Category Archives: Civil War prisons

a death at Elmira

Posted on August 21, 2014 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch September 8, 1864: … Mr. W. B. Egerton, a citizen of Petersburg, died in the Federal prison at Elmira, New York, on the 21st ultimo. Elmira started accepting Confederate prisoners on July 6, 1864. By … Continue reading →

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straddle

Posted on April 30, 2014 by SUMPTER

It’s May 1st somewhere … Since the beginning of the war Elmira served as a rendezvous point for New York soldiers heading south. Here’s evidence that Union soldier miscreants were also confined there and that Confederate prisoners would soon be … Continue reading →

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“attracted a great crowd”

Posted on April 21, 2014 by SUMPTER

The dates in the following articles don’t seem to match up just right, but it does seem that by 150 years ago tonight a Yankee female surgeon was locked up in Castle Thunder. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch April 22, … Continue reading →

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prison ministry

Posted on February 27, 2014 by SUMPTER

Shortly after President Jefferson Davis appointed him as envoy to the papacy, Patrick Lynch , the Bishop of Charleston, S.C. was reported preaching to a captive audience in the Confederate capital. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch February 26, 1864: Interesting … Continue reading →

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Streight away

Posted on February 10, 2014 by SUMPTER

150 years ago this morning jailers at Richmond’s Libby Prison found out they had lost something – 109 Union officer prisoners who escaped during the night through a tunnel they had dug. Although Colonel Thomas E. Rose was the leader … Continue reading →

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cold snap

Posted on January 3, 2014 by SUMPTER

I thought 3 °F seemed kind of cold this morning – and I sure wasn’t outside for a whole guard shift From a Seneca County, New York in January 1864: During the recent cold snap, eighty soldiers on guard at … Continue reading →

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pickets to prisoners

Posted on December 9, 2013 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in December 1863: Taken Prisoners. Capt. Meade, of the 111th Regiment, with twenty-nine of his men, were taken prisoners during the recent retreat of Gen. Meade. They were sent out as pickets, and … Continue reading →

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corrections?

Posted on December 6, 2013 by SUMPTER

Maybe John Hunt Morgan and his confederates didn’t escape through a sewer under the Ohio Penitentiary; it might have been an air chamber. Maybe the escapees didn’t head to Kentucky right after the break-out; they might have gone north first. … Continue reading →

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sewer escape

Posted on November 28, 2013 by SUMPTER

Morgan’s Raid through Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio during June and July of 1863 ended when Confederate General John Hunt Morgan was captured on July 26th. He escaped from the clink about four months later. From The New-York Times November 29, … Continue reading →

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surgeon swap

Posted on November 18, 2013 by SUMPTER

The prisoner parole and exchange system had not totally broken down by 150 years ago this week. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 16, 1863: Exchange of Surgeons. The exchange of Surgeons, we learn, has been agreed upon by the … Continue reading →

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