4/8/2023 0 Comments Civil war hospital tentsLater on, a boat was arranged to bring in fresh water for the prison. Wells supplied the water for the camp, but they proved too shallow and had iron and alkaline salts in it. Fresh water for drinking was scarce and polluted. Here, the prisoners were allowed a certain area to bathe, wash clothes, and find additional food, such as clams, lobsters, and fish. The back of the prison was next to the bay. The majority of the different types were: A-tents (5 men), Sibley tents (13-14 men), Hospital tents (15-18 men), Wall tents (3-8 men), Hospital flys (10-13 men), Wall-tent flys (3-8 men), and Shelter tents (3 men). Each row of tents were labeled as a division and would hold 1,000 or more prisoners. There were several different kinds of tents that the prisoners used. LIFE & CONDITIONS:Īll prisoners lived in the overcrowded tents and shacks, with no barracks to protect them from heat and coastal storms. The main path through the center of the camp was known as "Pennsylvania Avenue." Each row of tents were labeled as a division and would hold 1,000 or more prisoners. The prisoner's tents were set up in 9 parallel "streets" running east to west. By mid-summer 1864, it was over 15,500 prisoners. The fisrt prisoners arrived in late July and by the end of the year, the population was more than 9,000 prisoners. He was replaced in December 1863 by Brig. Assisting the guards in their duties was the ironclad U.S.S. All the guard details were extremely strict and easily provoked. Other black guard details included the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry, the 3rd and 4th Maryland Colored Regiments, and the 24th and 28th Colored Infantry Regiments. On February 25, 1864, for the first time, the 36th U.S. Volunteers, and the 139th Ohio Infantry Regiment. Veteran Reserve Corps, 166th Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st U.S. Other guard details included the 4th Rhode Island Volunteer Regiment, 10th Regiment U.S. ![]() The first guard detail assigned to the camp was the 2nd and 12th New Hampshire Regiments. Before long, the prison became the most populated and largest Union prison, at one time holding 20,000 prisoners, because it was so close to the battlefields on the Eastern Theater. The prison's official name was Camp Hoffman but it was hardly ever used. The camp was only about 5 feet above sea level. All of the prisoners would have tents instead of barracks for their shelter. The dividing of the prison was to seperate the enlisted prisoners from the officer prisoners. The inside of the prison was a flat stretch of sand without any shrubs or trees. The fence also divided the prison into 2 sections, one about 30 acres and the other about 10 acres. The hospital became one of the largest and busiest medical facilities in the Union's service.Ī 40-acre site about 1/2 mile northeast of the hospital was selected, and work began on enclosing the area with a 15-foot-high fence, with a gallery along the top of the fence for the guards. At the extreme end of the peninsula, near the lighthouse, a 1,400-bed hospital complex was built with 20 buildings arranged in a circle, a large wharf to receive supplies and the wounded soldiers that came in from battlefields a number of storehouses and stables laundry and dining facilities and additional quarters for officers, doctors, surgeons, and Union troops. The site was comparitively isolated and easily protected. The site was leased to the Federal Government in June 1862, and quickly became a major government installation. ![]() It had been a resort area with hotels, boarding houses, cottages, and commercial establishments before the war. Mary's County, on the long, low, and barren peninsula where the Potomac River joins Chesapeake Bay. Point Lookout was the largest and one of the worst Union prisoner-of-war camps, established on August 1, 1863. Rucker, chief quartermaster, to establish a prison camp at Point Lookout, Maryland, which would hold 10,000 prisoners. Since no major prisons had been built or facilities converted since the Confederate defeats at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in 1862, Quartermaster General Meigs ordered Brig. Union July 1863- June 1865 Point Lookout, MarylandĪs the number of prisoners steadily increased after the battle at Gettysburg, it became evident that the number of current Union prisons was not enough to hold them all.
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