The column "NOT in CMP" are those men I am as sure as I can be were not at one of the three facilities in Columbia, at some time, while the column "In CMP" are those men I am as equally sure as I can be who were at one of the three facilities in Columbia, including the deaths. Those in Richland County Jail are listed in Jail Prison. The column marked "Not Sure" are those who there is indication were moved South from Libby in Richmond or captured in the South but I can find no indication that they were in Columbia. They may have died elsewhere, were exchanged or paroled along the way, escaped in any of the train rides they were on, or as yet I am unable to determine that they were there. Likewise, I am equally sure that men did not always give their right name or unit. I have several men, same rank and same less than common surname, one listed as USCT and the other from a State unit. There was an order that stated that any white leading armed "colored men" would be considered in armed revolt (interesting concept) against the CSA and would be subject to hanging. There is also one man who is listed as exchanged in Aug 1864 and a POW in Sept and another listed in CMP but buried in Andersonville. Could have been a smart enlisted man who gave himself a promotion for what was better if not good treatment afforded officers.

1863 to 1865 POWs (Known Deaths)

State Name	Camp Sorghum or Asylum	Richland County Jail Prison Jail	NOT in CMP	NOT Sure	Total POWs
Connecticut	48	4	14 (1)	13	79
Delaware	1			3	4
District of Columbia	1				1
Georgia	1				1
Illinois	54 (2)		21	109	186
Indiana	53 (2)		36 (7)	80 (1)	172
Iowa	38		8 (2)	13	59
Kansas	1		1		2
Kentucky	25		14 (3)	33	72
Maine	13	2	1	42	57
Maryland	19		22 (3)	35	76
Massachusetts	48		18 (3)	57 (1)	123
Michigan	20		13 (3)	64	97
Minnesota	2			6	8
Missouri	10		2	12	24
New Hampshire	5	1	1	6	13
New Jersey	17 (1)		6 (1)	17	40
New York	176 (1)	1	33 (11)	209	419
North Carolina	2		3 (1)		5
Ohio	188 (4)		60 (10)	70 (1)	319
Pennyslvania	137 (4)		26 (2)	275	436
Rhode Island	14		2	6	22
Tennessee	26	1	24 (3)	30 (1)	81
Vermont	33 (1)	1	2	7	43
Virginia	1			7 (1)	8
West Virginia	11		3	28	42
Wisconsin	23 (1)		18 (3)	26	67
U. S. Forces	3			11	14
U. S. Regulars	30		2 (2)	54	86
U. S. Colored Troops	8	2	8 (1)	19	37
U. S. Marines		1			1
U. S. Navy	3	34 (1)	2	30	69
UnKnown Unit and/or State	11 (1)	2	4 (2)	61	78
Total POW's	1026(17)	49(1)	358 (58)	1,322 (5)	2,755

Estimates of such POWs are around 1,400 at Camp Sorghum, down to about 1,200 by the opening of Camp Lunacy ( aka Camp Asylum ) in November, and 1,185 by mid-February, 1865. There were about 170 POWs at the Richland County Jail. There appear to be have been 182 officers who escaped on the the trip from Columbia to Goldsborough, NC and 11 more before the turnover at Wilmington, leaving 992. Since there is nothing close to "official", these are guesstimates.

An interesting sideline is that on 17 Oct 1864, the officers of the nineteen union states being represented at Camp Sorghum held an election for president, with the following result:

State Name	Lincoln	Johnson	McClellan	Pendleton
Alabama	1	1	0	0
California	1	1	0	0
Connecticut	34	35	3	0
Delaware	3	2	0	0
Florida	1	1	0	0
Illinois	79	80	8	7
Indiana	72	72	11	8
Iowa	36	36	0	0
Kansas	2	2	0	0
Kentucky	13	15	16	14
Maine	25	25	0	0
Maryland	21	21	2	1
Massachusetts	43	44	5	2
Michigan	40	36	10	8
Minnesota	5	5	0	0
Missouri	10	10	0	0
New Hampshire	7	7	0	0
New Jersey	25	23	6	3
New York	171	173	29	29
Ohio	142	144	15	12
Pennyslvania	187	187	35	26
Rhode Island	13	13	0	0
Tennessee	26	31	0	0
Vermont	29	29	1	1
West Virginia	19	19	1	1
Wisconsin	19	19	1	0
Total	1,024	1,031	143	112

These results were found in the diary of Captain Alonzo M. Keeler, 22nd Michigan Infantry, Company B, in temporary command of his regiment when it was captured at Chickamauga, Georgia, Sept 1863. I have seen a few other partial counts, differing only with the swapping of the votes casted in Tennessee, differences in Kentucky and total. I can accept that the men from Tennessee would cast more vores for Johnson since he was a home state bow. Men cast thier votes in their home state, which explains votes from Alabama and California with no units from either. They could have been U S Troops or Unionists who left home to serve in another state. The War was divisive.
A similar election was held amongst the POWs at The Richland Jail, with similar results. There were 132 votes cast, with Lincoln receiving 124 and McClellan receiving 8, per the memories of Lt. Freeman Sparks Bowley, 30th U S Colored Trrops. In spite of the negative vote (from The Southern View), the Columbia papers were much interested, and published the results.

This roster is a work in progress and represents MY PERSONAL OPINION, based upon a lot of digging and is my current best shot on those with the misfortune to pass thru these particular POW camps. The names came from many sources (primary, copies of primary, and secondary). Major sources are post war accounts and as such are subject to error and duplication. Many times, I came across a personal account that mentioned other officers, generally by rank and surname and occasionally by state. I try to validate to other lists to insure a high probability of correctness. The rank I show is the one held while at Columbia, They may have been promoted or demoted post release, as mamy were to acknowlede their hardship as a POW.

Accuracy cannot now be secured, if indeed such accuracy was ever possible. During the last six months of the war, the Federal prisoners were routinely and constantly transferred, sometimes stopping for a week or less in one place, in the attempts to avoid the raids of Sherman's cavalry and the constantly tightening coils which were closing around the Confederates. In these changes, as the prisoners were handed from commander to commander, were unloaded from one train into another, and transferred from one set of inefficient guards to another, hundreds escaped.

Furthermore, since a Confederate commissary-general of prisoners was not appointed until the war was almost over, many commandants of prisons in the South made reports only to the commanders of departments, who often failed to forward them to Richmond. Any statement of the number of Federal prisoners held in the South is, therefore, only an estimate. The relative mortality growing out of prison life will be discussed on another page.

I have used 3 major sources for this data, the primary book was by A. B. Abbott. In the preface, he states, "The Appendix [i.e., prisoner list] is principally the work of J. O. Goodrich, Adjutant, 85th New York Veteran Volunteers, a Plymouth capture." However, at the beginning of the Appendix, he says, "The following Appendix is not as perfect as I could wish, yet as much so as it was possible to make it from the limited means at my command. The names were taken from the (Rebel) adjutant's book at Columbia. I have furnished the post-office address of the officers as far as I could obtain them. Those marked thus * died at Columbia, S.C." It appears to be much more a listing of those in Macon. He does not appear to have been at Camp Sorghum long before he escaped.
I came across an article published in the New York Times in Feb 1865 which purported to list all Union Officers in Rebel hands. It is obvious that it was from more than one source and although it stated it was a list of officers at Columbia, I have found enough errors to not take it as gospel. I do believe that the likelihood is somewhat greater that a man was a CMP than not if they listed him.
The New York Times issue of 26 Feb published a list of officers who were at Varina Landing, Va on 24 Feb 1865 from Libby or Danville, the primary basis of this figures.
The New York Times issue of 08 March published a list of officers who arrived at Annapolis, Md on 5 March 1865 on the steamers Fairbanks, Utopia, Thames, and Cumberland that came from the exchange of 1 March at Wilmington, NC. While I know that most of those men had come from Camp Asylum in Columbia, there could have been a few from Charleston,SC or even Salisbury, NC.
Sources generally had either initials or just rank and surname. If I found only one W. M. Brown in a unit, I used the given name I found and the Company he was in. A company generally indicates that more data can be found in a Compiled Service record, and should be your next step. They probably served from the state they were born but some did cross state lines.

Keep in mind that there ARE errors in my work. I have tried to be as careful as I can be about inclusion but I feel sure that I could have been mistaken. The most common is most likely state (Virginia and West Virginia), unit number (easy to confuse 6 with 0, 8 and 3), and State Id (records are initials, Me - Maine and Mo - Missouri). Use the index if you can not find your guy in his "right" state. I continue to fix errors but I don't expect to ever finish.
This is a Work In Progress and I solicit any help in this effort. While I am an "Unreconstructed Rebel" and there is a distinct possibility that one or more of my ancestors served as guards here, I respect those who served on both sides and wish to honor their service in this small way.

Principal Reference Books

Allen O. Abbott, PRISON LIFE IN THE SOUTH, Harper and Brothers, New York, NT, 1866. Officers in prison in Columbia, South Carolina 1864-1865.

Willard W. Glazier, THE CAPTURE, THE PRISON PEN, AND THE ESCAPE, Goodwin, Hartford, Connecticut, 1867. Officers in Libby Prison (Richmond) and at Columbia, South Carolina 1864.

John Fraser, A petition regarding the conditions in the C. S. M. Prison at Columbia, S. C., addressed to the Confederate authorities. George L. Anderson. Lawrence Univ. of Kansas Libraries, 1962.

Asa Brainerd Isham and others, PRISONERS OF WAR AND MILITARY PRISONS, Lyman and Cushing, Cincinnati, OH, 1890. Over 2.000 officers in various prisons 1864-65.

J. L. Ransom, ANDERSONVILLE DIARY, Haskell House, New York, 1881. Camp Asylum Prison, Columbia, SC.

R. Randolph Stevenson, SOUTHERN SIDE: ANDERSONVILLE PRISON, Turnbull Brothers, Baltimore, MD., 1876. Includes lists of the dead at Andersonville and officers held at Camp Asylum in Columbia, S.C.

Other Rererence Material (and looking for more)

Diary - 1st Lieutenant Alonzo Cooper, 12th New York Cavalry, Company F
Letter - James B. Kirk, 1st Lieutenant, 101 PA Infantry, Company H
Letter - Captain James E. Love, 8th Kansas Infantry
Diary - Lieutenant Joseph N. Whitney, 2nd Rhode Island Cavalry, Company B

Search Partial POW Rosters (56749)

Prison Page

If you have any information about these officers or anyone else who was in the Columbia POW Camps, please E-mail me at


and I will update our register.