The Military Prison at Fort Warren

THS MILITARY PRISON AT FORT WARRSN Minor H. McLain A prisoner-of-war station is unique in that within its confines soldiers of belligerent armies must live together as noncombatants while subject to constant and sometimes potentially explosive tensions. Under such circumstances a prisoner may come to hate his enemy with a fervor seldom equalled by soldiers on the battlefield. On the other hand, relations between guard and captive may attain a level of mutual respect that makes it possible for each to appreciate the other as a human being in spite of an irreconcilable division of loyalties. This seems to have been the prevailing pattern at Fort Warren, on George's Island in Boston Harbor, during the Civil War. Originally this fort was constructed as part of the maritime defenses of Massachusetts. Built of granite in the pentagon shape common to early nineteenth century fortresses, its exterior impressed both Confederate prisoners and New England visitors with its strength. Nevertheless , many private citizens and public officials of Massachusetts often expressed anxiety during the war years about the fort's readiness to repel an enemy assault. Federal officials, aware of this concern, were nevertheless committed to a policy of giving greater priority to the more immediate requirements for the active prosecution of the war against the Confederate armed forces.1 In appraising any military prison, it is proper to compare the living conditions of the soldiers garrisoned there with those of the prisoners. A noticeable difference or similarity between the two may be an indication of the character of the detaining power or the commanding officer of the post. At the beginning of the Civil War, before its designation as a prison, Fort Warren was a training base for a number of Massachusetts regiments. Inadequate housing and food for large groups of incoming Dr. Minor McLain's interest in Civil War prisons stemmed in part from his own experiences as a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II. He is currently associate professor of historij at the State College at Salem, Massachusetts. This article is a condensation of his doctoral thesis at Boston University. 1 Minor Home McLain, "Prison Conditions in Fort Warren, Boston, during the Civil War" (Unpublished dissertation, Boston University, 1955), pp. 1-26. 136 men often resulted in complaints that were later echoed by newly arrived prisoners. A soldier of the 14th Massachusetts Infantry (which later became the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery) wrote: "Our first night at the fort was one long to be remembered, no provision had been made for us and, as we had neither blankets nor overcoats, we were obliged to take the cold stone floor for bed with nothing to cover us, the cold wind blowing through the embrasures from the ocean." The men of another company were issued blankets, but no bunks were ready for them. Unless they had friends in another unit with whom they might sleep, they also were obliged to sleep on the stone floor.2 These accounts cannot be dismissed merely as customary soldier grumbling. The noted Dr. Samuel G. Howe inspected the quarters at about this time and reported to Governor John A. Andrew that while each soldier should "be allowed in his barrack 600 cubic feet of air," the figure at Fort Warren was "less than 145 feet." The physician thought some of the overcrowding was doubtless due to the speed with which newly recruited men were rushed there, and he commented further: "I omit from the calculation one room in which on one night seventy-five men are said to have slept with a floor space of only nine feet to a man; which is hardly credible even by western travellers who have to sleep three in a bed or on the floor."3 Later, when Massachusetts assigned several artillery regiments to the fortress to defend that position and guard the prisoners, the enlisted men were relieved to find conditions more settled. Their quarters were better than anticipated; several rooms had bunks similar to those on fishing vessels, with mattresses made of sacks and filled with straw. Army rations are seldom praised, and those issued at Fort Warren were no exception. The men received...