This year The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) is sponsoring a Civil War digital photo contest. The contest runs now until August 31, 2008. You don’t have to be a professional photographer anyone can enter. The photos need to be uploaded into the CWPT photo group on Flickr.
You can click here to get the full information on the contest. There will be a Grand Prize, First Place Prize, Second and Third Place Prize.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Fort Butler – Donaldsonville, Louisiana The Forgotten Fort
Many Civil War historical sites have disappeared over the years along with the history of the men that fought in that bloody war. It is the job of us descendents and as a UDC member, to carry on the history, of the battles, who fought in these battles, who the commanders were, how lives were lived, and lives that were lost. I would like to tell you about the brave and honorable men that died at the battle of Fort Butler and are buried in an unmarked mass grave!
On June 28, 1863, the town of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was the site of a brutal battle during the War Between the States. During this bloody battle, a fort built by the Union army survived a fierce assault by the Confederate army. To the naked eye there is no sign of the fort on the Mississippi River bank at Donaldsonville.
The Union army built Fort Butler at a very strategic point, since Confederate forces were able to use the river all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and by-pass New Orleans. Fort Butler, with its garrison of Union troops made up mostly of freed slaves, stood in the way of any Confederate attempt to reclaim New Orleans or end the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Confederate General Alfred Mouton ordered the Confederate forces stationed in Louisiana to take for Butler. He considered this maneuver essential to the disrupted of communication between Union General Banks and New Orleans. Mouton issued the following General Order on May 31, 1863:
The Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Regiments Texas Mounted Volunteers, the Second Regiment Louisiana Calvary, Waller’s Battalion, the Valverde Battery and Nichol’s Battery will constitute the First Brigade…under the command of General Thomas Green Baylor’s Regiment, Stone’s Regiment, Gurley’s Regiment (30th Texas Partisan Rangers), Philip’s Regiment, Speight’s Battery, and Semmes Battery will constitute the Second Brigade…General J.P. Majors is assigned…command of the same.
The Texas and Arizonans marched all night on June 26, 1863, to Donaldsonville. When they were within nine miles of the town, they rested while preparing for the battle. The Texas Calvary, commanded by General Green, stormed the fort during the early hours of June 28.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW:
Army of the Potomac under General George B. Mcclellan Retreating from the Chickahominy in 1862
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A fierce hand-to-hand struggle ensued and lasted for three hours. As confederate troops rushed over the fort’s outer wall, they found a deep moat inside. Many were trapped and died in the barrage of bullets fired at them.
When daylight came, 31 Confederates lay dead, 114 were wounded and 107 were missing. General Green later wrote: “There never was more desperation displayed than was shown by our men engaged in this assault.”
The Confederates never succeeded in taking the fort from the Union soldiers of the Louisiana Native Guards and gunboats USS Winona and USS Princess Royal.
Historians say that Fort Butler is unique because African-Americans helped build it and then, in 1863, defended it. Some say it was the first African-American victory of the war.
After the battle, the Union army refused to allow the Confederate attackers to remove the bodies of their fallen comrades. The Confederate dead were buried in a mass grave, where they remain today.
Buried in unmarked graves at Fort Butler for 144 years:
4th Texas Mounted Volunteers
Co. A. Cartwright, Norval D., Lt.
Co. G. Stevens, M., Cpl.
5th Texas Mounted Volunteers
Co. A. Henderson, Wm., Pvt.
Co. D. Ragsdale, D.H., Capt.
Shelton, H.B., Pvt.
Coon, S.N., bugler
Co. F. Wilkenson, Jas., Pvt.
Co. G. Bridges, Ed J., Pvt.
Co. H Barnett, J., Pvt.
Co. I Dobbin, J.H., Pvt.
Co. K Long, James W. Pvt.
7th Texas Mounted Volunteers
Co. D Roach, B.J., Pvt.
Co. E Davis, R.B., Pvt.
Austin, T.J., Pvt.
Morgan, W.F., Sgt.
Co. F Barker, W.F., Pvt.
Co. G King, Alfred, Pvt.
Co. H Avery, T.G., Pvt.
Co. K House, P.M., Pvt.
3rd Arizona
Staff Phillips, Joseph, Col.
Co. A McLean, A.M., Pvt.
Co. C Walker, W.K., Lt.
Vann, Sgt.
Co. E Whitener, John, Pvt.
Co. F. Kennedy, Henry, Capt.
Roan, William B., 3rd It.
Malone, James W., Pvt.
Stilwell, Newton C., Pvt.
Renfro, Thomas, Pvt.
Robertson, Mitchell, Pvt.
Co. H. Holand, W.L. Sgt.
In 1999, the UDC dedicated a monument to the brave Confederate soldiers who died at Fort Butler. The headstone listed the name and rank of every Confederate soldier who lies buried in the mass grave. They are not forgotten, and their honor and sacrifice are not lost in time.
On June 28, 1863, the town of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was the site of a brutal battle during the War Between the States. During this bloody battle, a fort built by the Union army survived a fierce assault by the Confederate army. To the naked eye there is no sign of the fort on the Mississippi River bank at Donaldsonville.
The Union army built Fort Butler at a very strategic point, since Confederate forces were able to use the river all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and by-pass New Orleans. Fort Butler, with its garrison of Union troops made up mostly of freed slaves, stood in the way of any Confederate attempt to reclaim New Orleans or end the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Confederate General Alfred Mouton ordered the Confederate forces stationed in Louisiana to take for Butler. He considered this maneuver essential to the disrupted of communication between Union General Banks and New Orleans. Mouton issued the following General Order on May 31, 1863:
The Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Regiments Texas Mounted Volunteers, the Second Regiment Louisiana Calvary, Waller’s Battalion, the Valverde Battery and Nichol’s Battery will constitute the First Brigade…under the command of General Thomas Green Baylor’s Regiment, Stone’s Regiment, Gurley’s Regiment (30th Texas Partisan Rangers), Philip’s Regiment, Speight’s Battery, and Semmes Battery will constitute the Second Brigade…General J.P. Majors is assigned…command of the same.
The Texas and Arizonans marched all night on June 26, 1863, to Donaldsonville. When they were within nine miles of the town, they rested while preparing for the battle. The Texas Calvary, commanded by General Green, stormed the fort during the early hours of June 28.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW:
Army of the Potomac under General George B. Mcclellan Retreating from the Chickahominy in 1862
Giclee Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
A fierce hand-to-hand struggle ensued and lasted for three hours. As confederate troops rushed over the fort’s outer wall, they found a deep moat inside. Many were trapped and died in the barrage of bullets fired at them.
When daylight came, 31 Confederates lay dead, 114 were wounded and 107 were missing. General Green later wrote: “There never was more desperation displayed than was shown by our men engaged in this assault.”
The Confederates never succeeded in taking the fort from the Union soldiers of the Louisiana Native Guards and gunboats USS Winona and USS Princess Royal.
Historians say that Fort Butler is unique because African-Americans helped build it and then, in 1863, defended it. Some say it was the first African-American victory of the war.
After the battle, the Union army refused to allow the Confederate attackers to remove the bodies of their fallen comrades. The Confederate dead were buried in a mass grave, where they remain today.
Buried in unmarked graves at Fort Butler for 144 years:
4th Texas Mounted Volunteers
Co. A. Cartwright, Norval D., Lt.
Co. G. Stevens, M., Cpl.
5th Texas Mounted Volunteers
Co. A. Henderson, Wm., Pvt.
Co. D. Ragsdale, D.H., Capt.
Shelton, H.B., Pvt.
Coon, S.N., bugler
Co. F. Wilkenson, Jas., Pvt.
Co. G. Bridges, Ed J., Pvt.
Co. H Barnett, J., Pvt.
Co. I Dobbin, J.H., Pvt.
Co. K Long, James W. Pvt.
7th Texas Mounted Volunteers
Co. D Roach, B.J., Pvt.
Co. E Davis, R.B., Pvt.
Austin, T.J., Pvt.
Morgan, W.F., Sgt.
Co. F Barker, W.F., Pvt.
Co. G King, Alfred, Pvt.
Co. H Avery, T.G., Pvt.
Co. K House, P.M., Pvt.
3rd Arizona
Staff Phillips, Joseph, Col.
Co. A McLean, A.M., Pvt.
Co. C Walker, W.K., Lt.
Vann, Sgt.
Co. E Whitener, John, Pvt.
Co. F. Kennedy, Henry, Capt.
Roan, William B., 3rd It.
Malone, James W., Pvt.
Stilwell, Newton C., Pvt.
Renfro, Thomas, Pvt.
Robertson, Mitchell, Pvt.
Co. H. Holand, W.L. Sgt.
In 1999, the UDC dedicated a monument to the brave Confederate soldiers who died at Fort Butler. The headstone listed the name and rank of every Confederate soldier who lies buried in the mass grave. They are not forgotten, and their honor and sacrifice are not lost in time.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Worth a Voyage Across the Atlantic
“The passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature. You stand on a very high point of land…The first glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opinion that this earth has been created in time, that the mountains were formed first that the rivers began to flow afterwards…,” Virginian Thomas Jefferson wrote about Harpers Ferry in 1785.
Few sights in America are more awe inspiring than looking down upon this humble town that sits at the immediate confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. Thomas Jefferson was so amazed by it that he wrote “This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic.”
While natural beauty at Harpers Ferry, today it is the town’s richest history that makes this hamlet so special. The Civil War arguably began here when the fanatical John Brown seized weapons from the town’s armory in 1859 and was determined to lead a slave insurrection across the heavily slave dependent regions of northern Virginia. Eventually cornered in the engine house located at the junction of the railroad bridges in town, Brown was quickly tried and found guilty of treason and hanged just weeks after his Old Testament-styled crusade. In 1881, abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivered a memorable oration at Storer College in the heart of Harpers Ferry. Sitting on the platform was Andrew Hunter, the district attorney who had vigorously prosecuted Brown some twenty years earlier.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW:
Maps Help Tell Our History
Battles of The Civil War Map
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“The true question is: Did John Brown draw his sword against slavery and thereby lose his life in vain?” Douglass asked the audience. “And to this I answer ten thousand times, NO! No man fails, or can fail who so grandly gives himself and all he has to a righteous cause…. The South staked all upon getting possession of the Federal Government and failing to do that drew the sword rebellion and thus made her own, and not Brown’s, the lost cause of the century.”
Harpers Ferry has not only been a place civil rights advancement, it was also an epicenter for both the Antietam and Gettysburg Campaigns during the middle of the Civil War. These two campaigns helped determine the outcome of the war, as both feature Northern incursions by the Confederate general Robert E. Lee.
In 1862, Lee divided his army into five parts, in large measure to secure the capture of Harpers Ferry and the Union garrison stationed there that threatened his rear. Some nine months later, Lee was again north of the Potomac with his eyes set on “striking a blow” to Union forces on their home soil. This time, however, Lee ignored the troops stationed at Harpers Ferry, but the Union chain of command still feared Lee’s prowess at trapping unsuspecting garrisons.
“There is no doubt that the enemy is surrounding Harpers Ferry,” Lincoln’s easily agitated chief of staff, Henry Halleck, wired Union commanding general Joseph Hooker. Halleck and Hooker were bitter enemies, though Lincoln repeatedly asked them to work together. By the end of June 1863, Halleck had cunningly used Harpers Ferry as a way to rid himself of a general whom he hated. The Battle of Gettysburg was only hours away, but the Union army would have a new commander thanks in part to a dispute forged in Harpers Ferry.
Few sights in America are more awe inspiring than looking down upon this humble town that sits at the immediate confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. Thomas Jefferson was so amazed by it that he wrote “This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic.”
While natural beauty at Harpers Ferry, today it is the town’s richest history that makes this hamlet so special. The Civil War arguably began here when the fanatical John Brown seized weapons from the town’s armory in 1859 and was determined to lead a slave insurrection across the heavily slave dependent regions of northern Virginia. Eventually cornered in the engine house located at the junction of the railroad bridges in town, Brown was quickly tried and found guilty of treason and hanged just weeks after his Old Testament-styled crusade. In 1881, abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivered a memorable oration at Storer College in the heart of Harpers Ferry. Sitting on the platform was Andrew Hunter, the district attorney who had vigorously prosecuted Brown some twenty years earlier.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW:
Maps Help Tell Our History
Battles of The Civil War Map
Art Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
“The true question is: Did John Brown draw his sword against slavery and thereby lose his life in vain?” Douglass asked the audience. “And to this I answer ten thousand times, NO! No man fails, or can fail who so grandly gives himself and all he has to a righteous cause…. The South staked all upon getting possession of the Federal Government and failing to do that drew the sword rebellion and thus made her own, and not Brown’s, the lost cause of the century.”
Harpers Ferry has not only been a place civil rights advancement, it was also an epicenter for both the Antietam and Gettysburg Campaigns during the middle of the Civil War. These two campaigns helped determine the outcome of the war, as both feature Northern incursions by the Confederate general Robert E. Lee.
In 1862, Lee divided his army into five parts, in large measure to secure the capture of Harpers Ferry and the Union garrison stationed there that threatened his rear. Some nine months later, Lee was again north of the Potomac with his eyes set on “striking a blow” to Union forces on their home soil. This time, however, Lee ignored the troops stationed at Harpers Ferry, but the Union chain of command still feared Lee’s prowess at trapping unsuspecting garrisons.
“There is no doubt that the enemy is surrounding Harpers Ferry,” Lincoln’s easily agitated chief of staff, Henry Halleck, wired Union commanding general Joseph Hooker. Halleck and Hooker were bitter enemies, though Lincoln repeatedly asked them to work together. By the end of June 1863, Halleck had cunningly used Harpers Ferry as a way to rid himself of a general whom he hated. The Battle of Gettysburg was only hours away, but the Union army would have a new commander thanks in part to a dispute forged in Harpers Ferry.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Civil War Camp: Andersonville Prison, A Dark Fourteen Months
What Andersonville Prison was like when my 3rd Great Grandad was there. Upon reading my very first post you probably thought I had family that fought just for the Confederacy but Yes I had family members that fought for the North and the South!
Here is a historical background of why it existed and the horrors that happened there.
The darkest and most horrible element did not come from the battlefields, but from within the confines of the prisoner of war camps. Both the Union and Confederate prison camps has their share of starvation, disease, and death. The famous of these camps was located in Sumter County, near Andersonville, Georgia. The Georgia heat with barely enough rations and inadequate shelter killed the Union ranks.
Early in the war, prison camps were scattered throughout the states. These camps were intended to be small and lightly supplies, for the sole purpose of exchanging prisoners. However, as the war progressed, the Confederacy began to run low on its resources and manpower. With the Union ranks becoming larger and larger, it was natural that the greater numbers of prisoners were sent to their camps.
On April 17, 1864, Union General Ulysses S. Grant decided to stop the prisoner exchange. His logic for this termination of the program was that every rebel prisoner who is exchanged “becomes an active soldier against us at once either directly or indirectly.” With this order the number of prisoners in the camps grow.
By 1864, the southern cause was not looking good. The confederate forces met defeat after defeat. General Lee’s army failed to mount a campaign in Union territory. The southern resolve held firm and the confederate government began to search for ways to comfort the burden on their citizens.
The decrease in supplies made the construction of a new prison in a remote area a priority. At a new prison the Confederates assumed that the prisoners would be easier to guard and feed than in the center of a city. Construction began right away on a new prison in the heart of Georgia.
In February 1864, the first prisoners were packed into filthy cattle cars and transported to the new prison located near the tiny village of Andersonville. The prison camp was officially named Camp Sumter. The grounds were 16.5 acres surrounded by a fifteen-foot high stockade. Within the walls, Sweetwater Creek, a fresh water stream, flowed through the middle, which was used as a latrine as well as for drinking water. The camp was designed for 10,000 men; the first men at the camp found life tolerable. Supplies were meager, but sufficient to life.
The Confederates still believed that prisoner exchange was happening. As a sharp increase in the number of prisoners being held in Adersonville, the rations were tightened not only for the growth of prisoners but also because rations were harder and harder to find in the unsteadily confederacy. The camp’s population swelled to 33,000 by July. The camp was expanded to 26.5 acres, but there still was only about the area of a common grave available to each man.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW:
As 1864 drew on, conditions only grew worse. The south was unable to provide for its own forces, let alone the prisoners. This was a direct result of General Sherman’s scorched earthly policy, which killed the confederacy. Nothing was left behind undamaged, as towns, farms, and railway lines were all destroyed. Even food and medicine was considered contraband and put to the torch.
As conditions became worse, fear was that the prisoners would riot and emerge in a mass escape. Therefore, batteries of guns were aimed on the camp at all times. Talk was spread that if the Union army approached the battery was to kill all the prisoners.
Within the walls of Andersonville prison, the Union soldiers lived as best they could. The early arrivals were able to construct shanties out of scraps of wood and old blankets while others shared the crumbling fabric of a tent. Still others dug holes in the ground to live. The remainder had no shelter at all. They had to stand in the blaring summer sun, the pouring rain, and bitter cold. What was worse was that no clothing was provided for the prisoners. Many wore torn rags while others had nothing at all.
Rations were meager; they consisted of one and a quarter pounds of corn meal along with the occasional serving of beans, peas, and molasses. Rations of meat arrived inconsistently, with either a pound of beef or a third pound of bacon. Sometimes the meat was left in the sun for days and when finally handed out, the spoiled meat only aggravate the hunger and the intestinal distress of the prisoners.
As the months went on, the stream became polluted with waste and sometimes, human remains. The stench became unbearable and those who drank from it tended to develop dysentery and diarrhea while others would clean their wounds with the stagnant water they quickly suffered from gangrene.
One very interesting thing happened during this time. The river became a little trickle from the Georgia sun and the waste and muck of the riverbed attracted thousands of flies and maggots. During this horrible time, a fresh water spring burst inside the stockade and provided fresh, cool water for the men. Many saw this as a gift from God and named it Providence Spring. This permanent source of water still exists to this day.
As the prisoners lives within the prison walls became more desperate, bands of thieves called “Andersonville Raiders” began to form.
These men would steal anything from a prisoner, clothes, food, money, or trinkets. As their bands grew, they became bolder and more reckless, attacking prisoners in broad daylight. On June 29, 250 Regulators met about 150 raiders in an armed battle with clubs and bare fists. In the end, six of the leaders of the gangs were found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged while 86 were to “run the gauntlet.” This was a form of punishment by which two long rows men, armed with clubs and sticks, would form and the prisoner would be forced to run between them while receiving hundreds of blows. The following day the condemned men were hanged that afternoon.
By July the conditions had become so poor in the camp that five Union soldiers delivered a petition signed by the entire camp to Washington. Calling for a reinstatement of the prisoner exchange program, these emissaries pledged to return to the camp with news of their results. The petition was denied and the “hell on earth” continued.
In the heat of summer, disease, and famine slaughtered hundreds of men each day. The dead were carted out of wagons, piled up like cordwood, with arms and legs hanging over the wheels, glassy eyes, and open mouths. Each night the shrieks and moans of the dying were heard. The dead were laying about the camp for some time because the prisoners were too weak to remove them, and the guards feared catching a disease if they entered the prison.
By the end of 1864, the Confederacy offered to unconditionally release the prisoners if the Union would agree to send ships to retrieve them. These ships did not arrive until December. With the surrender in April 1865, the camp at Andersonville closed.
Over the fourteen months of its existence, approximately 45,000 Union prisoners were held within its walls. Thirteen thousand prisoners never returned home.
Although the death rates in the other prison camps scattered around the states were extremely high, none of them compared to the horrors witnessed at Andersonville Prison.
Here is a historical background of why it existed and the horrors that happened there.
The darkest and most horrible element did not come from the battlefields, but from within the confines of the prisoner of war camps. Both the Union and Confederate prison camps has their share of starvation, disease, and death. The famous of these camps was located in Sumter County, near Andersonville, Georgia. The Georgia heat with barely enough rations and inadequate shelter killed the Union ranks.
Early in the war, prison camps were scattered throughout the states. These camps were intended to be small and lightly supplies, for the sole purpose of exchanging prisoners. However, as the war progressed, the Confederacy began to run low on its resources and manpower. With the Union ranks becoming larger and larger, it was natural that the greater numbers of prisoners were sent to their camps.
On April 17, 1864, Union General Ulysses S. Grant decided to stop the prisoner exchange. His logic for this termination of the program was that every rebel prisoner who is exchanged “becomes an active soldier against us at once either directly or indirectly.” With this order the number of prisoners in the camps grow.
By 1864, the southern cause was not looking good. The confederate forces met defeat after defeat. General Lee’s army failed to mount a campaign in Union territory. The southern resolve held firm and the confederate government began to search for ways to comfort the burden on their citizens.
The decrease in supplies made the construction of a new prison in a remote area a priority. At a new prison the Confederates assumed that the prisoners would be easier to guard and feed than in the center of a city. Construction began right away on a new prison in the heart of Georgia.
In February 1864, the first prisoners were packed into filthy cattle cars and transported to the new prison located near the tiny village of Andersonville. The prison camp was officially named Camp Sumter. The grounds were 16.5 acres surrounded by a fifteen-foot high stockade. Within the walls, Sweetwater Creek, a fresh water stream, flowed through the middle, which was used as a latrine as well as for drinking water. The camp was designed for 10,000 men; the first men at the camp found life tolerable. Supplies were meager, but sufficient to life.
The Confederates still believed that prisoner exchange was happening. As a sharp increase in the number of prisoners being held in Adersonville, the rations were tightened not only for the growth of prisoners but also because rations were harder and harder to find in the unsteadily confederacy. The camp’s population swelled to 33,000 by July. The camp was expanded to 26.5 acres, but there still was only about the area of a common grave available to each man.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW:
As 1864 drew on, conditions only grew worse. The south was unable to provide for its own forces, let alone the prisoners. This was a direct result of General Sherman’s scorched earthly policy, which killed the confederacy. Nothing was left behind undamaged, as towns, farms, and railway lines were all destroyed. Even food and medicine was considered contraband and put to the torch.
As conditions became worse, fear was that the prisoners would riot and emerge in a mass escape. Therefore, batteries of guns were aimed on the camp at all times. Talk was spread that if the Union army approached the battery was to kill all the prisoners.
Within the walls of Andersonville prison, the Union soldiers lived as best they could. The early arrivals were able to construct shanties out of scraps of wood and old blankets while others shared the crumbling fabric of a tent. Still others dug holes in the ground to live. The remainder had no shelter at all. They had to stand in the blaring summer sun, the pouring rain, and bitter cold. What was worse was that no clothing was provided for the prisoners. Many wore torn rags while others had nothing at all.
Rations were meager; they consisted of one and a quarter pounds of corn meal along with the occasional serving of beans, peas, and molasses. Rations of meat arrived inconsistently, with either a pound of beef or a third pound of bacon. Sometimes the meat was left in the sun for days and when finally handed out, the spoiled meat only aggravate the hunger and the intestinal distress of the prisoners.
As the months went on, the stream became polluted with waste and sometimes, human remains. The stench became unbearable and those who drank from it tended to develop dysentery and diarrhea while others would clean their wounds with the stagnant water they quickly suffered from gangrene.
One very interesting thing happened during this time. The river became a little trickle from the Georgia sun and the waste and muck of the riverbed attracted thousands of flies and maggots. During this horrible time, a fresh water spring burst inside the stockade and provided fresh, cool water for the men. Many saw this as a gift from God and named it Providence Spring. This permanent source of water still exists to this day.
As the prisoners lives within the prison walls became more desperate, bands of thieves called “Andersonville Raiders” began to form.
These men would steal anything from a prisoner, clothes, food, money, or trinkets. As their bands grew, they became bolder and more reckless, attacking prisoners in broad daylight. On June 29, 250 Regulators met about 150 raiders in an armed battle with clubs and bare fists. In the end, six of the leaders of the gangs were found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged while 86 were to “run the gauntlet.” This was a form of punishment by which two long rows men, armed with clubs and sticks, would form and the prisoner would be forced to run between them while receiving hundreds of blows. The following day the condemned men were hanged that afternoon.
By July the conditions had become so poor in the camp that five Union soldiers delivered a petition signed by the entire camp to Washington. Calling for a reinstatement of the prisoner exchange program, these emissaries pledged to return to the camp with news of their results. The petition was denied and the “hell on earth” continued.
In the heat of summer, disease, and famine slaughtered hundreds of men each day. The dead were carted out of wagons, piled up like cordwood, with arms and legs hanging over the wheels, glassy eyes, and open mouths. Each night the shrieks and moans of the dying were heard. The dead were laying about the camp for some time because the prisoners were too weak to remove them, and the guards feared catching a disease if they entered the prison.
By the end of 1864, the Confederacy offered to unconditionally release the prisoners if the Union would agree to send ships to retrieve them. These ships did not arrive until December. With the surrender in April 1865, the camp at Andersonville closed.
Over the fourteen months of its existence, approximately 45,000 Union prisoners were held within its walls. Thirteen thousand prisoners never returned home.
Although the death rates in the other prison camps scattered around the states were extremely high, none of them compared to the horrors witnessed at Andersonville Prison.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Fort Morgan Surrenders
On August 23, 1864, Fort Morgan was forced to surrender. Fort Morgan is located at the mouth of Mobile Bay, Alabama. Today Fort Morgan has fallen into disrepair, but the Alabama Historical Commission has a new plan to make repairs to the fort but will require state funding.
The United States took control of the bay during the War of 1812 and in 1819 construction began on Fort Morgan.
A great battle took place, which was called the Battle of Mobile Bay. This was a naval battle that was fought on August 5, 1864. The Union forces had already shut down one of the two Confederate ports; the other port was Savannah, Georgia.
Admiral David Farragut was the commander of the Union forces and Admiral Franklin Buchanan was the commander of the Confederate fleet. On August 5 Admiral David Farragut defeated the Confederate Navy at Fort Gaines in Mobile Bay. The battle between the two forces took place at the mouth of Mobile Bay, which Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines was controlled by the Confederates. They also controlled a narrow channel that was lined with torpedoes to block ships from entering and exiting the bay.
Farragut’s challenge was entering the bay. He had 18 vessels, which was greater than the Confederate’s fleet of four. Wandering into the narrow channel damage the Union fleet loosing the first vessel, the USS Tecumseh, by a torpedo exploding; in three minutes the vessel sank and 94 men went down with the ship all were lost.
Both the Confederate fleet and Fort Morgan was firing upon Farragut so Farragut had to choose retreat or risking his vessels within the minefield. This is when he issued his famous order, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!”
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Farragut took his fleet through the minefields safely and reached the bay. The Union ironclad CSS Tennessee led the way and defeated the Confederates. Abroad the USS Hartford, Buchanan surrendered to Farragut. Within a three-week time the Union Navy and one Army division had captured the two forts.
Even though the Confederates remained in control of the city of Mobile, this was the last port of the Gulf Coast east of the Mississippi. The Union forces took the city of Mobile at the Battle of Fort Blakely in 1865.
Fort Morgan received its name from Daniel Morgan. Daniel Moran was a Revolutionary War hero, pioneer, soldier, and United States Representative from Virginia. He was a gifted battlefield tactician of the American Revolutionary War.
Fort Morgan was a large brick fort completed in 1834. It served the Spanish-American War and both World Wars. It was garrisoned in March of 1834; General Richard L. Page, cousin of Robert E. Lee, was the commander of the fort in 1864. 600 men manned the fort; a powerful for but the fortification was outdated. The Union land forces lead by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger joined by Farragut, attention turned to Fort Morgan east of Fort Gaines.
Granger’s men began moving siege artillery within firing range of Fort Morgan; along with Farragut’s gun ships. From August 9 to the 16th, heavy artillery fire took place. On the 16th the Confederates, located on the two outer batteries, abandoned the defenses. Granger was able to move his mortars within 500 yards of the fort. He moved his 30-pounder rifled guns 1,200 yards of the fort.
General Page surrendered the fort on August 23, unconditionally. He was to surrender his sword to the Federals but instead he broke it over his knee. He was also charged with destroying munitions and works within the fort after he surrendered. He was arrested and imprisoned.
General Page was imprisoned until July 1865. There was an inquiry as to the charges brought against Page, but Page was not found guilty. There was a fire in the citadel, which brought the ammunitions and works within the fort after he surrendered.
Fort Morgan, a National Historic Landmark, is on the 10 a most endangered battle site of 2008 by the Civil War Preservation Trust. It would be a tragedy if America lost one of its historical sites where men fought for a cause they believed in.
The United States took control of the bay during the War of 1812 and in 1819 construction began on Fort Morgan.
A great battle took place, which was called the Battle of Mobile Bay. This was a naval battle that was fought on August 5, 1864. The Union forces had already shut down one of the two Confederate ports; the other port was Savannah, Georgia.
Admiral David Farragut was the commander of the Union forces and Admiral Franklin Buchanan was the commander of the Confederate fleet. On August 5 Admiral David Farragut defeated the Confederate Navy at Fort Gaines in Mobile Bay. The battle between the two forces took place at the mouth of Mobile Bay, which Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines was controlled by the Confederates. They also controlled a narrow channel that was lined with torpedoes to block ships from entering and exiting the bay.
Farragut’s challenge was entering the bay. He had 18 vessels, which was greater than the Confederate’s fleet of four. Wandering into the narrow channel damage the Union fleet loosing the first vessel, the USS Tecumseh, by a torpedo exploding; in three minutes the vessel sank and 94 men went down with the ship all were lost.
Both the Confederate fleet and Fort Morgan was firing upon Farragut so Farragut had to choose retreat or risking his vessels within the minefield. This is when he issued his famous order, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!”
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Farragut took his fleet through the minefields safely and reached the bay. The Union ironclad CSS Tennessee led the way and defeated the Confederates. Abroad the USS Hartford, Buchanan surrendered to Farragut. Within a three-week time the Union Navy and one Army division had captured the two forts.
Even though the Confederates remained in control of the city of Mobile, this was the last port of the Gulf Coast east of the Mississippi. The Union forces took the city of Mobile at the Battle of Fort Blakely in 1865.
Fort Morgan received its name from Daniel Morgan. Daniel Moran was a Revolutionary War hero, pioneer, soldier, and United States Representative from Virginia. He was a gifted battlefield tactician of the American Revolutionary War.
Fort Morgan was a large brick fort completed in 1834. It served the Spanish-American War and both World Wars. It was garrisoned in March of 1834; General Richard L. Page, cousin of Robert E. Lee, was the commander of the fort in 1864. 600 men manned the fort; a powerful for but the fortification was outdated. The Union land forces lead by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger joined by Farragut, attention turned to Fort Morgan east of Fort Gaines.
Granger’s men began moving siege artillery within firing range of Fort Morgan; along with Farragut’s gun ships. From August 9 to the 16th, heavy artillery fire took place. On the 16th the Confederates, located on the two outer batteries, abandoned the defenses. Granger was able to move his mortars within 500 yards of the fort. He moved his 30-pounder rifled guns 1,200 yards of the fort.
General Page surrendered the fort on August 23, unconditionally. He was to surrender his sword to the Federals but instead he broke it over his knee. He was also charged with destroying munitions and works within the fort after he surrendered. He was arrested and imprisoned.
General Page was imprisoned until July 1865. There was an inquiry as to the charges brought against Page, but Page was not found guilty. There was a fire in the citadel, which brought the ammunitions and works within the fort after he surrendered.
Fort Morgan, a National Historic Landmark, is on the 10 a most endangered battle site of 2008 by the Civil War Preservation Trust. It would be a tragedy if America lost one of its historical sites where men fought for a cause they believed in.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Bi-Centennial Birthday Celebration of President Jefferson Finis Davis
On June 14, 2008 there will be a Celebration in Montgomery, AL. The Bi-Centennial Birthday Celebration of President Jefferson Finis Davis at The Cradle of the Confederacy Alabama State Capital.
Activities:
Parade: starts at 9:00 a.m. at the Fountain on Dexter Avenue and proceeding up to the Capitol.
Commemorative Program:
Immediately following the parade the Commemorative Program will be held in the Capital Auditorium, enter at Union Street entrance. Keynote speaker Pat SCV Chaplain-in-Chief Pastor John Weaver; Guest of Honor Bertram Hayes-Davis, great great grandson of President Davis and period music.
After the Commemorative Program there will be a “Laying of the Wreaths” at the Jefferson Davis Statue/Star on the front steps, front portico, of the Capital building. This star marks the spot where Jefferson Davis took the oath for President of the Confederacy.
Afternoon Tours:
From 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. tours will be given at the Alabama State Capital, the First White House of the Confederacy, Olde Alabama Towne and the Oak Cemetery.
Evening:
From 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Old Archive Room, 2nd floor, of the Capital the Jefferson Davis Bicentennial Ball. The Ball will feature the Alabama musical period group, The Un-Reconstructed Band. Ball tickets are $25.oo per couple or $15 single. Period dress is encouraged but not required.
More information or to purchase Ball tickets, call 205-681-1848 or 334-875-1690; email sbelle1244@aol.com or oldsouthrebel@zebra.net
If you have never been to Montgomery, AL you should really consider visiting. I was there for just a day and it’s a beautiful city. The government buildings have beautiful architecture and you can walk around a nice clean, friendly city. I did visit the First White House of the Confederacy but I visited on a weekend and it was closed. Volunteers operate it so it’s only open weekdays. Even if you have no interest in the Confederacy, no ancestors that fought for the Confederacy that’s okay this is part of America’s history!
Hosted by Alabama Division, UDC which I'm a member, Alabama Society, Order of Confederate Rose, & Alabama Division SCV
Activities:
Parade: starts at 9:00 a.m. at the Fountain on Dexter Avenue and proceeding up to the Capitol.
Commemorative Program:
Immediately following the parade the Commemorative Program will be held in the Capital Auditorium, enter at Union Street entrance. Keynote speaker Pat SCV Chaplain-in-Chief Pastor John Weaver; Guest of Honor Bertram Hayes-Davis, great great grandson of President Davis and period music.
After the Commemorative Program there will be a “Laying of the Wreaths” at the Jefferson Davis Statue/Star on the front steps, front portico, of the Capital building. This star marks the spot where Jefferson Davis took the oath for President of the Confederacy.
Afternoon Tours:
From 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. tours will be given at the Alabama State Capital, the First White House of the Confederacy, Olde Alabama Towne and the Oak Cemetery.
Evening:
From 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Old Archive Room, 2nd floor, of the Capital the Jefferson Davis Bicentennial Ball. The Ball will feature the Alabama musical period group, The Un-Reconstructed Band. Ball tickets are $25.oo per couple or $15 single. Period dress is encouraged but not required.
More information or to purchase Ball tickets, call 205-681-1848 or 334-875-1690; email sbelle1244@aol.com or oldsouthrebel@zebra.net
If you have never been to Montgomery, AL you should really consider visiting. I was there for just a day and it’s a beautiful city. The government buildings have beautiful architecture and you can walk around a nice clean, friendly city. I did visit the First White House of the Confederacy but I visited on a weekend and it was closed. Volunteers operate it so it’s only open weekdays. Even if you have no interest in the Confederacy, no ancestors that fought for the Confederacy that’s okay this is part of America’s history!
Hosted by Alabama Division, UDC which I'm a member, Alabama Society, Order of Confederate Rose, & Alabama Division SCV
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