Captives in Blue: The Civil War Prisons of the Confederacy

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Gen. John h. Winder served the Confederacy in a variety of capacities dealing with Union prisoners. he faced numerous challenges but was seldom given the authority to deal with them. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA Union prisoners at Castle Pinckney in Charleston harbor. Prisoners sent from Richmond were housed there in 1861 and 1862. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Richmond’s Castle Thunder prison. The majority of inmates held there were civilians facing a variety of charges and Confederate deserters. Courtesy national Archives, Washington, DC. The interior yard of Castle Thunder. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. The military prison at salisbury, north Carolina. When the facility first opened in 1862, prisoners found the conditions there good. By late 1864 they had deteriorated, and the mortality rate exceeded even that of Andersonville. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Union prisoners playing baseball at salisbury in 1862. Crowding would eventually put an end to the games. Courtesy national Archives, Washington, DC. Belle isle, Richmond, virginia. The Confederates began using the island in the James River as a prison in the summer of 1862. Union prisoners also stayed there during the bitter fall and winter of 1863–64. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. A photo of libby prison taken at the end of the war. The facility was mainly used to house Union officers. The white paint was reportedly applied to make potential escapees easier to spot after dark. Courtesy national Archives, Washington, DC. Camp Parole, located near Annapolis, maryland, held paroled Union prisoners awaiting exchange. At first they were housed in tents. The barracks went up during the spring of 1864. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. A flag of truce boat delivers paroled prisoners to Camp Parole. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Prison 3 at Danville, virginia. The Confederates began sending prisoners to Danville in late 1863 to help relieve overcrowding in Richmond. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Danville’s Prison 6. The Confederates used six tobacco warehouses as prisons in the southern virginia city. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Camp morgan, located in Cahaba, Alabama, served briefly as a holding camp in 1862. The following year it reopened and eventually housed over two thousand prisoners. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. in August 1864 photographer Andrew Jackson Riddle visited Camp sumter, near Andersonville , Georgia. This view, showing the sinks and the numerous prisoner “shebangs,” was taken from the east wall. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. This Riddle photo shows the Andersonville prisoners crowding near the north gate to receive rations. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Andersonville’s burial detail places the body of a Union captive in the long trench that served as a grave. over thirteen thousand prisoners died at Andersonville. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Camp oglethorpe, macon, Georgia. This facility held prisoners captured in the western theater in 1862. in 1864 the Confederates reopened it as a prison for officers only. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. During the fall of 1864, Union officers were kept in an open field near Columbia, south Carolina. Because sorghum usually replaced meat in the prisoners’ rations, they nicknamed the pen Camp sorghum. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Christened Camp Asylum, the south Carolina male “lunatic asylum” housed Union officers during the winter of 1864–65. fortunate captives ended up inside the asylum buildings. others camped on the grounds. Courtesy massachusetts mollUs Collection, United states Army military history institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. The execution of henry Wirz. The Andersonville commandant was hanged outside old Capitol Prison in Washington...