Union Officers Imprisoned
Identification and Classification

The listing of Union Soldiers (mostly officers) who were held started out as an add-on to the Columbia Military Prison (CMP) page, itself an outgrowth of my efforts to document the last units called up by South Carolina in 1864. I thought that it would be a minor effort but worthwhile, based upon the number of sources of ex-CMP inmates. When I saw what purported to be the number held, I knew it would be a snap.

IT AIN'T!

I started looking for an "offical listing and count". None appears to exist.

Next I converted a list that purported to be that. Further research on the subject indicated officers I knew could NOT have been at CMP. Several died before the Camp opened, while others escaped or were exchanged before that date.

My sources are listed below and by combining the lists, I came up with over 2,700 POW's who fell into my area of interest. This is far more than I believe were in Columbia so I needed to whittle on it. There were in the neighborhood of 1,400 officers moved from Charleston to Camp Sorghum and about 176 who were at Richland Jail. Each list has its strengthns and weaknesses. I know that, in addition to the occassional parole, there were at least 5 exhanges:
    1)   While most POW's were moved from Savannah to Charleston, there were some not moved, apparantly due to sickness or wounds. It appears about 75 were exchanged 20 Nov 1864.
    2)   On 3 Aug 1864, 50 senior officers were exhanged in Charleston Harbor
    3)   In the summer of 1864, a plan to exchange 200 captains was worked out. 153 officers were sent from Charleston, Salisbury, and Richmond to Macon where it was determined that only 83 meet the requirements of the Special Order. They were supposted to be only those men who had served under Sherman (including the Stoneman Raid). This smaller group was sent from Macon to Rough and Ready, Georgia. Those exchanged were mostly Captains since the earlier exchange had been of Majors and above. But at least 2 Majors (Beatty of Ohio and Frye of Pennyslvania), neither of whom should have been included. This left those who had been imprisoned the longest to tough it out another 9 months. The "logic" was that these men could be quickly returned to duty, unlike the Libby surviviors. "Who said Sherman had no sense of humor? Most of the officers who died in Columbia have Sherman to thank for this decison and their death. Having been worn down by over a year's incarceration, they were unable to fight off the yellow fever that took most of them.
    4)   On 9 Dec 1864, 80 POW's were exchanged out of Camp Asylum, mostly due to medical problems but a few were trouble makers. This appears to be without any consideration or like kind from the Union.
    5)   On 1 Mar 1865 at NE Ferry, Wilmington, NC, 1,007 POW's were paroled/exchanged out of Camp Asylum, having been first moved to Charlotte. They were then transported to Camp Parole, Annapolis, Maryland.
I have listings only those in Aug and Dec

My first classification was for those I know were definately not at CMP. The reasons are essentially escape, death, and exchange.

The second group was those that were at Richland Jail. I can only guess at why these POW's were sent there but the bulk of those I have found were U S Naval officers. The were only exchanged for other Naval Officers, whose value was great, due to the South's absolute need to have them. Of the 50 I know of in 1864, 34 were Naval and one or two more may be. One was an officer of "Colored Troops" captured at Petersburg and was subject to hanging, although I have no indication that any were. "Colored Troops" who had surrendered were shot on at least 2 occassions Fort Pillow, TN and Plymouth, NC. Another was also captured at Petersburg and they may have just been shipped together. I came across 143 mostly enlisted men who were shipped to the Richland County Jail and 160 to Charleston County in 1862 from Richmond. I included them just because.

The third group are those I have a real solid feel that they were at Columbia. In addition to those who have written books on their experiences, they included reference to others in camp with them. This is much better evidence that the questionable lists. And, of course, I came across a list of men who died there.

These 2 groups total 1,069, leaving me 1,621, probably 1/2 of whom were at CMP. At this point, an issue of the New York Times came to my attention, Feb 1865, which purports to list those in CMP, a number at 1,349. Since all indications were that there were 1,370 at CMP, I thought this was THE source. There are only 3 escapes, and 7 deaths (5 at CMP) which would cause me to question the list. They listed 101 who were not on any other source, but 9 I had proof were there. So I deem it a very reliable source. I seperated the remainging group into 3 levels:

   1 being probably at CMP (on New York times and all other sources)

   2 maybe (not on New York times and all other sources),

   3 probably not (not on New York times and missing from one or more or my sources),

If you don't like my approach, I welcome another. Better still, I would be more than happy to turn the list over to anyone with the resources and desire to do serious digging into it.


Notes:
The only "original sources" I looked at were New York Times Articles (Dec 1864 and Feb 1865) and Ohio Presidental Voter Log from Camp Sorghum. The bulk of the effort was from the list of POW's noted in the secondary sources.


Problems:
1)   Spellings. Literacy was not overly high during the period. Officers were not picked for their "book" learning but for their leadership skills. The clerks who were doing the recording were likewise there due to their inability to serve in the field.
2)   Accents. Of course, Yankees do talk funny. Also, 20% of Union forces were not native born. Many were Swedes, German, and Irish, with English being a second language. Also, many were in transition from their European spelling and pronucement to American.
3)   Lack of supplies. The Union's plan from the beginning was to squeeze the South into defeat, dening as many goods as possible. Paper, pens, and ink were in short supply and quality was poor.
4)   Initials. Every list I have seen contained no given names, just surname and initials
5)   State ID rather than name used. I am quite sure that some of those listed fought in other than state listed. I have many cases of one source stating New York and another New Jersey. Maine, Michican, amd Missouri are mixed. Those from what we call West Virginia started out in Virginia units.
6)  Inconsistent data. Some folks just have data that makes no sense. For example:
  a)   La Grange, Oscar H., Colonel, 1st Wisconsin Cavalry, Company F, signed a Petion on Poor conditions at Camp Sorghum but was in exchange in Charleston Harbor 04-Aug-64, before it was opended. Perhaps recatuptured.
  b) Mc Donald, Bedan B., Major, 101st Ohio Infantry, CSR indicates he escaped from Libby Prison in 09 Mar 64 (Rose's Tunnel) but he signed a petion of officers at Camp Sorghum complaining of conditions
  c) Scott, Edward S., 2nd Lieutenant, 89th Ohio Infantry, Company G, CSR indicates he escaped from Libby Prison in 09 Mar 64 (Rose's Tunnel) but he signed a petion of officers at Camp Sorghum complaining of conditions
  d) Gates, Junius, Captain, 33rd Ohio Infantry, Company K, Escaped from Macon, Nov 64. Macon closed in spring ot 64 and all POW's moved to Charleston or Savannah
So one thing says yes but another says no. I list these 4 men as Columbia Military Prison POW's.

These lists are only my opinion. The best source is the Compiled Service Records available from National Archives. That task is far beyond my desire for greater accuracy

Confederate Prison Lists of Union Prisoners

A number of books have been printed which list prisoners and/or their experiences in various prisons of the Confederacy. Among the books presenting data on Union Prisoners in Confederate prisons I have used are:


As you can tell, most of these books are quite rare. I have seen the following references but have not yet tracked down a copy to buy or view:

POW Summaey Prison Page


If you have any information about these or any other Union officers who were captured and may have been imprisoned in Columbia, please contact me at

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