the supply of beef,the live animals, were brought in and pastured. and every day the prison official had theauthority to determine whether that cattle, that individual cow was good enough for theprisoners' food. 9 times out of 10, as the saying goes, that prison official would walkdown the streets of elmira, out to that pasture outside of town, he would look at many ofthose heads of cattle and determine them not fit, not up to standards for the u.s. army.and so, the men housed at elmira would not
have meat that day, or the next, or the next.you're fighting the weather, you're fighting living conditions, you're fighting food. indeed,you're fighting many battles on many fronts as a prisoner of war in 1864, but when you'renot fighting those things perhaps your biggest challenge is fighting boredom. what do youdo with all of the time when you're not at roll call, sick call, you're not standingin line at the mess halls. what do you do? you're personal possessions have been taken.most of the time someone in the prison will probably have some stationery, something towrite with, maybe a pack of cards. what do you do to occupy the time, to keep your mindbusy? it's yet another challenge prisoners of war in 1864 would face as their confinementswould extend beyond months and into years.
there were many different things that prisonersof war in 1864 found as sources of entertainment: debating clubs, they would do mock trials,there were all sorts of different forms of musicals, productions, plays, operas, some places evenhad instruments, believe it or not, and formed bands and orchestras within the prison itself.as you can see here on the left-hand side, some men singing and violin playing. on theright in the image in the far corner, another popular, just behind the tent, source of entertainment,games: dice, cards, things of that nature. in addition to those things men became quite,quite skilled in crafts, if you will. on the right is a wooden spoon carved at elmira,housed here in our museum in this building. and on your left is a chain of all the unioncorps symbols that was carved at libby prison.
so men found multiple different ways, thingsto keep their mind busy and to entertain themselves as the weeks and months began to tick by.i'd like to share with you now some of those things that the men did at both libby prisonand elmira in 1864. captain robert t. cornwell of the 67th pennsylvania wrote this on january10th of 1864. he said: "sunday in libby so far as any observances are concerned is not to bedistinguished from any other day of the week. chess, checkers, and cards with various otherdevices, as on any other day, are resorted to pass away the time. i have spent the dayreading the 'loiterings of arthur o'leary.' exchange is the prevalent topic of discussionthis evening." let me repeat: "exchange is the prevalent topic of discussion this evening.""the night before last, 3 fresh fish came
in, they were lieutenants and were very hungry,had suffered much from cold on their way here." 10 days later on january 20th, he wrote this:"i received another letter this morning of an earlier date than the one received yesterday.these letters do me so much good and though they remind me forcibly of my dear littlefamily at home and make me long to be in their midst once more yet they in some way impartstrength to me to bear against my thronged yet solitary condition." first lieutenantlewis bisbee of the 16th maine wrote of many other different activities occurring in libbyprison on the 3 different floors next to the james river. he said: "there were schoolsof several kinds established. one officer taught a new system of grammar, i took thisup for a while, also geometry. it was not
long before the mind was in such conditionthat it seemed impossible to fix the attention on any study, however. we had some fine musiciansboth vocal and instrumental, some of the german officers organized a brass band. there weresplendid singers among the germans as well as the americans. we had at times what maybe called congregational singing." bisbee continued: "chaplain mccabe who died recentlyused to sing, preach, and lecture. there were other chaplains who used to sing and preach.a theater company was one of the unique amusements to be found within the prison. they had astage and a curtain. the entertainment served to enliven prison life and were given withoutmoney or price. i read everything i could find. reading matter was not plenty however,i played chess and checkers and watched others
playing." bisbee went on: "there were manyof a mechanical turn who made themselves busy making ornamental articles. from beef bones:crosses, napkin rings, and spoons. i made a masonic emblem, also a cross, napkin ring,and a book. i made a bone paper knife. i had no tools except a pocket knife and a file.it was very slow work but there was no other work pressing and it kept me from rusting.i also whittled out a set of chess men. many of the prisoners pass the time card playingand gambling," he wrote, "using beans for stakes." tattenhall paldy of the 6th unitedstates cavalry wrote a letter on august 26th of 1864 to his father. he said: "i joineda class in spanish and another in french which have been commenced here within a day or twoso you see we are preparing to spend the time
of our confinement as usefully as possible.i regret to say study does not progress very fast. as much time as there is, the atmosphereis not good for it however i learned some spanish and phonography and a little french.the debating society, the libby chronicle, seems to have been too heavy and has beenabandoned. in their place a negro minstrel band has come into existence and it is a littleannoying to me to see with what proficiency some of our officers take to the role of thenegro. the performance was amusing at first but has played out." lieutenant cavada ofthe 114th pennsylvania of the entertainment in libby noted that: "in order to while away,to some extent, the tedium of our monotonous life, we have among other past times organizeda lyceum or debating club the scenes which,
at times present are worthy of the graphicpencil of an artist. the debates are very spirited and grave questions involving thedestinies of the whole human race and the future destiny of our great country are discussedwith intense enthusiasm sometimes even with political violence and not seldom with verybad grammar. unwearable finger rings and sacrilegious-looking crosses are sawed and filed out of rationbones, handles of brushes and the backs of combs are carved with touching mottos. thepassion for music is quite general in the prison, a tolerable orchestra has been organizedconsisting of a violin, banjo, guitar, tambourine, and the bones. they have done much to enliventhe gloom of the prison and invariably attract a large crowd of prisoners." perhaps one ofthe biggest forms of entertainment was talking,
debating; in particular was the discussionof exchange. when will i get to go home? first lieutenant lewis bisbee of the 16th mainewrote in his diary of exchange. he said: "i think that the prospect for exchange is good.this of itself is very well but reports heretofore have been found to be very unreliable. suchis the suspense that the usual foolish rumors started in the house have not found circulationtoday." these men in their prison camps were anxious for any bit of news regarding exchange.had a new agreement been reached? what are the new details of the agreement? will webegin exchanges immediately if the new agreement has been passed by both governments? thiswas perhaps the most time-consuming part of their entertainment and as our one eyewitnesssaid, making sure that they do not rust. lieutenant
colonel cavada of the 114th pennsylvania wrotethis of 1864. he said: "the last days of summer, all the hopes of being exchanged or paroledhave been dissipated one after another and our captivity is passing with rapid stridesfrom the last green of summer to the sere yellow of autumn. from faint hope to settleddespair." he also wrote this regarding the exchange. he said: "the extinction of thelast hope of an exchange of prisoners, at least within a reasonable time, has had theeffect of depressing our spirits to an extent truly deplorable. the usual gams and pastimesare abandoned, have sunk into a condition of despondency which would be almost gratifyingwere it only limited to their own number." also in libby hoping for exchange was captain cornwellof the 67th pennsylvania. he wrote in his
diary in february of 1864: "we are all coming tothe conclusion and many of us writing to our friends that exchange is hopeless. exceptfor a few favored men who have friends near the throne, whatever may be said for the no exchangepolicy it cannot be denied that it is barbarously inhuman." two months later, he wrote this:"all interest here is now swallowed up in this one monumentous note of exchange. shouldwe be doomed to disappoint despair would overwhelm every heart. the harrowing suspense is scarcelyless destructive to our peace of mind and health than the actual hardships of closeconfinement on rations only sufficient to prolong the agonies of starvation." starvationindeed was happening in prison camps all across the north and south. at elmira, a majorityof the deaths were from diarrhea and dysentery,
men eating food that was not good for them,not good for their condition, or a scant amount of food was obviously one of the factors.exposure was no doubt another contributing factor. scurvy broke out in epidemic proportions.the colonel of elmira, colonel eastman, also complained that the pond inside the camp hadbecome a cesspool. it was causing illness and something had to be done to remedy thesituation. further discussing the pond at elmira and its causing death and illness anddisease, one soldier wrote this. he said: "this pond received the contents of the sinksand garbage of the camp until it became so offensive that vaults were dug on the banksof the pond for sinks and the hole left a festering mass of corruption, impregnatingthe entire atmosphere of the camp with its
pestilential odors night and day. the pondremains green with putrescence, filling the air with its messengers of disease and death,the vaults giving off their sickly odors and the hospitals are crowded with victims forthe graves." berry benson in regards to illness and disease, wrote this of elmira, as youlook at one of the tally sheets from total deaths from malarial fevers at elmira. bensonsaid: "the prison kept growing in population until there was said to be 10,000, quite alittle city in itself. tents were set up on the far side of the pool and occupied as quarters.amongst so many prisoners deaths were necessarily frequent and at one time the mortality ratewas pretty bad. it was reported amongst us that one of the federal surgeons said thisexcessive mortality rate was the result of
insufficient food, that we got enough to sustainlife, but not enough to resist disease. personally, i never believed that a federal surgeon saidthis." but berry benson would not be one of those casualties from starvation, illness,or disease at elmira. neither would tattenhall paldy of the 6th u.s. cavalry imprisoned atlibby. but he did note that: "the physical weariness is something we know but littleof nowadays but not much exertion is necessary to bring it on." to give you an idea of theconditions in libby prison, private george w. willis of the 5th west virginia, when releasedon march 13th, 1865 from libby prison, was immediately examined by a federal surgeon.this is what the surgeon wrote. he said: "he is extremely emaciated, pulse 92 and weak,tongue moist and coated, gums scorbutic, throat
inflamed, extremities disastrous. there arelarge blisters on the ankle joints which discharge a considerable quantity of serum. has loosestools every half hour, urine scanty and of a deep red color. had been fed on cob- andcornmeal bread while a prisoner." private george willis died 8 days after his releaseon march 21st. when the doctor completed an autopsy 22 hours after his death, he found:"rigor mortis moderate, body extremely emaciated, abdomen concave. the lungs were very pale,otherwise normal, the heart pale and soft. the peritoneal cavity contained a quantityof serum. the liver was small, pale, and presented the hobnail appearance, the gall bladder waspale and empty, the kidneys pale and soft." all of this noted just 22 hours after hisdeath. but for those that could find not enough
to do in that free time, who had been battlingthe elements successfully or not, had accepted the living conditions, talked of exchange,there were those that sought to do something about it and perhaps were healthy enough todo it as well; escape. perhaps the most famous escape during the american civil war fromany civil war prisoner of war camp was that from libby prison itself. captain cornwellof the 67th pennsylvania talked about that famous escape in february of 1864. he said:"the first news that greeted my ears this morning when i awoke was the startling intelligencethat on last night, libby had sprung a very big leak. and so it was 102 officers madetheir escape through an underground passage from the dining hall in the first floor bycutting with knives a hole through a brick
chimney and descending through the chimneywith a latter they obtained access to the basement. through the eastern basement a walland a hole was cut neatly to mother earth and a hole burrowed for another 50 feet underthe sentinel's post to an adjoining lot where their exit was secluded by a board fence.fifty-one days the work has been in progress, the guard all under arrest this morning andundergoing an examination." truly this escape would be talked about in 1864 and in 1865and for many, many years following. lieutenant colonel cavada also talked about that escapethat night from libby prison. he said: "this youth has a hobby and that hobby is to makehis escape from the prison. he dreams of impracticable rope ladders to be manufactured out of blanketsand to be ingeniously concealed from the keen
eye of the inspector. these escapes have beenproductive of much merriment in the prison and of the joy at the liberation of theseour fellow sufferers. to be sure, they have still to reach the federal lines and safety,an undertaking by no means easy when we consider that the whole confederacy is indeed a sortof huge military penitentiary." but escapes were not just common to southern prisons,they were also common to northern prisons as well. and one of those that found his wayto freedom was berry benson, the hard-scrabble 18-year-old as a member of the 1st south carolina.he noted: "it was now early in october and on wednesday, october 5th we knew by measurementthat we were close to the fence and our ears confirmed this for we could hear the guardstramp right over our heads as they walked
their beat just inside the fence. we workedsteadily on the 5th and 6th fixing the time for our escape at 10 o'clock the night ofthe 6th. i ran until exhausted then stopped and i looked back. there lay the prison underits bright lights, white with tents, populace with the sleeping multitude and there werethe pickets, the blind pickets, calmly walking their beats. as i made my way to the pointof woods where we had engaged to meet it was all i could do to keep from shouting 'thebonnie blue flag' at the top of my voice." benson would be one of the few that went unnoticedin his early escape, giving him a head start, and would not be recaptured. so as you cansee, throughout the program today, the prisoner of war experience varied. we took two prisons,one north, one south, and focused on some
of the challenges that these prisoners faced,what they experienced, living conditions, their arrival, the weather, the food, whatdid they do to fight boredom, illness, disease, exchange, escape. but overall, it's the true,staggering cost of the prisoner of war experience that will strike home hardest. throughoutthe american civil war the united states prisoners held by the confederacy numbered 270,000 men.confederate states prisoners held by the united states: 220,000 men. united states prisonersthat died in confederate hands: 22,000. confederate states prisoners died in the united states'hands: 26,000. of those who died at libby prison, almost 6,300, were buried in the cemeteryat henrico county, just southeast of richmond. this also includes another 800 men that haddied at belle isle, hollywood, oakwood, and
poorhouse cemeteries in richmond. at elmiraduring its very brief existence of just 15 months; it had opened in july of 1864 andhad ended with the close of the war, the site housed more than 12,100 confederate soldiers.of these, nearly 25%, 2,900 died from a combination of malnutrition, continued exposure to harshwinter weather, and diseases from poor sanitary conditions on foster's pond, also a lack ofmedical care. they were laid to rest nearby at ground purchased by camp officials andcommanders by none other than an ex-slave named john w. jones which you see picturedin front of you today. i think perhaps the words of eric leonard, he's the director ofinterpretation and education at andersonville national historic site, says it best whenwe talk about the prisoner of war experience.
many of you may have seen in the newspaperslast week that a previously undiscovered, if you will, prisoner of war camp outsideof charleston, south carolina had been discovered. and the problem is that a developer boughtit. he's been nice enough to give archaeologists 6 months to learn what they can, get fromthe ground what they can, before it will become a housing community. but many reporters turnedto eric leonard of georgia this week to ask him his thoughts on it, and leonard said this.he said that: "it is important to uncover the histories of prisoners even if it is anunpleasant topic." he said: "prisoners of war are an example of the extraordinary costof war. it is not an easy story to tell and it's not a happy story, but it delves intothe consequences of the war." i'd like to
leave you today with one final quote of theprisoner of war experience in 1864 from t.c. davis of the 40th north carolina. he had beena prisoner of war for nearly 15 months at elmira. he said: "i arrived at home on june1st, 1865, and while memory lasts, i shall
not forget the great war and that cruel prison."i hope you enjoyed the program today, if you have any questions and you'd like to stickaround, please come on down, i'd love to chat with you and we hope to see you next weekendfor another installment of our lecture series. thank you.
