Union Prisoner of War Records
| United States Civil War, 1861-1865 | |
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| Getting Started | |
| General Topics | |
| Union | |
| Confederate | |
| Personnel Types | |
Introduction
As many as 674,000 men might have been taken prisoner during the Civil War. At first prisoners were paroled or exchanged, but this mostly ended in early 1864. Union officials thought that released Confederates would return to the military.
"Over 400,000 men were held in prisons in the north and south until the end of the war in April 1865. An estimated 56,000 died in prison - 30,000 in Confederate prisons and 26,000 in Union prisons. There were as many as 150 prisons, small and large, through the north and the south. Death rates ranged from 20 to 30 percent, North and South, with the highest death rate occurring at Camp Douglas in Chicago."[1]
- United States Sanitary Commission. Narrative of privations and sufferings of United States officers and soldiers while prisoners of war in the hands of the rebel authorities : being the report of a commission of inquiry, appointed by the United States Sanitary Commission, with an appendix, containing the testimony Philadelphia : U.S. Sanitary Commission, 1864
- published by the U.S. Christian Commission from reports of its agents, Record of the federal dead buried from Libby, Belle Isle, Danville & Camp Lawton Prisons and at City Point : and in the field before Petersburg and Richmond Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : U.S. Christian Commission, 1865
Confederate Prisons for Union Soldiers
Prisoner of war records of Union prisoners are described in The Confederacy: A Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America (Worldcat) (FS Catalog book 973 A5mb 1986) by Henry Putney Beers. Records of the Commissary General of Prisoners are described on pages 247–59.
National Archives Catalog - Selected Collections
- Rolls of Federal Prisoners of War, 1861 - 1865 NAID 610810
- Registers of Federal Prisoners of War Who Died in Confederate Prisons, 1861 - 1865. NAID 597600
- Register of Federal Troops Captured by the Enemy, 1862 - 1865. NAID 610809
- Register of Federal Prisoners of War Confined in Confederate Prisons, 1861 - 1864. NAID 610807
- Claims Made for Money Taken from Federal Prisoners of War Confined in Confederate Prisons, 1866 - 1867. NAID 615449
- Rolls and Reports of Deceased Federal Prisoners of War In Confederate Prisons, 1863 - 1865. NAID 615177
- Index to Prisoners of War Relating to U.S. Troops, U.S. Navy and Citizens, 1862 - 1865. NAID 617219
- Register of Applications Made for the Release of Federal Prisoners of War Confined in Confederate Prisons, ca. 1865 - ca. 1865. NAID 610812
- List of Federal Prisoners of War Received at Confederate Prisons, 1861 - 1864. NAID 610811
- Register of Reports on Claims for Pay Due Deceased Soldiers NAID 169371516
- Records Relating to the Sultana Disaster, 1865 - 1865. NAID 615651 NARA M1878
Alabama
Cahaba Prison at Cahawba
Cahaba Prison was located near Selma, Alabama, in the now vanished town of Cahawba, Dallas County. The prison was in a cotton warehouse by the Alabama River. It was in operation off and on from 1862 to April 1865. Over 9,000 men were imprisoned there during that time.[2]
"At its peak in 1864 and 1865, 3,000 men were housed there in with an average living space of only six square feet, by far the most crowded of any prison, north or south. Conditions were harsh, but thanks to a humane prison director and the kindnesses of town people, fewer than 250 soldiers died there. Over 800 men who had been imprisoned at Cahaba perished in the Sultana disaster on April 27, 1865."[3]
- William O. Bryant. Cahaba Prison and the Sultana disaster. Tuscaloosa, Alabama : University of Alabama Press, 1990. FS Library 976.145/C1 M2b
- John Lundquist, comp. Cahaba Federal Prison, Cahaba, Alabama : also known as Castle Morgan, a roster of interned Union prisoners, 1862-1865. Minneapolis, Minnesota : J. Lundquist, c2000. FS Library 976.145/C1 M2L 2000
Online
- Cahaba (CivilWarPrisoners.com) is name searchable and gives rank, company, regiment, date and location captured, date and cause of death, fate, and remarks. It also gives links to related sites.
Georgia
Andersonville Confederate Prison Records, 1864-1865
The "Selected Records of the War Department Commissary General of Prisoners Relating to Federal Prisoners of War Confined at Andersonville, GA, 1864-65" (NARA M1303) is a collection of registers, lists, returns, reports, and indexes that relate to Union prisoners of war that were held in the prison at Camp Sumter, Andersonville, GA, February 1864 to April 1865. The records include a register of about 30,000 departures from the prison, indexes and registers of prisoners admitted to the prison hospital, registers of prisoner deaths and burials as well as monthly reports of prisoners.
Online
- 1861-1865 Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865 (Ancestry) ($) (note: this database also contains Confederate Prisoner of War Records M598, M2072, and M918)
- 1862-1865 Georgia, Andersonville Prison Records, 1862-1865 at FamilySearch — images
- Georgia, Andersonville Prison Records, 1864-1865 (FamilySearch)
- Andersonville (CivilWarPrisoners.com) is searchable by name and gives rank, company, regiment, date and location captured, date and cause of death, fate, and remarks. It also gives links to related sites.
- Registers of Federal Prisoners of War Confined at Andersonville Prison, Georgia, 1864 - 1889 NAID 597573. NARA M1303
- Andersonville Confederate Prison records, 1864-1865, FS Library films 1930186–91
North Carolina
Salisbury Prison at Salisbury, North Carolina
"In the fall of 1864, the number of soldiers at Salisbury prison doubled from 5,000 to 10,000. It suffered from one of the highest prison death rates, with as many as half the men dying of starvation or disease."[4]
Online
Libraries
- Brown, Louis A., The Salisbury Prison. ([S.l. : s.n.], c1992).FS Catalog book 975.671/S1 J6b
South Carolina
Florence
From 1864-1865, the Florence Stockade housed Union prisoners of the Confederate army. Many of the prisoners had been transferred from the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia. Prisoners who died at the Florence Stockade were buried at what is now the Florence National Cemetery. For more information, quarterly publications, and history visit Friends of the Florence Stockade.
Other Resources
Ledoux, Albert H. The Florence Stockade: A Chronicle of Prison Life in the Waning Months of the Civil War. Florence County, SC: lPrimedia E-launch LLC, 2015.
Virginia
Belle Isle opposite side of the James River from Richmond, Virginia
Castle Lightening at Richmond, Virginia
Castle Thunder at Richmond, Virginia
- Casstevens, Frances, George W. Alexander and Castle Thunder : a Confederate prison and its commandant, Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland and Co., ©2004.
Libby Prison at Richmond, Virginia
Smith Prison at Richmond, Virginia
Scott Prison at Richmond, Virginia
Pemberton Prison at Richmond, Virginia
Danville Prisons at Danville, Pittsylvania County, Virginia
- Register of Confederate soldiers deaths and effects at the Danville, Virginia hospital, 1862-1863 and register of Federal prisoners of war of the U.S. Army, confined at Danville, Virginia, 1863-1864-1865 Danville, Virginia : Virginia-North Carolina Piedmont Genealogical Society, c1997 FS Library 975.5666 J4h 1997
- Records from General Hospital, Danville, Virginia
Petersburg
Lynchburg
Sultana Disaster
The Sultana disaster occurred April 27, 1865, when a boat loaded with nearly 2,200 Union POWs exploded, killing many of the men who had lived through Andersonville and Cahaba prisons. The boat was on the Mississippi River, north of Memphis, Tennessee when it exploded. The confirmed 1,221 verified deaths from existing sources, including Adjutant General (AG) reports. Many Sultana experts put the death toll at 1,500 to 1,800[5]
- Records of the Sultana Disaster, April 27, 1865 : NARA Microfilm Publication M1878
- Chester D. Berry. Loss of the Sultana and reminiscences of survivors : history of a disaster where over one thousand five hundred human beings were lost, most of them being exchanged prisoners of war on their way home after privation and suffering from one to twenty-three months in Cahaba and Andersonville prisons. Lansing, Mich. : Darius D. Thorp, 1892. FS Library DGS 7723967
- John Lundquist, comp. Manifest of Sultana's passengers & crew, April 27, 1865 : cross reference to books about the disaster.Minneapolis, Minnesota : J. Lundquist, 1997. FS Library 973 H28L
- Jerry O. Potter. The Sultana tragedy : America's greatest maritime disaster.Gretna, Louisiana : Pelican Pub. Co., 1992. FS Library 973 H2pjo
Online
- Sultana Disaster (CivilWarPrisoners.com) is name searchable, and gives rank, regiment, date captured, and fate.
Regular Army Officers
- The "Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army..." by Francis B. Heitman lists Regular Army and volunteer officers from 1789 to 1903 that were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. See Vol.2 pp.13-42.
Related Books
- Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War (FS Library 973 M2spe) (Worldcat) by Lonnie R. Speer contains the history of Union and Confederate prisons.
Internet Sites
- Guide to Civil War Prisons, by Richard Jensen, professor emeritus of history, University of Illinois, lists sources about Civil War prisons.
- Civil War Prisons, has name databases for Andersonville Prison, Cahaba Prison, and the Sultana Disaster.
- Fort Delaware Society Heritage Research Confederate and Union soldiers.
References
- Claire Prechtel Kluskens. "The Rebs Took My Money!" NGS Magazine 41 # 2 (April-June 2015):42-45. FS Library 973 D25ngs
- ↑ Lundquist, Jack and Carol, Civil War Prisons, (accessed 10 April 2012).
- ↑ Civil War Prisons, Cahaba Prison, (accesses 10 April 2012).
- ↑ Civil War Prisons, Cahaba Prison, (accesses 10 April 2012).
- ↑ United States. Department of Veteran Affairs. Salisbury National Cemetery, (accessed 10 April 2012).
- ↑ Civil War Prisons, Sultana Disaster, (accesses 10 April 2012).