American Civil War POW Camps

The American Civil War known as the War Between the States or the Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865.The origin of war was the issue of slavery.The war lasted four years and left over 600,000 soldiers dead.

Extract from Wikipedia

American Civil War Prison Camps were operated by both the Union and the Confederacy to handle the 409,000 soldiers captured during the war, 1861–65. The Record and Pension Office in 1901 counted 211,000 Northerners who were captured some were immediately paroled and 195,000 went to prison camps. Many tried to escape but few succeeded. By contrast 464,000 Confederates were captured (many in the final days) and 215,000 imprisoned. Over 30,000 Union and nearly 26,000 Confederate prisoners died in captivity. Just over 12% of the captives in Northern prisons died, compared to 15.5% for Southern prisons.

American Civil War Union POW Camps

	Name and Site	Notes on Camp
Union	Alton Military Prison Alton, Illinois.	Alton was used to house Confederate prisoners of war during the Civil War. The prison housed over 11,764 prisoners during the war. Deaths at the prison were more common than at other Union prisons, and prisoners faced harsh conditions and regular outbreaks of diseases such as smallpox and rubella. 1,534 Confederate soldiers and many Union soldiers and civilians are known to have died at the prison.
Union	Camp Chase Columbus Ohio	Operated May 1861 to 1865. The capacity of 4,000 was at times stretched to more than 7,000. It was expanded to a capacity of 7,000 but late in the war it held up to 10,000 men.
Union	Camp Douglas Chicago	Established in January 1863 as a permanent POW camp. It became notorious for its poor conditions and death rate of between 17% and 23% percent.
Union	Camp Morton Indianapolis Indiana	Governor Morton informed Union general Henry W. Halleck that Camp Morton could hold 3,000 Confederate prisoners on February 22, over 3,700 Confederate prisoners arrived at the camp having just come from battle, having suffered from lack of adequate food and clothing, and being unused to Northern winters, the death rate among the Confederate prisoners was high March 1862 saw the deaths of 144 prisoners. Local residents of Indianapolis felt sorry for the Confederate prisoners, and provided the necessary food, clothing, and nursing to keep most of the prisoners alive the period of 1863 to the parole of the last prisoner on June 12, 1865 saw an average prison population of 3,214 and 50 deaths a month.
Union	Camp Randall Madison, Wisconsin	It was a training facility of the Union Army during the Civil War, with more than 70,000 recruits receiving training there. Later, a hospital and a stockade for Confederate prisoners of war were located at the camp.
Union	Elmira Prison Elmira NY	Became a prisoner of war camp in 1864 with a capacity of 12,000. Some 2,963 prisoners died from various causes.
Union	Fort Delaware Delaware City Del.	During the American Civil War, the Union used Fort Delaware as a prison for Confederate prisoners of war, political prisoners, federal convicts, and privateer officers.
Union	Fort McHenry Baltimore Maryland	During the American Civil War the area where Fort McHenry sits served as a military prison, confining both Confederate soldiers, as well as a large number of Maryland political figures who were suspected of being Confederate sympathizers.
Union	Fort Slocum New York City	Used from July 1863 to October 1863 as a temporary hospital for Confederate soldiers.
Union	Fort Warren Boston Mass.	Fort Warren was constructed from 1833–1861 completed shortly after the beginning of the American Civil War from 1861 through the end of WWII, and during the Civil War served as a prison for Confederate officers and government officials.
Union	Gratiot Street Prison St. Louis, MO	Gratiot Street Prison was an American Civil War prison located in St. Louis Missouri and was the largest war prison in Missouri Run by the Union Army, it housed Confederate prisoners-of-war, confederate sympathizers, guerrillas, spies, and Federal soldiers accused of crimes. It is well known for being the site of a daring breakout in the last days of the American Civil War.
Union	Johnson's Island Sandusky Ohio	Johnson's Island was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War ,Johnson's Island was the only Union prison exclusively for Southern officers but it also held regular soldiers. During its three years of operation, more than 15,000 men were incarcerated there.
Union	Ohio Penitentiary Columbus, Ohio	Ohio State Penitentiary, was a prison it operated from 1834-1984 in downtown Columbus, Ohio Conditions in the prison have been described as primitive, General John H. Morgan escaped the prison during the Civil War.
Union	Old Capitol Prison DC	With the start of the Civil War in 1861, the Union repurchased the building to use as a prison for captured Confederates, as well as political prisoners, Union officers convicted of insubordination, and local prostitutes. Many people arrested following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln were also held here.
Union	Point Lookout Saint Mary's County, MD	Of the 50,000 soldiers held in the army prison camp,who were housed in tents at Lookout Point between 1863 and 1865 nearly 4,000 died,the camp, originally built to hold 10,000 men swelled to between 12,000 and 20,000 prisoners after the exchange of prisoners between armies was placed on hold the result was crowded conditions with up to sixteen men to a tent in poor sanitary conditions it was the largest Union-run prison camp, its reputation being one of the worst.
Union	Rock Island Arsenal Rock Island, IL	During the Civil War, Arsenal Island was home to a large Union army prison camp for captured Confederate soldiers The first to arrive were 468 Confederate prisoners captured in battles at Chattanooga, Tennessee, although, over 5,000 total would swell the population of Rock Island Prison in that month alone. A total of 41 Confederate prisoners successfully escaped during the prison’s existence while many more would try but failed A total of 1,964 Confederate prisoners and 125 Union guards are buried in the adjacent military cemetery.