| Camp Douglas: Chicago's Civil War Prison Contributor(s): Pucci, Kelly (Author) |
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ISBN: 0738551759 ISBN-13: 9780738551753 Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC) OUR PRICE: $19.79 Product Type: Paperback Published: November 2007 Annotation: Thousands of Confederate soldiers died in Chicago during the Civil War, not from battle wounds, but from disease, starvation, and torture as POWs in a military prison three miles from the Chicago Loop. Initially treated as a curiosity, attitudes changed when newspapers reported the deaths of Union soldiers on southern battlefields. As the prison population swelled, deadly diseasessmallpox, dysentery, and pneumoniaquickly spread through Camp Douglas. Starving prisoners caught stealing from garbage dumps were tortured or shot. Fearing a prisoner revolt, a military official declared martial law in Chicago, and civilians, including a Chicago mayor and his family, were arrested, tried, and sentenced by a military court. At the end of the Civil War, Camp Douglas closed, its buildings were demolished, and records were lost or destroyed. The exact number of dead is unknown; however, 6,000 Confederate soldiers incarcerated at Camp Douglas are buried among mayors and gangsters in a South Side cemetery. Camp Douglas: Chicagos Civil War Prison explores a long-forgotten chapter of American history, clouded in mystery and largely forgotten. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - State & Local - Midwest(ia,il,in,ks,mi,mn,mo,nd,ne,oh,sd,wi - History | United States - Civil War Period (1850-1877) - History | Military - United States |
| Dewey: 973.76 |
| LCCN: 2007934437 |
| Series: Images of America (Arcadia Publishing) |
| Physical Information: 0.36" H x 6.87" W x 9.29" (0.71 lbs) 128 pages |
| Themes: - Geographic Orientation - Illinois - Locality - Chicago, Illinois - Topical - Civil War - Chronological Period - 1851-1899 |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Kelly Pucci explores the dark history of this historic prison, located only three miles from the Chicago Loop, that was used as a POW facility during the Civil War. Thousands of Confederate soldiers died in Chicago during the Civil War, not from battle wounds, but from disease, starvation, and torture as POWs in a military prison three miles from the Chicago Loop. Initially treated as a curiosity, attitudes changed when newspapers reported the deaths of Union soldiers on southern battlefields. As the prison population swelled, deadly diseases--smallpox, dysentery, and pneumonia--quickly spread through Camp Douglas. Starving prisoners caught stealing from garbage dumps were tortured or shot. Fearing a prisoner revolt, a military official declared martial law in Chicago, and civilians, including a Chicago mayor and his family, were arrested, tried, and sentenced by a military court. At the end of the Civil War, Camp Douglas closed, its buildings were demolished, and records were lost or destroyed. The exact number of dead is unknown; however, 6,000 Confederate soldiers incarcerated at Camp Douglas are buried among mayors and gangsters in a South Side cemetery. Camp Douglas: Chicago's Civil War Prison explores a long-forgotten chapter of American history, clouded in mystery and largely forgotten. |
Contributor Bio(s): Pucci, Kelly: - Kelly Pucci writes for a variety of magazines, Web sites, and newspapers. As a native Chicagoan, she enjoys exploring local history and has written about Chicago s ethnic restaurants, neighborhoods, and museums. |