,1 WN90N COUNT/, ALAZAMA MIL IZAOCBK NBMlHieK lists: »s Sillssslssi siissSS si MARCH 2003 PRISON CAMPS Blue vs. Gray by Peggy Shaw The Civil War gave a new meaning to the term "Prisoner of War". Never before had there such a large number of soldiers held in an area; filled to such extreme over capacity. In 1861, the Confederate Army fired on Fort Sumter. Under the command of Gen. Pierce Beauregard, prisoners were paroled on their honor not to return to battle. He allowed the Union Soldiers to vacate Fort Sumter and take all the arms and personal belongings they could carry. He allowed paroled soldiers to give 100 gun salute to the American Flag before their departure. Gen. Beauregard had been a student of Maj. Anderson, commander at Fort Sumter, at West Point, and serving as Anderson's assistant after graduation. In July of 1862, Representatives Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill (Confederate) and Gen. Maj. John H. Dix (Union) held negotiations for prisoner exchanges. They agreed that first year officers would be allowed to return to their units. Officers were to be traded rank for rank and enlisted men exchanges were similar. Both incurred that all prisoners were to treated humanly, and the injured cared for just as those of the regular army. The war continued and the exchange system started to break down. Both sides began arguing with one another over alleged violations of parole agreements. Ulysses S. Grant stated, "Exchanging prisoners only prolongs the war. The war would be won only when the confederates could not replace their men as they lost them due to death, injury or capture". In Jury of 1863 he signed an order that ended all exchanges within his command. A few days later a republican Edwin Stanton, ordered a halt to all prisoner exchanges though out the Union Army. Union Commanders still had the authority to parole or exchange prisoners. These were called "Field Exchanges". These exchanges were allowed only under certain conditions and were very limited. In both Confederate and Union Prisons, an Officer was assigned to provided safe custody and substance for the prisoners of war. These positions were held by Col. Persons with Richard Winder as his assistant (Confederate) and Lt. Col. William Hoffman (Union). Hoffman had himself been a prisoner of war. The birth of Andersonville Prison came in November of 1863, when Sec. of War for the Confederate States contacted Gen. John H. Winder to locate a new site to construct a new military prison. Gen Winder sent his son, William Sidney Winder to Georgia to secure a suitable site, making the suggestions of the Americus or Fort Valley area or as far south as Albany, Georgia. Lobbying from a land owner that was looking out for his financial future that could be created with the union prisoners business, he chose Anderson Station in Sumter County. Winder looked at this location as being ideal with the railroad two miles away, plenty of pines to build a stockade and a creek nearby. He failed to realize that all the hardwoods had been cut to supply the Railroad into Anderson Station. The land owner also led Winder to believe the village people were in harmony of the building of the prison. He would later find out that was not the case. Construction began on the prison on the 10th of January 1864, and little more than a month passed and the 1st prisoners were on their way. Winder was in a panic, due to lack of cooperation with the village people and other factors, contruction was not complete. Plans had been made to have herds of cattle driven up from Florida to help feed the prisoners. The plan failed. Winder thought he could rely on the abundance of hogs that roamed the woods and the sale those that were raised by the people on their farms. Luck would have it that the choice cut of the pork ended up on civilian tables, the feet, neck, head and intestines landed on slave tables and the under sow belly was left for the prisoners. Winder thought that corn would be a good staple for the prisoners. It too, was not even fit to feed an animal being full of the husk and cob. This diet reeked havoc on prisoners's already stressed digestive systems. 2- The prisoners first death was that of 27th February 1864 and the 1st smallpox diagnosis was made on the 3rd of March in that same year. The chief surgeon knew, smallpox if left unchecked, would run rampant. In 1864 with the coming assault of Sherman Troops, Winder put into action a plan to move as many of the prisoners as he could. The prisoners took this move as a relief, due to their living conditions. The prison that once had been designed to house 6000 prisoners was housing 33,000 men. This number dwindled to 1359 by November 1864. In December of 1864, 3500 men had been transferred back to Andersonville. By the end of the war, burial grounds at Andersonville contain 13,000 graves of those Union Prisoners of War who died. The cemetery at Andersonville was declared a National Cemetery in November 1865. Unlike Andersonville built especially for prisoners of war, Camp Douglas, was a military camp training recruits. This was the only Union Camp that housed both prisoners and trainees within the same area. The Camp was located in Chicago, Illinois. This area held more soldiers than any other Union State. Chicage wanted the war to begin as much as any person in Charleston. The first shot was fired, the city busied itself with preparations for battle. Prior to the completion of Camp Douglas, its troops were housed in breweries, public buildings and wigwams. Governor of Illinois, Richard Yates established a military district in Illinois. Judge Allen C. Fuller was placed in charge to select a site to build a Military Camp. He chose a site 4 miles from Chicago, where the railroad was easy accessible and plenty of water from Lake Michigan. Joseph H. Tucker broke ground for the facility and Camp Douglas was born. Nearly 4,222 troops from eleven regiments were assigned to Camp Douglas by November 1861. Serious cases of measles broke out in December of that same year. This was a pitiful group of military personal, as Col. Tucker described them, "Not fit for Services". Rumor passed, Prisoners of War would soon be coming into Camp Douglas. The Chicago Tribune made a joke of it. Irish Brigade known as the 23rd IL Infantry Regiment under the command of James A. Mulligan, reorganized after being captured by Confederate General Sterling Price, and was assigned by the War Department to guard Camp Douglas. 1 By December 1861 about 5000 Confederate Prisoners of War had arrived at the Camp. The troops were in excellent condition prior to their arrival at Camp Douglas, were now dying. Prisoners in less than good condition were sharing the same fate. Gen. Hoffman received a telegram from Gen. M.C. Meigs setting the first regulations for the treatment and care of the prisoners. Hoffman was complimented on the Camp after Mulligan's visit. Hoffman at one time had requested to be supervisor over the surgeons, commissaries and commander of stations, his request was denied. At one point prisoners were faring well, though food and supplies were sometimes lacking. This was soon to get worse. Before the end of the war, prisoners held at Camp Douglas suffered greatly from disease, exposure from elements in the frigid winter months, lack of clean water, and poor diet and in some cases, physical torture. Of the 26,781 Prisoners of War that passed though the gates of Camp Douglas, 4009 or more lost their lives. Most were buried at Chicago City Cemetery. Smallpox victims were buried across from the camp. Some of the bodies of these soldiers were moved to Oak Woods Cemetery in April 1867. There were controversies over issues pertaining to the dead soldiers bodies for many years after the war. Sources: Andersonville Journey, The Civil War's Greatest Tragedy, by Edward F. Roberts; To Die Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-1865, By George Levy. *********************************************** The "Pigeon Roost" — First Permanent Settlement In the Double Springs Area, 1821 By John Bennett Weaver With a 1896 story by Uncle Dick Payne (Contributed by Sam Weaver) Assuming that the first occupant to acquire title to a homestead would be the first permanent settler in the community of the county, then according to the "Homestead Entry Plat Book" in Winston County's Probate Office at Double Springs, Richard McMahan would be the first permanent settler in the Haleyville area, Winston County, as he acquired title to 200 acres in Sec. 28, T. 9 R 10 West in 1820. ,: The second permanent settlement, as shown by said "Homestead Entry Plat Book", in Winston County was W 1/2 of SW1/4 Sec. 10, t 9 R 8 West, made by John W. McNamee in 1821, near the "Pigeon Roost". Adjoining the property of this settlement, Phillip Buford of Lawrence County, acquired title of 80 acres in 1823. This settlement was about 10 miles a little east of north of Double Springs. The natural scenery at the "pigeon roost" and along the river near it is inviting and inspiring. One visit will convince you, but it will not satisfy; you will return. The name, "Pigeon Roost", is what the term inplies. In the early days there were thousands of wild pigeons over south Lawrence and north Winston. For a period, at certain seasons of the year, they would come to this place to spend the night.