Civil War Prisons Trivia

1. Which state claimed Camp Douglas, the 19th century POW encampment?

From Quiz Hell Hole: Camp Douglas

Answer: Illinois

In the fall of 1861, the Union Army training post, Camp Douglas, was developed in Chicago, Illinois. According to Victor Hicken, "Illinois Camps, Posts, and Prisons," thirty-two units had commenced training at the outpost. They included the 9th Calvary, 51st Illinois Infantry and the 55th Illinois Infantry. When the war endured longer than either side expected, prison sites became a necessity to accommodate captured soldiers. After the Battle of Fort Dickson, General Ulysses S. Grant detained eight thousand Confederate rebels and had them transported by railway to the converted prison in February 1862. It became the north's largest military prison and had the highest death rate among northern prisons, yet its immoral history has been swept under the rug over the years. At the war's end, over 26,000 men had been imprisoned there. For three years, it was a vicious hell to all the souls who dwelled within its walls.

From Quiz Andersonville

Answer: Camp Sumter

Built in 1864, this prison, located near the city of Andersonville, was the largest Condederate military prison during the Civil War. It was a prison for enlisted men; however, Union officers that led United States Colored Troops were sent to this prison, too. South Georgia was selected because it was considered more secure than Richmond, Virginia. And, in 1864 there was still an abundance of food in the area.

From Quiz The Civil War - Part G

Answer: WI

The Union prison was located near Madison, WI. It lasted only 3 months and about 150 CSA prisoners died there. After it closed, the remaining prisoners were sent to other camps.

From Quiz Hell Hole: Camp Douglas

Answer: Stephen A. Douglas

In June 1861, following the demise of Stephen A. Douglas, the government designed and constructed a training camp named in his honor. The property was sixty acres of swampy, marshland at 31st Street and Cottage Grove Avenue in the south side of Chicago. Douglas had been a political figure and an Illinois legislator for twenty-five years, and was probably best known as being the Democratic presidential candidate and rival of Abraham Lincoln in the election of 1860. John Sholto Douglas (not to be confused with Marshal of the RAF Sholto Douglas, Lord Douglas of Kirlteside) , a Scottish nobleman, was the ninth Marquess of Queensberry. Michael K. (Kirk) Douglas is an American screen actor and son of famed actor, Kirk Douglas. T.C. "Tommy" Douglas was a Canadian political figure to whom society has referred to as the "Father of Medicare".

From Quiz The Civil War - Part G

Answer: VA

Located in an old tobacco warehouse in Richmond, VA, most of the prisoners were spies, political prisoners and those charged with treason. In 1863, the CSA government ordered an investigation in the conduct of the commandant for harshness, inhumanity, tyranny, and dishonesty. The charges were dropped after the investigation.

From Quiz Civil War Prison Camps

Answer: Belle Island Prison

The rapids of the James River made escape nearly impossible from this Camp.

From Quiz American Civil War

Answer: A. S. Johnston

Albert Sidney Johnston was killed leading a charge against Hurlbut's division at Shiloh.

From Quiz Hell Hole: Camp Douglas

Answer: Lake Michigan

The largest number of prisoners held at any one time in the history of Camp Douglas was 12,000 in December 1864. Winter was Chicago's most treacherous season with sub-zero temperatures and icy winds that blew from the southern shores of Lake Michigan. Being a harsh winter 1,091 men perished, the highest death count in the camp's history. To discourage captives from escaping, men were deprived of clothing, causing the weakest to freeze to death in the most relentless weather conditions. Feet, toes, fingers, ears, and other extremities were lost to severe frostbite. A mass of prisoners wore only thin sacks with cutouts for the head and arms. Many did not even have underwear. For the select few who were fortunate to possess a blanket, the army sequestered them. Further punishment and suffering in the Arctic climate was making the Confederates pull their pants down and sit with their exposed underside for four to five hours on the snow and ice-frozen ground. Sadly, with the tremendous level of the deaths, Lake Michigan became a mass grave, and some of the bodies would wash up on its shoreline years later.

From Quiz Andersonville

Answer: Private Dorence Atwater

His records proved very valuable to Clara Barton, a lady who was authorized by President Abraham Lincoln to travel to Andersonville to identify and mark the graves of the dead. Camp Sumter's Chief Surgeon, Isaiah H. White, appointed Atwater to keep a register of the name, burial place, date and cause of death of every inmate who died at Camp Sumter. This document compiled by Atwater later became known as the "Atwater Death List".

From Quiz The Civil War - Part G

Answer: TX

Located in Tyler, TX. About 5,000 Union prisoners were held there, of whom about 280 died. This was one of the lowest prisoner death rates in the Civil War.

From Quiz American Civil War

Answer: James Kemper

Kemper was shot from his horse and crippled for life, Garnett's body was never found, Armistead was wounded in the chest and died several days later in Union Hands, Pettigrew was killed during the Potomac River crossing to Virginia.

From Quiz Hell Hole: Camp Douglas

Answer: Sam Houston, Jr.

Sam Houston Jr. was the son of the prominent Sam Houston, for whom the modern-day city of Houston, Texas is named. Davy Crockett was a politician who lobbied in Washington, D.C. in his latter years. Jim Bowie is famous for the creation of his large Bowie knife, and William Barrett Travis was the commander of the courageous men who fought and died at the Battle of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas from February 23, until March 6, 1836, many years before the War Between the States.

From Quiz The Civil War - Part G

Answer: AL

Located on the banks of the Alabama and Cahaba rivers. About 3,000-5,000 Union prisoners were held there between 1863-1865. The death rate was low because the prisoners' treatment by the CSA was satisfactory.

From Quiz Civil War Prison Camps

Answer: Libby Prison

Libby Prison was picked up and moved to Chicago for the world's fair. A medieval style castle was built around it and it was one of Chicago's most popular tourist attractions for years.

From Quiz Hell Hole: Camp Douglas

Answer: Sold the deceased to an undertaker

After a greedy, residential undertaker signed a contract with the Union military, they sold him a vast quantity of corpses for one dollar and fifty cents each. Initially, they were obscured in shallow pauper's graves without coffins in Chicago's City Cemetery. It rapidly became a favorite hunting ground for grave robbers. The majority of Northwestern Medical Colleges were utilizing the stolen bodies as cadavers. All remains were moved in 1867, and placed into a huge mass grave on one acre of land, five miles south of where Camp Douglas had stood two years prior. Today, the gravesite is known as "Confederate Mound", located in Oak Woods Cemetery. To date, it is the largest mass grave in the western hemisphere, as documented in the 1994 book, "To Die in Chicago" by George Levy. A forty-six foot, Georgia granite monument was erected in July 1893 by southerner sympathizers and friends in Chicago and surrounding northern areas. A dedication observance was held on Memorial Day on May 30, 1895, with 100,000 in attendance, including President Grover Cleveland and his cabinet. Since that time, however, on Memorial Day each year, only a small group of loyal supporters visit to honor the inopportune prisoners of war.

From Quiz Andersonville

Answer: Captain Henry A. Wirz

A native of Zürich, Switzerland, he held this position from March 1864 until the end of the war, when he was arrested and tried as a war criminal. He was found guilty by a military tribunal. Wirz was offered a pardon the night before his scheduled execution; however, he rejected it and was hanged in Washington, DC on November 10, 1865. He was buried a few miles away at Mount Olive Cemetery.

From Quiz The Civil War - Part G

Answer: IL

Located in Alton, IL. It was established in 1862, when the first CSA prisoners were sent there. In the three years that it was in use about 12,000 prisoners were held there and about 2,200 died from disease.

From Quiz Civil War Prison Camps

Answer: Elmira Prison

The prisoners were buried at the site of the wreck. 47 years later the bodies were re-buried in Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmira NY.

From Quiz American Civil War

Answer: George McClellan

McClellan graduated second in their class of 59 cadets while Jackson was seventeenth.

From Quiz Hell Hole: Camp Douglas

Answer: Eighty Acres of Hell

During the Civil War, the press was broadly circulated in the South. Almost immediately, the facts of the atrocious prison were disseminated concerning its horrendous environment. Overcrowding, starvation, harmful conditions, despicable, torturous punishment, diseases, an extreme lack of medical attention, and death, led to Camp Douglas being regarded as a living hell on earth. A&E network, in conjunction with "The History Channel", produced a television documentary using the fitting nickname for its title, "Special: Eighty Acres of Hell" (2006). The Yankees called it, "The North's Andersonville". Andersonville was a prison located in Georgia where Union soldiers were held. According to the documentary, when the epidemic and infectious smallpox and pneumonia erupted, the South supplied Camp Douglas with free medicine for their incarcerated comrades, but the Union militia withheld it as smuggled goods of war. Eventually, all medical supplies were entirely cut off from the rebels. It is estimated that over 6,000 died and 1,500 were unaccounted for from February 1862 to November, 1865.

From Quiz Andersonville

Answer: 226

Death didn't discriminate at Andersonville, as it claimed the lives of 226 of the over 1,200 guards. Of these men, 117 were buried in the prison grounds, while the others, many of whom lived within 5-10 miles of the prison, were buried by their families in private cemeteries.

From Quiz The Civil War - Part G

Answer: VA

Located near Richmond, VA on the James river. Initially about 3,000 Union prisoners were sent there, but by 1863 it held 10,000. No barracks were built only tents were used. The death rate was high due to exposure.

From Quiz Civil War Prison Camps

Answer: Shohola, Pennsylvania

The prisoners were transported to Jersey City, NJ by boat where they then boarded the ill-fated train. At least one confederate prisoner who escaped at the time of the wreck later worked in a coal mine and settled in Matamoras.

From Quiz American Civil War

Answer: 14

No Union solder reached the stone wall and only a few got to within fifty yards of it. Gen. Burnside lost 7,000 men in the attacks. Of the 12,700 Union casualties suffered during the battle more than 6,000 were killed.

From Quiz Hell Hole: Camp Douglas

Answer: rats

Union guards and officials were bizarrely malicious in punishment when it came to food supply. Food provisions were restricted to virtually nothing, chiefly as revenge for Confederate Army victories on the battlefield. Confederate soldiers were starved to death from inadequate nourishment. Eliminating vegetables that contained essential vitamins from the diet amplified diseases such as scurvy and dysentery, which maximized the mortality rate. Even punishment by beatings or shootings came to those who were caught eating snow. In George Levy's book, "To Die in Chicago", it was acknowledged that dogs ate better than the men did. The prisoners succumbed to catching big gray rats, skinning them, and making them into pies to consume. Latrines being left open contaminated the source of their drinking water. The rain had washed raw sewage into it, making it impossible to drink.

From Quiz The Civil War - Part G

Answer: OH

Located near Columbus, OH. It was named after Salmon Chase. Originally built for about 4,000 prisoners, it later held about 7,000. Conditions were harsh, and about 1,000 prisoners died. The prison cemetery has been preserved.

From Quiz Civil War Prison Camps

Answer: Point Lookout Prison

Point Lookout military prison in Maryland served as a distribution point for the transfer of Confederate enlisted men to other prisons further north.

From Quiz American Civil War

Answer: Singleton

At the end of the war he disbanded his command instead of surrendering. He was not pardoned until 1866. He died on Memorial Day, 1916.

From Quiz Hell Hole: Camp Douglas

Answer: U.S. Sanitary Commission

After his visit to Camp Douglas, Mr. Bellows wrote his superior, Colonel Hoffman, this negative report. "Sir, the amount of standing water, un-policed grounds, of foul sinks, of unventilated and crowded barracks, of general disorder, of soil reeking miasmatic accretions, of rotton bones and emptying of camp kettles, is enough to drive a sanitarian to despair. I hope that no thought will be entertained of mending matters. The absolute abandonment of the spot seems to be the only judicious course; I do not believe that any amount of drainage would purge that soil loaded with accumulated filth or those barracks fetid with two stories of vermin and animal exhalations. Nothing but fire can cleanse them". Post Surgeon, D.V. McVickar warned Commandant Colonel Tucker on June 30, 1862, "The surface of the ground is becoming saturated with the filth, slop from the privies, kitchens, and quarters, and must produce serious result to health as soon as the hot weather sets in." Resource: Documentary, "Eighty Acres of Hell" (2006).

From Quiz Andersonville

Answer: 338

Union POWs joined the Confederate Army as a way of simply avoiding hardship and possible death within the stockade. This was viewed as treason by fellow Union POWs.

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