“TO MAKE THE BEST OF OUR HARD LOT”: PRISONERS, CAPTIVITY, AND THE CIVIL WAR DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By José O. Díaz, B.S., M.L.S., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2009 Dissertation Committee Approved by Professor Joan E. Cashin Professor C. Mark Grimsley Professor Warren Van Tine __________________ Adviser History Graduate Program Copyright by José O. Díaz 2009 ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the captivity of the American soldier during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The plethora of fine works that exist about the experiences of Civil War captives have focused their attention on the harshness of prison life, the resulting casualties, and the need to assign blame. This dissertation takes another approach. Instead, it examines how prisoners of war in both the North and South adapted and made the best of a restrictive and harsh environment. The study shows that prison life, in despite of its trauma and suffering, included the rudiments of an American community. This dissertation also examines the positive aspects of the prison experience. Many captives accepted the reality of the circumstances and set out to make the best of their situation. They used their values to engineer a culture of captivity that made imprisonment endurable and survival possible. The adoption of this culture among Civil War prisoners of war is hardly surprising. The Civil War generation came to war equipped with habits and traditions that made captivity sustainable. These traits did not disappear when the combat soldier relinquished his weapon and commenced the journey into captivity. If anything, the stressful nature of imprisonment pushed these habits underground briefly, forcing the prisoners to ii reshape them in original ways. Thus, this work interprets captivity as a transforming experience. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Contrary to popular belief, the labor of researching and writing a doctoral dissertation is not a solitary endeavor. In the past eight years I have become indebted to countless librarians, curators, and archivists who have offered me their support and professional assistance. It is fitting that I recognize the following institutions and their professional staffs for their help: The Library of Congress, The National Archives, The Filson Historical Society, The Virginia Historical Society, The Ohio Historical Society, The Ohio State University Libraries, The Military History Institute Carlisle Barracks, The Rutherford B. Hayes Center, The Clements Library (University of Michigan), The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Harvard University, Tulane University, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, and The University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign. The biggest intellectual debt goes to Professor Joan E. Cashin. Since our first meeting on a bitterly cold January morning in 1996, Professor Cashin has been a model of what an academic advisor and mentor should be: responsible, dedicated, and professional. Without her support, patience, and intellectual acumen I never would have completed this project. My two other committee members Professors Warren Van Tine and C. Mark Grimsley read the iv dissertation and offered honest and insightful comments. Their combination of criticism and encouragement resulted in a better dissertation. They are both first- rate historians and consummate professionals. I also received help and support from the following individuals: Dr. Kenneth Andrien, Mr. Gary Arnold, Dr. John M. Bennett, Dr. Mansel Blackford, Ms. Laura Blomquist, Mr. Mark Boarman, Dr. James K. Bracken, Ms. Nan Carter, Mr. Nicholas Churchill, Ms. Marilyn McConnell-Goelz, Dr. Raimund E. Goerler, Ms. Rachel Gruber (thanks for the inspirational T-shirt!), Ms. Mary Allen Johnson, Dr. James T. Jones, Dr. Nelson Lankford, Mr. David Lincove, Dr. Consuelo López-Springfield, Mr. James L. Murphy, Dr. Edward Riedinger, Dr. Randolph Roth, Rev. Glen Schwedtfeger, Dr. Geoffrey D. Smith, Ms. Kristina Starkus, Dr. Thomas Suchan, Ms. Carolyn Wahlmark, and Dr. Guey- Meei Yang. The work of completing a doctoral program requires time and money. From Joseph J. Branin (Director, The Ohio State University Libraries), Dr. William J. Studer (Director Emeritus), and the Library’s Advisory Committee on Research I received the financial and logistical support needed to bring this work to fruition. The Virginia Historical Society granted me an Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellowship. The fellowship allowed for two weeks of uninterrupted research at the Virginia Historical Society. I am indeed very grateful. My colleagues at the Library’s Cataloging Department, the Science and Engineering Library, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, v encouraged me, put up with my research leaves, and often endured long boring Civil War stories. I thank them all. I owe the most to my family. From my children, Jacob Samuel and Mara Elizabeth, I have learned more than from any dusty tome I have ever read. To them history is a vast collection of grainy photos, whiskered old men, and pensive looking women. The long, joyful, and necessary backward glance that history truly is remains a mystery. Time, however, is on their side. In the midst of poverty and life’s myriad difficulties my parents, Oscar and Yolanda, raised and educated four children. The completion of this work is a tribute to their tenacity and selflessness. My sisters, Yolanda, Gisela, and Carmen, remain close to my thoughts. Any of them could have written a better dissertation. Today I also I remember my four grandparents. They all have passed on. These nineteenth century people witnessed and endured the perennial booms and busts of a long-gone era with unbreakable courage and quiet determination. Their lives were my first introduction to the mysteries of space and time. They are of blessed memory. My biggest regret is that my father-in-law, Frank Hamilton Snure, did not live to see this small triumph. He would have enjoyed it. Frank was a practitioner of the old Quaker adage, “let your life speak,” and his life spoke. I miss his zest for life, his boundless curiosity, and his unspoken recognition that “broad and alien is the world.” Frank too, is of blessed memory. vi My mother-in-law Barbara and her husband and friend Phillip Beutel share a life of decency and faith. They are a daily reminder of the rewards of a life well lived. My brothers and sisters in-law (the Boggs, the Lunds, the Monrozeaus, the Riveras and the Snures) also supported this endeavor. They rarely talked about the Civil War and never asked how much more time I needed. For that, and for many other things, I am very grateful. Finally, I dedicate this work with love and respect to my wife Karen. She encouraged me to take this strange, and at times frantic, detour into nineteenth century America. She listened to countless Civil War stories, read far too many bad drafts, and selflessly adjusted to what a historian fittingly described as “the ordeal of composition.” Through our children, she has given me the only eternity I am entitled to achieve. Karen, more importantly, never doubted it. José O. Díaz, Ph.D. January 2009 vii VITA December 21, 1958 .........................................................Born Santurce, Puerto Rico 1982 ......................................................................................... B.S. Natural Sciences Oral Roberts University 1988 ...................................................................................... M.L.S., Library Science Indiana University 1989 .............................................................................M.A .Latin American Studies FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History Area of Emphasis: Early American History Minor Fields: Modern American History Latin American History viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDMENTS........................................................................................ iv VITA ..................................................................................................................... viii INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1 “ALL THIS GABBLE ABOUT WAR”: JOURNEY INTO CAPTIVITY.....................17 CHAPTER 2 “TO MEET THE EXIGENCIES OF THE MOMENT”: PRISONS NORTH AND SOUTH ................................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER 3 “WHOLLY DESTITUTE OF GOVERNMENT”: PRISON LIFE............................. 59 CHAPTER 4 “LIKE STRAWS TO DROWNING MEN”: THE IDEOLOGICAL STRUGGLE .....82 CHAPTER 5 “HIS FACE AND HIS UNIFORM WERE HIS FATE”: BLACKS AND THE WAR.................................................................................................... 109 CHAPTER 6 “A VAST MUSEUM OF HUMAN CHARACTER”: LESSONS LEARNED .......... 130 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................156 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................161 ix INTRODUCTION After a daylong battle, infantrymen from a Michigan unit surrendered to Rebel troops near the Halston River in East Tennessee. The Confederates then lined up their prisoners, stripped them of all valuables, and forced them to march south. By evening, prisoners and guards