"L I E> RAHY 
 
 OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
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 ILL. K!ST. SUiiVEY 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/campmorton186118133wins 
 
INDIANA 
 
 HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 PUBLICATIONS 
 
 VOLUME 13 
 
 NUMBER 3 
 
CAMP MORTON 1861-1865 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS PRISON CAMP 
 
 By 
 HATTIE LOU WINSLOW 
 
 and 
 
 JOSEPH R. H. MOORE 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 1940 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
 
 The authors must express their thanks to Dr. Coleman, 
 to Miss Armstrong, to their coadjutors at the Historical 
 Bureau and State Library, and to the many friends who have 
 by their suggestions increased the human interest of this small 
 part of the story of the War between the States. During a 
 work covering some years, it is very evident that such credit 
 as may accrue is due to a great many people, so many that 
 were it not for the "friendliness of the folk" such a work could 
 not come even to moderate completion. 
 
 (229) 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 At the Indiana History Conference in December, 1932, 
 Joseph R. H. Moore, head of the social studies depart- 
 ment of Emmerich Manual Training High School, Indianap- 
 olis, read a paper upon the Civil War prisoners' depot at Camp 
 Morton, in which he had long been interested. He generously 
 agreed to extend his study as he had time and opportunity, 
 and present it to the Indiana Historical Society for publication. 
 Meanwhile, Mrs. Hattie Lou Winslow, of the social studies 
 department of Shortridge High School, Indianapolis, also 
 became interested in Camp Morton and prepared a history of it 
 in connection with her work at Butler University. Mr. Moore 
 and Mrs. Winslow thereafter combined their materials for 
 this publication. 
 
 The many purposes served by Camp Morton — recruiting 
 camp, prison for Confederate soldiers, and place of detention 
 for Union soldiers on parole — entitle it to a place in Civil War 
 annals. At various times there has been controversy over the 
 treatment and condition of the prisoners kept at Camp Morton. 
 The authors have attempted to give a fair and objective treat- 
 ment of the subject, and to provide an honest picture of the life 
 of the camp. 
 
 Christopher B. Coleman 
 
 Secretary Indiana Historical Society 
 
 (231) 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 I. Training Camp, 1861 237 
 
 II. Prisoners' Camp under Richard Owen, 1862. . 251 
 
 III. David Garland Rose : Exchanges and Paroles, 
 
 1862 286 
 
 IV. Emergency Hospitals, 1862 305 
 
 V. Camp Morton in Decline, 1863 314 
 
 VI. Reorganization under Colonel Stevens, 
 
 1863-64 333 
 
 VII. The Last Year, 1864-65 353 
 
 Appendix 
 
 I. Abstract of Monthly Returns from Camp 
 
 Morton 379 
 
 II. Deaths from Certain Diseases and Classes of 
 Diseases at Camp Morton, June 1863- 
 June 1865 380 
 
 III. Ration Reductions, 1864-65 381 
 
 IV. Abstract of Subsistence Stores issued to 
 
 Rebel Prisoners at Camp Morton, 1864. 382 
 
 (233) 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Page 
 
 Bust of Colonel Richard Owen 262 
 
 Plan of Camp Morton, 1862 277 
 
 Colonel Ambrose A. Stevens 336 
 
 Camp Morton, 1864 342 
 
 Plan of Camp Morton, 1865 359 
 
 Camp Morton, 1864 366 
 
 (235) 
 
I. TRAINING CAMP, 1861 
 
 During the 1850's every good citizen of Indianapolis knew 
 very well the tract of land now circumscribed by Nine- 
 teenth Street, Talbott Avenue, Twenty-second Street, and 
 Central Avenue. It contained approximately thirty-six acres 
 and belonged to Samuel Henderson. One hundred years ago 
 the city had begun pushing slowly out along East Washington 
 Street. The south side was already well settled — with some 
 fine dwellings — but the north side was just beginning to branch 
 out as a social entity. A few houses were to be found north of 
 Washington Street; further north were farms and orchards, 
 and away out in the country was the Asylum for the Blind. 
 There were no houses on Illinois Street north of Ninth Street, 
 and east of Illinois there were no more thoroughfares until a 
 winding country road was reached, the predecessor of our 
 present Central Avenue. For four blocks south of Nineteenth 
 Street there was not even a farmhouse, nothing but fields and 
 an occasional orchard. 
 
 The Honorable Samuel Henderson — he became the first 
 mayor of Indianapolis in 184(5 — owned a large farm in this 
 region, and the thirty-six acres formed the crown of the farm, 
 both by reason of its height and because it was the most beauti- 
 ful part of his property. It was partially wooded with 
 scattered hardwoods, mostly black walnut and oak, with fine 
 greensward between the groves. There were at least four 
 good springs on the area, and since Mr. Henderson was known 
 to be friendly to everyone, it became the favorite place for 
 "twosomes," for family picnics, and, when the Methodists felt 
 the need, it was the logical place for a camp meeting. 
 
 On Illinois Street, Twenty-second Street marked the north- 
 ern limit of civilization. Beyond was a wilderness, perhaps 
 because in that area a tract of low, soft ground through which 
 ran a "bayou" put a stop to traffic. Northeast of the city, 
 about three miles from "the Governor's Circle" was "the 
 swamp," drained by two more bayous. One of these became 
 Pogue's Run as it went south and southwest ; the other, running 
 
 (237) 
 
238 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 somewhat south of west, cut across the eastern end of Hender- 
 son's Grove, flowed west about the northerly line of Nine- 
 teenth Street until it passed a little west of Alabama Street, 
 then northwesterly to Twenty-second Street, where it turned 
 west again before emptying into Fall Creek. 
 
 This creek was usually dry in the summer, but at the time 
 of the spring rains it became a turbulent stream, overflowing 
 its banks and doing damage all out of proportion to its size. 
 During the legislative session of 1837, commissioners were 
 appointed to study the situation and to construct a ditch large 
 and deep enough to accommodate the water of this small 
 stream. 1 The work consisted mainly of straightening and 
 deepening the existing bed to allow better flowage and thus 
 do away with the occasional stagnant places which in summer 
 became evil-smelling mudholes and breeding places for the 
 mosquito. This improvement was called the "State Ditch," 
 and later, by the prisoners of Camp Morton, the "Potomac." 
 
 Toward the end of the 1850's there began to be talk about 
 utilizing the area known as Henderson's or Otis' Grove as a 
 site for the State Fairground; it was not too near the settled 
 part of the city, but near enough to be reached conveniently in 
 the days when people thought nothing of walking a mile and 
 a half and back again. In 1859 possession was actually taken, 
 and certain structures were built to fulfill the requirements for 
 "a place of universal interest." Along the northern side of the 
 grounds was a long structure like a shed. It had a strong roof 
 with suitable uprights, and not much in the way of siding — 
 wide boards placed vertically, with battens covering the cracks. 
 Some of the boards seem to have been green, or perhaps the 
 nails that were supposed to hold the battens were not driven in 
 straight; at any rate, there was much criticism because the 
 horses stabled in these long sheds were not properly protected, 
 especially where the south side of the structure was left open 
 
 ^The act appointed Calvin Fletcher and Thomas Johnson commissioners 
 "to superintend the draining of the swamps and low lands immediately north 
 east of Indianapolis, the out let of which over flows the grounds west, north 
 east, and north of the State house square." Laws of Indiana, 1836-37 (local), 
 pp. 409-10; Ignatius Brown, "History of Indianapolis, from 1818 to 1868," 
 in Logan's Indianapolis Directory . . . (Indianapolis, Logan & Co., 1868), 
 pp. 39-40. 
 
CAMP MORTON 239 
 
 to the weather. At the west end of the grounds were 250 
 stalls for cattle, with sheds for the prize sheep and hogs, all 
 well covered. In addition there was a hall for the exhibition of 
 farm machinery, domestic manufactures, and farm produce. 
 Near the east end was a large dining room, and about the 
 center of the grounds was the only two-story building in the 
 place, an office building with several sizeable rooms. 2 By 
 1 86 1 Henderson's Grove or the State Fairgrounds was well 
 known all over the state. 
 
 On April 12 of that year Fort Sumter was fired upon. 
 There was intense excitement on the streets of Indianapolis. 
 Little business was done in the stores, but a great deal of talk- 
 ing went on in the streets. Did the sovereign state of South 
 Carolina have the right to fire on the flag of the United States ? 
 Was Anderson right in defying the governor and state ? There 
 had never in the history of the city been a day like this one. 3 A 
 mass meeting at the Marion County Courthouse had to be ad- 
 journed to the Metropolitan Theater, and this, in turn, over- 
 flowed to the Masonic Hall across the street. Two days later, 
 when word came of President Lincoln's proclamation asking 
 for seventy-five thousand volunteers, Governor Oliver Perry 
 Morton stepped forward on the stage. Morton came from a 
 race of fighters ; he was named for a great American fighter. 
 Far from being a "yes'' man, he might have been described as a 
 "no compromise" man, for he believed that the recalcitrant 
 South should be compelled to live up to the terms of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States. Without a day's delay he tele- 
 graphed the President an offer of ten thousand men. Recruit- 
 ing stations were opened that day, and members of military 
 companies and other volunteers rushed to enlist. 
 
 On the same day Morton chose his adjutant general — a 
 fellow lawyer who had had experience in the army, whose 
 judgment he trusted, and whose loyalty to the Constitution was 
 
 2 James Sutherland (comp.), Indianapolis Directory and Business Mirror 
 for 1861 . . . (Indianapolis: Bowen, Stewart & Co., 1861), pp. 47-49. The 
 description of the grounds is accompanied by a chart showing the location 
 of the various points of interest. See also State Board of Agriculture, 
 Report, 1859 (Indianapolis, 1861), pp. lxvii, lxxx, Ixxxi. 
 
 3 See John H. Holliday's account of these days in Jacob Piatt Dunn's 
 Greater Indianapolis ... (2 volumes, Chicago, 1910), I, 217 ff. 
 
240 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 beyond doubt. General Wallace, known to us as "Lew" Wal- 
 lace, came to Indianapolis to survey the town with the Governor 
 in search of a suitable spot for the reception of the Indiana 
 troops as they came in. An area extending west from the 
 State House toward the river received some consideration, but 
 it was hardly large enough and there were no suitable buildings. 
 Henderson's Grove had all the requisites. It was far enough 
 out of town ; it had water, shade, and buildings ; it was on as 
 high ground as there was in the neighborhood ; and, best of all, 
 it had happy connections in the minds of the people. 
 
 On April 17, the first troops came into camp. They were, 
 of course, the local companies of Guards and Zouaves, but men 
 and boys from further out in the state came in from day to 
 day and were formed into companies and regiments as fast as 
 they assembled. These first regiments of Indiana soldiers 
 were well drilled and well uniformed. They were fine speci- 
 mens physically, too. 
 
 The practical problems of a training camp were many. 
 Where to put the new soldiers ? How to feed them ? How to 
 control them? How to train them in military tactics? The 
 existing buildings were utilized as offices. The office near the 
 carriage entrance was made headquarters, with Colonel 
 Joseph J. Reynolds in charge ; the first floor of the committee 
 building became the quartermaster's office; the second floor 
 was the medical inspector's office under Dr. John S. Bobbs; 
 in the large dining hall was the commissary's store, where food 
 was dispensed on the requisition of company officers; the 
 treasurer's office became the guardhouse; and the power hall 
 was fitted up as a hospital. 
 
 The remaining halls on the grounds were fitted with bunks, 
 but as they could not accommodate more than two thousand 
 men, the long rows of stalls were put to use as hunters' camps, 
 one side open to the weather. Six men were assigned to each 
 stall, their cooking fire out in front. Signs became the fashion, 
 and such men as had artistic instinct, and some who did not, 
 put up their modest advertisements : "Bates House," "Burnett 
 House," "washing and ironing," "dress making," "hair dress- 
 ing," and the like. Across the east end of the area sprang up 
 another row of sheds, also open to the weather, and along the 
 
CAMP MORTON 241 
 
 south edge of the camp as near as might be to the State Ditch, 
 other rows of stalls were erected. 4 By the end of April, 1861, 
 there were shelters of a sort for six thousand men. 
 
 The new sheds were built of green lumber, the boards ten 
 to twelve inches wide, and battens four inches wide. Sun and 
 rain got in their work on the green lumber, and soon the 
 soldiers were complaining heartily about their drafty, leaking 
 quarters. 5 Some of the new "stalls" were closed on all four 
 sides, and their inside arrangement was thought to be very 
 good. Along two sides of the shed, extending seven feet to- 
 ward the middle, were constructed four tiers of bunks. The 
 lowest tier was one foot from the ground, which served as a 
 floor; it was three feet to the second, and three feet to the 
 third, which was on the level of the eaves. Two feet of space 
 were allowed each man. With this arrangement each barracks 
 would hold about 320 men. There was space enough between 
 the two rows of bunks for long tables, serving as dining tables 
 and as a suitable place for playing games. Entrance was 
 through large "barn doors" at each end, where the floor be- 
 came a mudhole at every heavy rainstorm, although the out- 
 side was ditched to carry off the rain. 6 The camp was 
 surrounded by a high board fence, with armed guards every 
 twenty paces. 7 
 
 Confusion was inevitable in a camp so hastily put into 
 operation, and so soon overflowing with its thousands of newly 
 enlisted men. Some of the men were sworn in at the State 
 House and sent to Camp Morton for regular muster and place- 
 ment, while other groups went directly to the camp. Muster 
 rolls were badly written. Many of the men were illiterate, and 
 the company clerks who wrote their names often misspelled 
 them. Many recruits thought it was a joke to give a ridiculous 
 name, while others, who had run away from home, gave false 
 names in order "not to be catched." 
 
 4 Indianapolis Sentinel, April 23, 1861, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 5 John A. Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, 
 XLI, 846 (April, 1891). 
 
 6 Ibid.; John A. Wyeth, With Sabre and Scalpel (Harper & Brothers, 
 New York and London, 1914), PP- 288-89. 
 
 7 Letter of Herman Bamberger, dated April 21, 1861, in Indianapolis 
 News, May 18, 1914, p. 10, c. 1. 
 
242 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 As the troops kept pouring in, it became necessary to sup- 
 plement the barracks and stalls with tents, and then to divide 
 the troops and give them quarters outside the camp, although 
 Camp Morton remained the principal station. The Zouave 
 Regiment, or Eleventh Indiana, of special interest because of 
 its famous colonel, Lew Wallace, who had resigned his position 
 as adjutant, was moved to the old Belle fontaine car shop. 8 
 
 Two Irish regiments and a German regiment were formed, 
 since it was found wise not to mix nationalities. Experience 
 later proved that it was not wise to use a German regiment 
 and an Irish regiment side by side in a charge, lest their ardor 
 to see which could "git thar fust" upset a carefully planned 
 military maneuver. Both groups loved music, and their ri- 
 valry in singing gave other regiments many a fine evening's 
 entertainment. There were also a railroad regiment and a 
 mechanic's regiment. 9 
 
 When the cold weather set in, the members of this latter, 
 under Colonel A. D. Streight, conceived the idea of warming 
 their tents by constructing a series of hot-air furnaces. Be- 
 neath each tent was dug a trench some feet longer than the 
 diameter of the tent and covered first with stone, and then 
 with earth. At one end a huge square hole served as a furnace 
 mouth and the smoke, escaping through a chimney at the other 
 end, warmed the earth. This arrangement left the tent clear 
 of smoke with no danger of fire. 10 
 
 When Camp Morton was first occupied, an attempt was 
 made to confine all drills to the grounds, but it soon became 
 apparent that the buildings and numerous trees permitted noth- 
 ing more than squad and company drills. An area just south 
 of the camp was then acquired, where large bodies of troops 
 could be taught to good advantage. Over this drill ground, 
 where officers and men alike were struggling to take on a 
 military cast, there occasionally rang out an order more notable 
 for its urgency than for its conformity to soldierly usages. 
 One captain who had been a railroader for years saw his 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, April 26, 1861, p. 3, c. 3 ; Indianapolis Journal, 
 April 25, 1861, p. 2, c. 1. 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, September 7, 1861, p. 3, c. 2. 
 "Indianapolis Journal, November 22, 1861, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
CAMP MORTON 243 
 
 command about to march into a fence. "Down brakes!" he 
 shouted. "Down brakes!" Another officer allowed his at- 
 tention to wander for a moment during regimental drill ; sud- 
 denly he realized that the command to halt had been given and 
 in his excitement betrayed how recently he had come from the 
 farm by resorting to the old familiar "whoa I" 11 
 
 Camp Morton quickly became a center of attraction. Roads 
 leading to it were filled with vehicles of all sorts, private and 
 public. It was fashionable to drive out to Camp Morton, and 
 in the afternoon the carriages of the best people of the town 
 might be seen appearing and disappearing in the clouds of dust 
 that hovered over the most respectable roads. The hack busi- 
 ness became a thriving enterprise. Ten cents was the fare 
 from the Circle, the "prop" paying a city license fee of ten 
 dollars a year for the use of the street to and from the camp. 12 
 
 Sunday was the popular day for visitors. On April 
 21, 1 86 1, it was estimated that there were ten thousand of 
 them, making, with the five thousand soldiers at camp, a 
 huge throng for those times. 13 These visitors did not under- 
 stand that much of the work of an army camp must proceed on 
 Sunday as well as on week days, nor did they grasp the fact 
 that homesick boys must be kept occupied at all times. There 
 was little to set apart the Sabbath day save that at times re- 
 ligious services were held for the different groups. Everyday 
 labor went on as usual among the three hundred civilians 
 about the camp, and the speakers had to compete with the sound 
 of sawing and hammering, with teamsters addressing mules 
 in the language which they seemed best to understand; with 
 the shrill noises of nails being drawn from boxes; and with 
 drill sergeants addressing their squads of recruits. 14 
 
 The Sunday following the deluge of visitors, the camp 
 was ordered closed to all outsiders. "The camp has been so 
 crowded since it was formed," stated the Sentinel of April 27, 
 "that it is only a matter of justice to the men to allow them 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, November 4, 1861, p. 3, c. 2. 
 "Indianapolis Journal, April 24, 1861, p. 3, c. 2; July 13, p. 3, c. 1. 
 13 Letter of Herman Bamberger, dated April 21, 1861, in Indianapolis 
 News, May 18, 191 4, p. 10, c. 1. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, April 22, 1861, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
244 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 one day in the week free from intrusion, to say nothing of the 
 respect due to the day." 
 
 During that week a barrack rumor did its best to mortify 
 all good citizens. It was noised abroad that the Honorable 
 Stephen A. Douglas would speak at Camp Morton. The city 
 hummed with excitement. The state legislators, then in special 
 session, marched out to the camp in a body, preceded by the 
 National Guard Band. Such a jam resulted that Mr. Douglas 
 could not even see the camp, much less inspect it. And there 
 was no speech. Douglas was finally obliged to escape by a 
 side road to rejoin his party. 15 In the meantime a report went 
 out among the crowd that the wells had been poisoned and that 
 a peddler had been selling poisoned oranges in camp. To still 
 the first report, the guard at the wells was doubled, and the 
 second was disposed of by the quick wit of Dr. Fletcher, who 
 stopped a riot by eating one of the libeled oranges. 16 These 
 matters resulted in a tightening of discipline and a more 
 military atmosphere. 
 
 The government regulations gave the bugle calls for the 
 day as follows : 17 
 
 1. Reveille 6 a. m. 7. Dinner 12^ m. 
 
 2. Police call 6%. a. m. 8. Drill 2 p. m. 
 
 3. Breakfast 7 a. m. 9. Retreat Parade 5 p. m. 
 
 4. Guard Mounting 8 a. m. 10. Supper 6 p. m. 
 
 5. Drill 8 J /2 a. m. 11. Tattoo 9 p. m. 
 
 6. Drill 11 a. m. 12. Taps 10 p. m. 
 
 Distribution of soldiers' mail became a problem as soon as 
 the camp was established. Before the end of April, 186 1, J. F. 
 Dougherty was made a "route agent" between the town and the 
 camp. Letters and papers were sent to company headquarters 
 four times a day, and by May 1 there were about two hundred 
 letters in and out each day. On May 4, a new post office was 
 commissioned at the camp (Dillard C. Donohue, postmaster) 
 so that mail could be sent direct. 18 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, April 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 April 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 ^Indianapolis Journal, April 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 April 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, extra, April 21, 1861, c. 4. 
 
 ™Ibid., May 10, 1861, p. 3, c. 2; Post Office Index, Indiana Division, 
 Indiana State Library. 
 
CAMP MORTOX 245 
 
 Soldier recreation was plentiful. Games brought from 
 home included checkers, chess, and card games, and there was 
 the usual "rough stuff" such as the Knights of Malta initia- 
 tion — this meant being tossed on a piece of tent canvas handled 
 by a squad of tormentors. 19 There were always rumors about 
 the progress of the war, interlarded with stories of blunders 
 made by officers and men. These, it was admitted, improved 
 directly as the square of the distance they traveled. Some one 
 officer or enlisted man was likely to serve as the camp "butt." 
 Captain Will C. Moreau, a relative of the victor of Hohen- 
 linden, was one of these. While in Indiana to recruit a 
 company of cavalry, he gave a dinner for his friends and 
 several prominent citizens. Instead of the "beans, salt pork 
 and sheet iron biscuit" which usually comprised the dinner at 
 an officer's headquarters, the Journal describes Captain 
 Moreau's feast as "a dinner, which in the way of oysters, 
 champagne, and all the most desirable additions of a recherche 
 feast, has had no parallel in our memory." Such an occasion 
 caused no end of comment around the camp. 20 
 
 One of the most active agencies in helping with the emer- 
 gency was the Ladies Patriotic Association, organized by 
 Mrs. Morton and conducted by her for both Union recruits 
 and Confederate prisoners. She was a militant president, and 
 when she thought that the work was not up to the necessities 
 of the moment, she scolded the members publicly through the 
 columns of the Journal and Sentinel. The association was 
 nonsectarian, nonpolitical, and as a rule very active, often 
 meeting at the Governor's Mansion. One Saturday the group 
 made over two hundred dollars worth of flannel into gar- 
 ments. 21 Havelocks were made for the men, and when an 
 epidemic of measles brought a sudden demand, sheets, pillow- 
 cases, towels, and shirts were provided. 22 
 
 These ladies also conducted campaigns for gifts for the 
 camp. On October 10, Governor Morton sent out a special 
 appeal to the ladies for blankets, socks, gloves and mittens, 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, May 25, t86i, p. 3, c. 1. 
 20 Ibid., October 22, 1861, p. 3, c. 2. 
 ^Ibid., April 21, 1861, extra, c. 3. 
 "Ibid., May 17, 1861, p. 3. c. 1. 
 
246 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 woolen shirts, and drawers. Six weeks later it was announced 
 that tons of materials had been received, enough of everything 
 except gloves and mittens. 23 Other appeals, made to patriotic 
 societies throughout the state, met with a most generous re- 
 sponse. Articles most acceptable were "beef or salt pork, flour, 
 sugar and rice, in barrels or sacks; white beans, dried apples 
 and peaches, in barrels or sacks; crackers in barrels; hard soap, 
 tallow or star candles, in boxes ; bacon — either hams, shoulders 
 or sides, in barrels, casks or boxes." 24 
 
 The problem of clothing was for many months a serious 
 one. The boys often came to camp barefoot and with clothes 
 for warm weather only. Many had not much more than 
 trousers and shirt. Pending the arrival of government uni- 
 forms and supplies, the state had to do its best, aided by gifts. 
 Two regiments were clothed in cadet satinet, two-piece suits, 
 at $7.90 each. One regiment had jean uniforms at $6.50 
 each; another, a better grade of the same material, at $7.50 a 
 suit. The Fifth Indiana wore gray satinet at $6.75 a uniform, 
 while the gay Zouaves rejoiced in ten-dollar costumes of the 
 Josephian variety. Flannel shirts cost $1.40 each, hats $1.25, 
 and shoes $1.15 a pair. By the time cold weather approached, 
 it had to be admitted that the war would not be over in a few 
 weeks, and officials began to demand that jackets and trousers 
 should be all wool. 25 
 
 During the first summer the health of the soldiers at Camp 
 Morton was remarkably good, giving little warning of the 
 terrible health problems of the later years. Drs. John M. 
 Kitchen and Patrick H. Jameson were in charge of the sick 
 among the troops at the camp, and were asked to provide 
 suitable hospital accommodations. Sick calls in the morning 
 regularly brought all minor cases to the receiving hospital on 
 the camp grounds, while serious cases were sent by ambulance 
 to the City Hospital, a new building not heretofore occupied. 
 It became an army hospital on April 2g. 26 In May, 1861, 
 
 ^Holliday, "Civil War Times," in Dunn, Greater Indianapolis, I, 224. 
 
 24 Indianapolis Sentinel, April 22, 1861, p. 2, c. 3. 
 
 ^Holliday, "Civil War Times," in Dunn, Greater Indianapolis, I, 222. 
 
 ^Report of Hospital Surgeons, Drs. Kitchen & Jameson (Indianapolis, 
 1863), in Indiana and the War, I, No. 31, Indiana Division, Indiana State 
 Library; Indianapolis Sentinel, August 16, 1861, p. 3, c. 4. 
 
CAMP MORTON 247 
 
 out of probably seven thousand men in camp, there were only 
 fifteen hospital cases, with about one hundred and fifty tem- 
 porary cases suffering from diarrhea or colds. 27 When the 
 first death occurred at Camp Morton, the members of the 
 legislature made personal contributions for the purchase of a 
 lot in which soldiers dying in camp might be buried if there 
 were no relatives to claim the body. 28 
 
 Of all the problems at Camp Morton in 1861, the most con- 
 stantly annoying one was the food question. Complaining 
 about the food was the standard amusement of the soldiers, 
 indoor and outdoor. All good soldiers complain about every- 
 thing, the complaints, like water, flowing downward, for no 
 wise soldier complains so that his superior officers can hear. 
 It must be remembered that no one knew very much about 
 dietary requirements or about how to secure in quantity the 
 multitudinous things that a large camp needs. There was a 
 very limited variety of canned goods. Salt meat of varying 
 degrees of saltiness, salt fish, fruit and vegetables, and jelly, 
 were about all these boys of 1861 could hope for. "Glassed'' 
 fruit was expensive, largely on account of the price of sugar, 
 and the boxes from home too often resulted in intestinal dis- 
 turbances of a serious character. There was no market of 
 foods on an enormous scale, as there is now. The wonder is 
 that rations were not infinitely worse. 
 
 The first commissary general was Isaiah Mansur, an 
 honest man and a hard worker. As it happened, he had to 
 begin the feeding of the troops and, simultaneously, learn all 
 the army rules and regulations concerning supplies. No pro- 
 visions were on hand and he had to buy where he could and in 
 small quantities. Since a large proportion of the boys came 
 from homes where food was plentiful, and since they were all 
 unacquainted with army cooking and camp economy, the 
 Governor and Mr. Mansur thought it wise to issue larger 
 allotments of food than the regular army allowance granted. 
 The following table will show how advantageous the arrange- 
 ment was for the troops : 29 
 
 27 Indianapolis Journal, May 1, 1861, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 "Ibid., May 3, 1861, p. 3, c. 3. 
 
 29 Indiana House Journal, 1861 (special session), pp. 213-14. 
 
248 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 ARMY RATIONS RATIONS ISSUED 
 
 PER COMPANY BY MR. MANSUR 
 
 Pork 75 lbs no lbs. 
 
 or 
 
 Beef 125 lbs 150 lbs. 
 
 Flour 112% lbs .* 150 lbs. 
 
 or 
 
 Hard Bread 100 lbs none 
 
 Beans 8 qts 130 lbs. 
 
 or 
 
 Rice 10 lbs 12 lbs. 
 
 Coffee 6 lbs 8 lbs. 
 
 Sugar 12 lbs 16 lbs. 
 
 Vinegar 1 gal 2*4 gals. 
 
 Candles 1^ lbs 3 lbs. 
 
 Soap 4 lbs 6 lbs. 
 
 Salt 2 qts 12 lbs. 
 
 Potatoes 100 lbs. 
 
 Pepper 1 lb. 
 
 Dried fruit 1 1 / 1 lbs. 
 
 Onions 3 bu. 
 
 Pickles and other anti- 
 scorbutics no special amount 
 
 Nevertheless, the complaints poured into the newspapers. 
 The meat was too salty, the dried apples wormy, the beans 
 unsound, and, most loudly criticized of all, the coffee was 
 adulterated with parched beans. Many of these boys had been 
 accustomed in their own homes to coffee substitutes made of 
 parched grains including chicory, rye, and maize. "Rye- 
 'n'lnjun" made a hot drink that was good and relatively harm- 
 less (at least, no one needed to worry about caffeine or theo- 
 bromine, while knowledge of vitamins and calories were at 
 least two generations in the future) ; the troops were not 
 hungry (it was no uncommon thing to see soldiers pelting 
 each other with potatoes or bacon or loaves of bread) ; 30 but 
 the citizens of Indiana were vastly excited. There was talk 
 of unlawful profits in the Commissary General's office, and 
 much sentimental indignation over the injustice done to In- 
 diana's heroic sons. To think "that the poor boys should be 
 put off with anything less than the fat of the land afforded!" 
 There began an inpouring of boxes from home : roast fowl, 
 
 ^Terrell. Report, I, 452. 
 
 
CAMP MORTON 249 
 
 baked ham, fresh butter and eggs, jellies, accompanied too 
 often by pound cake, pickles, and other indigestible goodies 
 that were regarded without charity by the surgeons at the 
 emergency hospital. 
 
 The legislature insisted upon an investigation of the Com- 
 missary General's office. The report of the investigating 
 committee exonerated Mansur ; in fact, it served to show how 
 good a job had been done under the worst possible conditions, 
 and that Mansur had lost personally instead of making large 
 sums unlawfully. The only proof of trouble had to do with 
 the way the coffee was handled before it reached Mr. Mansur's 
 hands, a matter for which he was in no way responsible. 
 Spoiled meat had been served on one day, but it had been 
 replaced with good meat as soon as the trouble was reported. 
 Financial records were in very good shape considering the fact 
 that a large business had been done by inexperienced persons. 
 The Senate took no action, but the House, of a political cast 
 disinclined to support Mansur, passed a resolution demanding 
 his removal. As Mr. Mansur had accepted the position only 
 out of a sense of duty, he took this opportunity to resign. sl 
 
 Governor Morton appointed Asahel Stone to take Mansur's 
 place. Like his predecessor, Stone furnished many items not 
 provided for by army regulations. For a few months things 
 went better, but presently there was a complaint that the coffee 
 was not only adulterated, but "the worst on the market." In 
 the fall of 1861 the United States Government took over all the 
 work of subsisting the troops in Indiana during their training 
 period. From that time on standard army rations were given 
 out, and the boys began to realize how well Mansur and Stone 
 had looked after them. 32 At least under the new regime they 
 were broken in before they went into the field. 
 
 Constant turnover of the higher officers was another 
 characteristic of the camp at this early time. Since no good 
 officer wanted to stay in camp doing the work of a nursery 
 maid when there was fighting to be done elsewhere, there was 
 
 31 Terrell, Report, I, 451-54; Indiana House Journal, 1861 (special 
 session), pp. 213-18, 242-43, 253-54; Indiana Senate Journal, 1861 (special 
 session), p. 164. 
 
 "Terrell, op. cit., I, 454-55- 
 
250 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 a succession of resignations among the higher officers who 
 left to go into the field. Replacements had to be made from 
 officers more or less new to the work. Practically all the more 
 important men connected with Camp Morton were criticized 
 bitterly in letters that were sent home from camp. 
 
 Clothing supplies were constantly under criticism, especially 
 after cold weather set in, for a large part of them, purchased 
 at the price of first-grade wool, were said to be shoddy. Men's 
 minds were full of worry and tempers were short. After 
 the United States took control, Major Alexander Montgomery, 
 United States Quartermaster at Indianapolis, became involved 
 in a controversy with Governor Morton and the rest of the 
 state government over the purchase of overcoats for troops 
 in the field, and the resulting delay caused serious discomfort 
 to the poor boys who were forced to do without the coats dur- 
 ing the wrangling. The overcoat was the most expensive part 
 of a soldier's equipment, and both lack of materials and in- 
 efficiency in turning them out were of serious consequence to 
 both soldiers and prisoners. 33 
 
 Governor Morton probably considered his cup of trouble 
 full with these problems, but others were soon added. Re- 
 curring scandals, attempts to run the guards, and difficulties 
 with inefficient officers kept him busy. The first six regi- 
 ments were completed, started for the field, returned, were 
 discharged and re-enlisted. New men were constantly being 
 taken into the training units, when in February, 1862, a new 
 and imperative need appeared in the troubled field of military 
 activities. Prisoners of war were being taken in large num- 
 bers, and had to be taken care of. Prison camps were scat- 
 tered all over the northern states, wherever transportation 
 facilities and local conditions made it possible to care for 
 large groups of men. Camp Morton met the requirements 
 better than many places and was taken over by the Federal 
 Government to house Confederate prisoners. 
 
 33 Indianapolis Journal, October 8, 1861, p. 2, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 November 5, 1861, p. 2, c. 2-3 ; November 6, 1861, p. 2, c. 1, 2; Terrell, Report, 
 I, 316-18. 
 
 
II. PRISONERS' CAMP UNDER 
 RICHARD OWEN, 1862 
 
 In the early days of the Civil War, neither the North nor 
 the South had any organization for handling prisoners. 
 Both sides expected the war to be of short duration, and for 
 some time no attempt was made to detain captured soldiers. 
 They were paroled on oath not to serve in the field as com- 
 batants until duly exchanged, and then turned loose to make 
 their way home as best they could. Such a plan was humane 
 and efficient in minor conflicts, but when it was realized that 
 a long struggle was inevitable, provision for the confinement 
 of prisoners became necessary. 
 
 By law and army regulations this duty fell to the Quarter- 
 master General, Montgomery C. Meigs. The regulations called 
 for a commissary general of prisoners who was to keep an 
 account of the prisoners, assume charge of all captives taken 
 by his government, manage the business of exchange in case of 
 cartel, and transmit to the prisoners held by the enemy such 
 supplies as were sent them. Accordingly, General Meigs, in 
 July, 1 86 1, asked Secretary of War Simon Cameron to appoint 
 such an officer. This appointment, delayed until October of 
 that year, fell to Lieutenant Colonel William H. Hoffman, of 
 the Eighth Infantry, still on parole from General David E. 
 Twiggs' surrender of the Texas garrison. 1 Hoffman gathered 
 around him a small group of hand-picked men through whose 
 efforts a system of prison camps was gradually worked out. 
 
 There were at least three groups of men who came under 
 the designation of prisoners of war. First there were the 
 political prisoners. In the fall of 186 1, a system of passports 
 was introduced in the North, and in July, 1862, it seemed 
 
 *For a general discussion of the prison situation in 1861-62, see William 
 Best Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons: A Study in War Psychology (Ohio 
 State University Press, Columbus, 1930), pp. 34 f f • 5 for Hoffman's appoint- 
 ment, see also The War of the Rebellion : A Compilation of the Official 
 Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, cited hereafter as Official 
 Records, 2 series (8 volumes. Washington, D. C, 1894-1899), III, 48, 121. 
 
 (251) 
 
252 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 necessary to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Thousands of 
 persons were "arrested on suspicion," and could be held in pri- 
 son without trial for an indefinite period. All of our genera- 
 tion is well acquainted with war hysteria. Men and women 
 were arrested on the most absurd charges, some because they 
 "looked^ funny," some because of poor eyesight, some because 
 of peculiarities of speech, some because they had what was 
 supposed to be "a southern accent." There were thousands of 
 these unfortunates, victims of "a little brief authority" in the 
 wrong hands. These people as a rule had no recourse, and 
 since they could not be held in the ordinary prisons, some 
 place had to be found where they could be retained until the 
 hysteria died. 
 
 Second came the officers of the Confederate Army — 
 gentlemen accustomed to the life of gentlemen, used to per- 
 sonal attendance, good horses, and such pleasures as the times 
 furnished. Such men might easily endure the hardships of 
 military life in the field, but the manifold discomforts of a 
 prison camp, together with a constantly growing sense of 
 futility, made them utterly miserable and easy prey to disease. 
 
 The third and much the largest group consisted of the 
 noncommissioned officers and men. As a group they were 
 without the mental and moral resources of the officers, al- 
 though physically they could better withstand the hardships of 
 prison life. Most of them were insufficiently clothed even for 
 summer, and there was never an overcoat among them. The 
 fact that many of them did not have shoes meant the preva- 
 lence of hookworm with its attendant troubles. Few of them 
 were uniformed. Homemade garments dyed with the brown- 
 ish stain of the walnut were so generally worn that the nick- 
 name "but'nuts" was almost inevitable. 2 These men suffered 
 from intestinal troubles due to a lack of good food, and they 
 were pediculous to a miserable degree. This condition pre- 
 vailed in prison camps both North and South, and was one 
 of the causes of the high mortality rate. 3 
 
 Before Hoffman's appointment as commissary general of 
 
 2 [ Catharine Merrill], The Soldier of Indiana in the War for the Union 
 (2 volumes. Indianapolis, Merrill and Company, 1866, 1869), I, 317-18. 
 3 Hans Zinsser, Rats, Lice and History (Boston, 1935) . 
 
CAMP MORTON 253 
 
 prisoners these three groups of prisoners were housed together 
 in the temporary prison camps — with the worst possible re- 
 sults — but in February, 1862, came the demand for prison 
 space on a large scale, and the necessity of segregating dif- 
 ferent types of prisoners was taken into consideration. This 
 was the first truly cheerful month for the North, with the 
 capture of Fort Henry on the sixth and Fort Donelson on the 
 sixteenth. General Henry W. Halleck sought places where 
 prisoners could be cared for without withdrawing men from 
 the Union forces to guard them. The system finally developed 
 under Hoffman provided that general officers be sent to a 
 small island in Boston Harbor where Fort Warren was located 
 (being desperate villains, they should be securely imprisoned) ; 
 lesser commissioned officers were sent to Johnson's Island in 
 the harbor of Sandusky, Ohio; and noncommissioned officers 
 and privates were sent to eight scattered camps including Camp 
 Douglas, at Chicago, the largest; Camp Chase at Columbus, 
 Ohio; Camp Butler, at Springfield, Illinois; and Camp Morton, 
 at Indianapolis, the third largest of the group. 4 
 
 After the fall of Fort Donelson, Halleck telegraphed 
 Governor Morton, asking him how many prisoners he could 
 provide for. On February 17 the Governor replied, "We can 
 take 3,000 if necessary," but 3,700 came to be quartered at 
 Camp Morton. 5 
 
 No one had known exactly what to do with the few pris- 
 oners in Indianapolis before this date. Sometimes, if they 
 had the means, they were allowed to live at a hotel, reporting 
 to headquarters once a day. Those without money were per- 
 mitted to get jobs in the town, and use the income for their 
 support. There was an entire lack of regulation with regard 
 to their care; persons responsible for them had simply done 
 whatever was most practicable under the circumstances. To 
 
 'Official Records, 2 series, III, 269, 270-71, 274, 276, 277, 278, 281, 288, 
 337; Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons, p. 41. For pictures of the various 
 camps, hospitals, officials, and prisoners of note, see Holland Thompson 
 (ed.), Prisons and Hospitals {The Photographic History of The Civil War, 
 Volume Seven. The Review of Reviews Co., New York, 1911). 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, III, 269 f f. ; Jacob P. Dunn, Indiana and Indi- 
 anans ... (5 volumes. Chicago and New York, 1919), II, 613-14; Indianapolis 
 Sentinel, March 15, 1862, and following issues. 
 
254 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 provide for an influx of 3,700 men was a problem to tax 
 the best heads. The doctors of the city threw themselves into 
 the work, and the citizens, touched by the miserable appearance 
 of the captives, gave clothes and bedding, jelly and fresh bread 
 of their own baking. 6 
 
 A stupendous load of charitable work was undertaken by 
 the Sanitary Commission, in a way a forerunner of the Red 
 Cross. At Camp Morton such problems were also taken care 
 of by the ladies of the town who had been organized under 
 the leadership of Mrs. Morton, but here again local conditions 
 interfered with good results. There were so many sympa- 
 thizers with the Confederate cause in Marion County that 
 many of the ladies with Union sympathies feared that work 
 for the prisoners would put them under suspicion. 
 
 Mention should be made at this place of the troubles at 
 some of the other camps, since they throw much light on the 
 happenings at Camp Morton. Fort Warren was a masonry 
 structure on one of the many hundreds of small islands — noth- 
 ing more than great heaps of gravel — in Boston Harbor, de- 
 pendent for security on the swift currents that surrounded 
 them at all stages of the tide. No one ever lived through the 
 waters of Shirley Gut, surrounding Deer Island, and while 
 Fort Warren stood on the highest point on Governor's Island 
 and, therefore, had the best position as a lookout, it was also 
 the coldest and the windiest spot in the harbor, and naturally 
 the most difficult to heat. The fireplaces and an occasional 
 stove formed the totally inadequate source of warmth, with 
 fuel often at a premium. Confederate generals suffered ex- 
 tremely from climatic conditions, since they were not ac- 
 customed to the chill of a stone structure during a nor'easter, 
 with the mercury at twenty below. 
 
 Johnson's Island likewise depended on its situation for the 
 security of the prisoners. 7 There were not, of course, the deep 
 
 6 Holliday, "Civil War Times," in Dunn, Greater Indianapolis, I, 226. 
 
 7 For Colonel Hoffman's report to General Meigs on the selection of 
 Johnson's Island and his recommendations concerning the buildings to be 
 erected, see Official Records, 2 series, III, 54-57. See also ibid., Ill, 122-23, 
 135-36, 326-27 ; H. Carpenter, "Plain Living at Johnson's Island," in Century 
 Magazine, XLI, 705-18 (March, 1891) ; Joe Barbiere, Scraps from the 
 Prison Table at Camp Chase and Johnson's Island (Doylestown, Pa., 1868). 
 
CAMP MORTON 255 
 
 water and the strong current of Boston Harbor, but a mile of 
 water and the mud flats helped a good deal. The Confederate 
 officers who were the inmates of the prison were worth taking 
 some risk to rescue, but no attempt of this sort was ever suc- 
 cessfully carried out. Newspaper scares and the outpourings 
 of such reckless talkers as Clement) Laird Vallandigham gave 
 warning, and the prison on Johnson's Island was closely 
 guarded at all times. It probably maintained the most severe 
 discipline of all the camps. 
 
 Camp Douglas at Chicago had the worst situation of all 
 prisoners' camps in the North. 8 It was on low ground, badly 
 drained, and had no protection from the land winds. Conse- 
 quently the death rate among the prisoners, who arrived poorly 
 clothed and ill fed, was very great. Due to the strong feeling 
 in the city against the prisoners, relief work among the men 
 was relatively less than elsewhere. There was also dishonesty 
 among the civilian employees, and trouble arising from the 
 type of men placed in charge of the camp. The feeling of help- 
 lessness among the prisoners in the face of legal wrongs that 
 they could not right, their poor health and the high death 
 rate, the bad food conditions and lack of hospitalization, all 
 combined to furnish additional proof, if any were needed, of 
 the correctness of General Sherman's famous observation on 
 the nature of war. 
 
 The problem of converting Camp Morton into a prisoners' 
 camp fell to Captain James A. Ekin, an assistant quartermaster 
 general of the United States Army who had been stationed at 
 Indianapolis since the preceding August. Strict economy in 
 all changes was demanded by Colonel Hoffman and General 
 Meigs. The stock stalls along the north fence, which had 
 housed Indiana troops during the preceding summer and 
 autumn, were remodeled to provide six apartments for sleep- 
 ing purposes and one for eating purposes, and additional bar- 
 racks were erected of lumber that had been used for temporary 
 stables. 9 There was no time to have the work done before the 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 106, no, in; Reminiscences of Chicago 
 During the Civil War, with an introduction by Mabel Mcllvaine (R. R. 
 Donnelley & Sons Company, Chicago, 1914), 161-94. 
 
 "Terrell, Report, I, 446, 447, 456; Official Records, 2 series, III, 278, 
 301, 335-36. 
 
256 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 arrival of the prisoners, or according to any carefully con- 
 sidered plan. 
 
 Colonel Hoffman, having inspected the camp after the 
 prisoners came, made the criticism on March 12, 1862, that 
 the quarters were "dark and close and there must be much 
 sickness . . . unless some improvements are made." 10 Shortly 
 after, prisoners were transferred from one barracks at a time 
 into tents, so that windows could be put in the dark buildings 
 to give more light and air during the warm weather. In June 
 new barracks were erected to relieve the overcrowded condi- 
 tions. 11 
 
 Around the camp ran a wall constructed like a palisade. It 
 was made of two-inch oak planks, with an outside walk for the 
 sentries placed about four feet below the top of the wall. This 
 arrangement allowed plenty of space for the sentry to fire if 
 necessary. 12 The gates, of course, had to be reconstructed and 
 so extended inside and out that "rushes" would be impossible. 
 The most serious problem in camp engineering was the posi- 
 tion of the camp latrines. It was necessary to place them at 
 the lower edge of the camp, and below the level of the springs 
 from which the camp got its drinking water. Because of the 
 great number of men confined to the small area and because 
 the soil did not drain well, it proved to be impossible to keep 
 the ground dry. 
 
 No one had known just when the first prisoners would 
 arrive at Camp Morton. After their capture the men were 
 herded on river steamers and taken to St. Louis, where they 
 were kept a few days under very bad conditions. They were 
 then loaded on railroad cars of any kind that was available. 
 Old passenger coaches, freight cars, and even flat cars were 
 used, all under guard, of course. Lack of seats and any accom- 
 modations whatsoever brought the men to Indianapolis in 
 pretty bad shape. 13 
 
 The citizens of Indianapolis were full of forebodings at the 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, III, 375. 
 "Ibid., Ill, 400-1, 620-21. 
 
 "Indianapolis News, February 24, 1897, p. 6, c. 2. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, February 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; Confederate Veteran, 
 V, 33 (January, 1897). 
 
CAMP MORTON 257 
 
 advent of a large number of prisoners. Everyone was nervous 
 and fidgety, but very full of curiosity. The day before the 
 prisoners came the excitement was so great that a crowd of 
 three thousand or more persons gathered near the station to 
 see the men brought in. No prisoners appeared, 14 but at last 
 it was reported that an officer with his command had been 
 ordered to meet the train the next day, February 22. 15 Then 
 people knew something was happening. 
 
 A large crowd gathered early in the morning and waited 
 until the middle of the afternoon, cheerfully going without 
 dinner in the excitement. The first unit to arrive consisted 
 of a mixed train of passenger and box cars, twenty-two in 
 all, which, to the disappointment of the crowd, did not stop at 
 the Union Station at all, but continued on over the tracks of 
 the Union Railway Company to Massachusetts Avenue, where 
 the men were detrained and marched over country roads to 
 Camp Morton. 16 
 
 As the train passed through the station, some of the 
 waiting people, regardless of the orders of the guard, 
 climbed to the roofs of the cars, riding on to the avenue with 
 the prisoners. Women and children stood along the tracks 
 nearly the whole distance, waving and shouting, while small 
 boys trotted beside the train. One young man, carried away 
 by his eagerness to see everything that was to be seen, fell 
 in at the end of the line of prisoners and marched with them 
 into the main gate of Camp Morton. Curiosity had got the 
 better of his judgment. Unable to prove that he was a citizen 
 of Indianapolis, he was held over night and forced to bunk 
 with a "secesh" who probably felt equally outraged. The 
 second group of prisoners was unloaded on a side track which 
 lay across South Street about where the Pennsylvania freight 
 station now stands and marched to the camp from there. 
 
 There is no doubt that this entry furnished the townspeople 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, February 21, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 "Lazarus Noble, Adjutant General's Office, Letter and Order Book 
 No. 1, November 23, 1861-January, 1863 (Archives Division, Indiana State 
 Library), p. 117. 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, February 24, 1862, p. 2, c. 2; Indianapolis Journal, 
 February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 1, 2. 
 
258 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 with a Roman holiday. However, the prisoners entered freely 
 into conversation with the bystanders and goodnaturedlv 
 answered questions. The Journal had suggested two days be- 
 fore that the citizens show a kindly spirit toward the prisoners 
 and refrain from insults to men who were powerless to resent 
 them. 17 
 
 The second train on Saturday brought in about four 
 hundred prisoners ; other groups came in on Sunday, Monday, 
 and Tuesday, bringing the total number to 3,700. Some of the 
 last to arrive were forced to spend the night in the Indianapolis 
 and Cincinnati freight house. In the morning those at the 
 station, 325 in all, were marched to Camp Morton; those re- 
 maining, about eight hundred, were sent on to Lafayette. 
 About eight hundred more stopped at Terre Haute, but all of 
 these, except a few who were too ill to be moved, were brought 
 to Camp Morton by the middle of March. By April 1, there 
 were five thousand men around the camp, counting both the 
 guards and the prisoners. Squads continued to arrive during 
 the spring and summer, often without any warning, the largest 
 installment, over one thousand men, coming in after the battle 
 of Shiloh. 18 
 
 In the first groups of prisoners officers and men were 
 commingled. Experience had already taught that it was 
 dangerous to allow them to remain together, for the officers as 
 a rule were prone to encourage their men to break out of camp 
 and return South, doing what damage they could on the way. 
 With their firm belief in the ultimate triumph of their cause, 
 they were bound to try any plan for getting back under their 
 own flag. In view of this fact, the officers were separated 
 from their men and quartered in barracks on Washington 
 Street east of the Odd Fellows Hall, which had been occupied 
 earlier by the Nineteenth Infantry. 
 
 Most of them had lost both clothing and blankets in the 
 confusion of their surrender. Because of their confinement 
 
 17 February 20, 1862, p. 2, c. 1, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 18 Indianapolis Sentinel, February 24, 1862, p. 2, c. 2 ; February 25, p. 3, c. 
 2; Indianapolis Journal, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 1-2; March 10, p. 3, c. 2 : 
 Terrell, Report, I, 457; Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, 
 p. 171. 
 
CAMP MORTON 259 
 
 food was prepared for the officers and they were permitted the 
 privilege of buying supplementary provisions at their own 
 expense. General Simon B. Buckner and his staff were 
 quartered in the government building on Pennsylvania Street 
 and their meals were brought from the Palmer House. How- 
 ever, the Sentinel of February 27, 1862, assured the public 
 that such meals were paid for by the General out of his 
 own pocket. 19 
 
 One of the Turnvereins, every man of which had enlisted, 
 rented its hall to house officers. This building stood near the 
 northeast corner of the intersection of Meridian and Maryland 
 streets. When officers to the number of 1 10 had accumulated, 
 they were sent to Camp Chase at Columbus, Ohio, where they 
 were kept until officers' quarters were prepared at Johnson's 
 Island in Sandusky Harbor. General Buckner was transferred 
 to Fort Warren. 20 
 
 Many of the officers had with them colored servants, 
 whose status was in doubt. They were not combatants, and 
 they were hardly to be considered as camp followers. Halleck 
 told Morton to let them go, if they wished to. If they chose 
 to stay, they must be under military control. 21 Their own 
 sentiments were summed up neatly in the announcement that 
 "dey wasn't going to leave de boys dey came with, no how." 22 
 Some negroes remained at Camp Morton, and were in con- 
 siderable demand as orderlies in the hospitals. 
 
 19 Indianapolis Journal, February 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 1, 2; February 27, p. 3, 
 c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, February 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; February 27, p. 3, 
 c. 2. Some citizens suggested Buckner should be kept in solitary confinement. 
 Letters of February 26, 1862, to Morton, Executive Department file, 109.9, 
 1861. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, III, 320, 333 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 February 28, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 ^Oliver P. Morton, Telegraphic Correspondence, February 5-June 10, 
 1862, pp. 56, 57, 64, 65, 66, 67 (Archives Division, Indiana State Library). 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. An editorial in the 
 Indianapolis Journal, March 29, 1862, commented bitterly because negroes 
 who had been captured at Fort Donelson and sent to Camp Chase were still 
 serving their masters as slaves. A report from the Assistant Inspector General 
 of the Army to General Thomas on April 6, 1862, stated, however, that they 
 were considered as prisoners of war, receiving exactly the same treatment as 
 other prisoners. Official Records, 2 series, III, 428. 
 
260 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Surgeons and chaplains were allowed the freedom of the city 
 on parole, being required to report daily at headquarters. It 
 was at first supposed that captured physicians would exercise 
 their vocation with their fellow prisoners. Some of these were 
 sent to Camp Chase where they were badly needed, but after 
 June, 1862, all were released in accordance with a general 
 ruling that surgeons were not to be held as prisoners of war. 23 
 
 The privates and noncommissioned officers were mostly 
 small farmers or squatters from Mississippi, Kentucky, and 
 Tennessee. They presented a shabby and forlorn appearance. 
 Almost a year after the firing on Fort Sumter it was still rare 
 to find any kind of a uniform among the prisoners. Oc- 
 casionally a man would have an army blanket, either bought 
 from England or plundered from a former United States post 
 in the South. More common than the gray blanket was a 
 square piece of carpet flung over the shoulders. Most of the 
 men had a bundle of odds and ends, sometimes a bag of cof- 
 fee or a slab of bacon. Few had any extra clothing, and an 
 overcoat was unheard of. 24 Immediately numbers of them 
 fell sick, and since the camp had no hospital facilities adequate 
 to provide for them, they were taken to improvised hospitals in 
 the city where overworked physicians gave them what help they 
 could under the handicaps of poor quarters and limited equip- 
 ment. The hospitals are described at greater length in Chap- 
 ter IV. 
 
 The dispirited, over- fatigued men who poured into Camp 
 Morton on February 22 and the succeeding days were nearly 
 famished. Supplies for prisoners' camps — quarters, clothing, 
 and rations — were normally furnished through the regular 
 Army, but in this emergency there was no officer from the 
 Federal Commissary Department at hand to provide for the 
 prisoners. Commissary General Stone, of Governor Morton's 
 staff, met the situation characteristically by ordering about 
 four thousand rations at twenty-five cents each for prisoners 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, February 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; Noble, A. G. O., 
 Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 209; Official Records, 2 series, IV, 45; 
 Oliver P. Morton, Governor's Office, Letter Book, January 1, 1862 to 
 January 17, 1863 (Archives Division, Indiana State Library), pp. 7-8. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; Soldier of Indiana, 
 I, 3I7-I8. 
 
CAMP MORTON 261 
 
 and guards, and securing the authorization later. 25 Blankets 
 were also issued. 26 
 
 The citizens offered emergency aid too, the Sentinel report- 
 ing on February 25 that throughout the day wagons had been 
 progressing toward the camp in long trains, "loaded with the 
 necessaries and comforts and even the luxuries of life." A 
 sterner attitude was maintained by Adjutant General Lazarus 
 Noble, who wrote to an inquirer on February 24: "Every 
 attention will be paid to the Prisoners that their necessities and 
 well-being demand; — anything further will not be allowed. 
 They and their friends must reflect that they are Rebel 
 Prisoners and as such cannot be allowed the luxuries and 
 comforts incident to a peaceful home." 27 
 
 In the meantime, Captain Ekin was telegraphing to his 
 superiors for instructions about supplies for the prisoners. 
 Like Stone, he had been driven by their necessities to act first 
 and hope that official approval would follow. General Meigs 
 wired to Colonel Hoffman on February 24 : "Visit Chicago, 
 Indianapolis and other places to which the prisoners taken in 
 Tennessee have been sent. Report what is absolutely necessary 
 to prevent their suffering. Quartermasters are in charge. Be- 
 sides the rations allowed by regulations without regard to rank 
 the United States will supply such blankets, cooking utensils 
 and clothing as are necessary to prevent real suffering. Much 
 clothing not good enough for troops has by fraud of inspectors 
 and dealers been forced into our depots. This will be 
 used. ..." Ekin received substantially the same orders 
 the next day. 28 
 
 Guards for the camp had to be provided on short notice, 
 also. As soon as Governor Morton knew that several thousand 
 prisoners would have to be taken care of, he summoned several 
 partially filled regiments that were being recruited in different 
 parts of the state. The Fourteenth Battery of Light Artillery, 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, III, 333. The regular cost of the ration 
 was less than half this amount. Indianapolis Journal, February 25, 1862, 
 P- 3, c. 3. 
 
 ^Ibid., p. 3, c. 2 ; Ekin to Morton, February 24, 1862, Executive Depart- 
 ment file, 109.9, 1861. 
 
 ^Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 143-44- 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, III, 278, 316-17, 322. 
 
262 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 under Captain Meredith H. Kidd, the Fifty-third Regiment 
 of Indiana Volunteers, under Colonel Walter Q. Gresham. and 
 the Sixtieth under Colonel Richard Owen all reached Indian- 
 apolis within a few days. Colonel Ben S. Nicklin, who had 
 been commandant at Camp Morton for some months, remained 
 in charge until these hastily summoned troops arrived, when 
 Colonel Owen took command. 29 
 
 Owen's appointment as commandant proved most fortu- 
 nate. He was an experienced soldier. Combining strength 
 and gentleness, he was a good disciplinarian and at the same 
 time tempered his rulings with sympathy. From February 
 until the middle of June, the difficult experimental months 
 during which a workable camp routine had to be established, 
 he handled the situation skillfully. His whole aim was to 
 treat the prisoners in a way "calculated to make them less 
 restless in their confinement, and likely, when they returned 
 to their homes, to spread among their friends and acquaint- 
 ances the news that they had been deceived regarding north- 
 ern men." 30 
 
 At this period no general rules for the supervision of 
 prisoners had been laid down. While Colonel Hoffman 
 pleaded that such matters be delegated exclusively to his de- 
 partment, the generals in the field continued to exercise a good 
 deal of authority over the movements of prisoners, and each 
 camp commandant set up his own disciplinary measures. A 
 few very general instructions regarding prisoners held in 
 Indiana were issued by Adjutant General Noble under order 
 of Governor Morton on February 24. 31 Prisoners were to be 
 
 ^Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 114, 118, 130; In- 
 dianapolis Journal, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 1-2; February 28, p. 3, c. 1; 
 Indianapolis Sentinel, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. Gresham's regiment, 
 with which the Sixty-second was consolidated, was ordered to join Halleck 
 on March 14, and Kidd's Battery followed on April 10. Noble, op. cit., pp. 
 169, 170, 190, 194, 197. A battalion of the Sixty-third Regiment, under 
 Lieutenant Colonel John S. Williams, and some companies from the Sixty- 
 first Regiment, under Colonel Bernard F. Mullen, which had been guarding 
 prisoners at Lafayette and Terre Haute respectively, took their places as 
 guards at Camp Morton, remaining until late in May, 1862. Terrell, Report, 
 II, 587, 595. 
 
 30 Indianapolis Journal, April 17, 1862, p. 2, c. 1 ; April 21, p. 2, c. 1-2. 
 
 31 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 131. 
 
■ 
 
CAMP MORTON 263 
 
 thrown into their original company organizations, each com- 
 pany in charge of its highest noncommissioned officer, and 
 were to be subsisted in that order, receiving the same rations, 
 clothing, and equipment as Indiana troops. No communica- 
 tion with citizens was to be allowed. Finally, company rolls 
 were to be prepared. Beyond this, Owen had to formulate his 
 own rules. He drew up a humane and sensible code, much of 
 which was later incorporated into Hoffman's instructions to 
 all commandants of prisoners' camps. 32 
 
 ''Rules for Camp Morton. 
 
 "i. The entire camp prisoners will be divided into thirty 
 divisions, each under charge of a chief selected by the com- 
 panies composing the division from among the first sergeants 
 of companies. At the bugle call for first sergeants they will 
 report themselves at headquarters. 
 
 "2. These chiefs of divisions will draw up the provision 
 returns for their divisions, care for and be responsible for the 
 general appearance, police and welfare of their divisions. The 
 first fifteen will constitute a board of appeal for the hearing 
 of grievances, settlement and punishment of misdemeanors, 
 subject to the approval of the commander of the post in their 
 fifteen divisions. The other fifteen will form a like court for 
 the remaining fifteen divisions. 
 
 "3. Among the crimes and misdemeanors against which 
 first sergeants are expected to guard and which they will 
 punish on detection are counterfeiting the commandant's, 
 doctor's, adjutant's or chaplain's hands for requisitions, making 
 improper use of premises, refusing to take a reasonable share 
 in the details according to the roster, selling to the sutler any 
 articles issued to them as clothing, appropriating things belong- 
 ing to others or insulting sentinels. 
 
 "4. The prisoners' returns will be handed in for approval 
 at 10 a. m. each alternate day previous to the one on which the 
 issue is made. The issues of tobacco and stationery will be 
 made on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p. m. by the chaplains, 
 as well as the distribution of reading matter. Letters will be 
 
 ' i2 Official Records, 2 series, III, 518-19. 
 
264 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 given out between 2 and 3 p. m. and mailed between 
 3 and 4 p. m. 
 
 "5. Daily inspections will be made by the commandant or 
 officer of the day to see that the policing so essential to health 
 has been thoroughly performed, and facilities will be afforded 
 for sports and athletic exercise also conducive to health, as 
 well as bathing by companies, if permission can be obtained 
 from the proper authority. 
 
 "6. The first sergeants of companies will look after the 
 general wants of their companies and maintain the necessary 
 order, discipline and police essential to health and comfort, 
 and will make requisitions, first on chiefs of divisions, and 
 they afterwards at headquarters, for clothing, camp and gar- 
 rison equipage absolutely necessary; also for tobacco wanted, 
 and the like. 
 
 "7. The inside chain of soldiers, except a small patrol with 
 side-arms, will be removed, and the quiet and good order of 
 the camp as well as the policing for health and comfort, the 
 construction of new sinks when necessary and the daily throw- 
 ing in of lime and mold to prevent bad odors will be entirely 
 under the supervision of the sergeants of prisoners. 
 
 "8. Vessels for the washing of clothing and ropes for 
 clothes lines will be furnished, and no bed or other clothing 
 will be put on roof tops or on, fences. 
 
 "9. Prisoners will carefully avoid interrupting sentinels 
 in the discharge of their duty, and especially will not curse 
 them, use abusive language or climb onto fences or trees, as 
 the sentinels are ordered to fire if such an offense occurs after 
 three positive and distinct orders to desist, even in day time. 
 At night only one warning will be given to any one climbing 
 on the fence tops. 
 
 "10. A prisoners' fund will be created by the deduction as 
 heretofore of small amounts from the rations of beef, bread, 
 beans, &c, a schedule of which will be placed at the commis- 
 sary department. This fund will be used for the purchase of 
 tobacco, stationery, stamps and such other articles as the chiefs 
 of divisions may report, and which should be drawn on requisi- 
 tions handed in by first sergeants between 9 and 10 a. m. 
 each dav. 
 
CAMP MORTON 265 
 
 "il. Every endeavor will be made by the commandant to 
 give each and every prisoner as much liberty and comfort as is 
 consistent with orders received and with an equal distribution 
 of the means at disposal, provided such indulgence never leads 
 to any abuse of the privileges." 
 
 These rules established virtual self-government among the 
 prisoners. They worked well, with occasional exceptions that 
 necessitated modifications and curtailments of privileges. 
 Sometimes the townspeople were inclined to criticize their lati- 
 tude, but they earned for Owen the undying gratitude of 
 many prisoners. 
 
 Company rolls remained a problem throughout the war. If 
 no muster roll came with the prisoners, new ones had to be 
 made immediately. They were called every morning. 33 Some 
 of them were written on sheets of legal cap, pasted together in 
 long strips, and ruled off by hand into columns for name, 
 company, enlistment, time and place of joining, capture, trans- 
 fer, or death. The beginning of the roll might be handsomely 
 engrossed, but the handwriting was often illegible. Prisoners 
 who had crimes on their consciences and preferred not to be 
 traced sometimes gave false names. A spirit of mischief in- 
 duced others to offer ridiculous names, which got them into 
 trouble when exchange rolls were prepared. The chief diffi- 
 culty, of course, was due to transfers to hospitals and to deaths 
 among the prisoners. 
 
 Besides keeping the rolls for the camps the commandants 
 were requested toward the end of April, 1862, to send a com- 
 plete list to the Commissary General of Prisoners and monthly 
 reports thereafter. In spite of the fact that the rolls were 
 checked each morning, and that requisitions for rations were 
 also supposed to be checked against them, Owen reported that 
 
 33 The Indianapolis Sentinel of February 28, 1862, p. 3, c. 3, announced 
 that rolls of all the prisoners had been made out and were in Owen's hands. 
 The morning roll call was handled as follows. Owen called the roll for one 
 of the thirty divisions of prisoners ; the chaplain, the ten first lieutenants 
 and the ten second lieutenants of his regiment each called one roll, taking 
 care of twenty-two divisions ; the rolls for the remaining divisions were called 
 by officers from assisting guard regiments. Owen to Morton, April 20, 1862, 
 Sixtieth Regiment Indiana Volunteers file, folder C, Archives Division, 
 Indiana State Library. 
 
266 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 he had found enough discrepancies to necessitate a thorough 
 revision. 34 No one ever did manage to have the rolls complete 
 and exact. 
 
 During the first rather disorganized months the noncom- 
 missioned Confederate officers in charge of companies were 
 almost as busy as the commandant. Besides requisitioning the 
 proper amount of rations, they had to divide them out fairly 
 among the men. The slightest partiality provoked a storm of 
 no mean proportions. There was inevitably one, or more, in each 
 group who stole from his comrades. Cooks had to stand guard 
 over provisions, and honest and hungry men formed the habit 
 of eating the whole day's ration as soon as it was received, or 
 of carrying it in their haversacks for safekeeping. 35 Anyone 
 caught at petty thieving or similar misdemeanors was punished 
 by the prisoners themselves. 
 
 Criticism about rations had been bad enough when Indi- 
 ana recruits were trained at Camp Morton. Now they were 
 much worse. For example, the Southerners were accustomed 
 to lean bacon, and they complained at being supplied with bacon 
 that was fat, or at best had a streak of fat and a streak of 
 lean. They declared that the beef was all bone and the bread 
 all sour. For the time being, baker's bread of good quality 
 was served, for it was the cheapest way to provide bread for 
 the prisoners, but these southern boys wanted "good cawn 
 pone, with drippin's." The Sentinel suggested that the com- 
 missary department buy meal in the open market and furnish 
 
 Si Official Records, 2 series, III, 502, 515; IV, 152; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. The Sentinel of March 17 (p. 1, c. 2-6), lists 
 the prisoners confined at Camp Morton, giving a total of 3,233. The issue 
 of March 18 (p. 3, c. 1) lists 278 prisoners at Terre Haute who were still to 
 be transferred to Camp Morton. 
 
 35 [S. A. Cunningham], Memorials: Col. Richard Owen, the Good Sa- 
 maritan of Camp Morton . . . (Nashville, Tenn., n. d.), p. 4. Quarrels over 
 the division of rations sometimes resulted in the death of a prisoner. On one 
 occasion a sergeant in charge of a division of prisoners was accused of 
 dividing rations unfairly. The sergeant punched his accuser with a stick of 
 firewood, whereupon the enraged man seized a club and knocked the sergeant 
 down, clubbing him so that he died in about six hours. Indianapolis Journal, 
 May 19, 1862, p. 3, c. 1; May 21, p. 3, c. 2; Indianapolis Sentinel, May 19, 
 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 22, p. 3, c. 2. See also Confederate Veteran, XVI, xxxvi 
 (December, 1908). 
 
CAMP MORTON 267 
 
 it to the men, but it was impossible to allow each boy to cook 
 his pone "the way it orter be." 36 
 
 After Colonel Hoffman visited the camp early in March, 
 he proposed the erection of a camp bakehouse, a practical 
 suggestion that effected a large saving to the Government. 
 The great cost of prisoners' camps was a serious problem. The 
 sums involved seem small to us, but the citizen of 1862 was 
 more appalled by a national debt of one billion dollars than we 
 are by forty billion. The contractor for the camp was obliged 
 to buy a full army ration for every prisoner. A pound of flour 
 thus supplied would make almost a pound and a third of good 
 bread, and with the baking done in a camp bakehouse, the profit 
 would go to the camp and not to the baker. 
 
 Hoffman's suggestion was approved and he immediately 
 wrote to Captain Ekin for estimates on the cost of a bakehouse 
 large enough to bake for five thousand men. It was to con- 
 sist of a single large room with a floor, a shingle roof, and 
 walls of upright boarding battened. Later in the month he 
 directed that the commissary at the camp withhold any part 
 of the prisoners' rations which might be in excess of their 
 needs, and semimonthly pay to Colonel Owen the value of the 
 ration so retained. The fund thus accumulated was to be used 
 to purchase "brooms, buckets, table furniture" and other 
 articles for the prisoners, which would otherwise be an addi- 
 tional expense to the Government. The bakehouse went into 
 operation about the middle of April, and Ekin later reported 
 that the ovens were working well and that a fund of $2,400 
 had been accumulated by May i. 37 
 
 Out of the fund were bought "tobacco, stationery, stamps, 
 wheel barrows and tools for policing, scissors for cutting the 
 hair, plank and nails for making bunks, lines for airing clothes, 
 
 36 Indianapolis Journal, March 11, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 February 28, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. The newspapers were not above poking fun 
 at this passionate attachment to corn pone. The Sentinel of March 8 (p. 2, 
 c. 4), quoted the suggestion of the Lafayette Journal that there was an 
 "inscrutable reason for compelling these maize-loving rebels to eat Northern 
 wheat bread," and that "with every mouthful ... the hungry rebel swallows 
 and incorporates in his treasonable system so much loyalty and patriotism." 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, III, 349, 375, 386-87, 401, 432, 562; Indian- 
 apolis Journal, March 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; Terrell, Report, I, 449. 
 
268 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 leather for mending shoes, thread for repairs, &c. ; also addi- 
 tional vegetables, such as potatoes and onions, and some extra 
 supplies of molasses." 38 
 
 Hoffman had delegated control of the fund to Owen, with 
 instructions that strict account of expenditures be kept, with 
 the bills. Owen was doubtless too occupied with other business 
 of the camp to handle it himself, for Ekin wrote to Hoffman 
 on May 21 that a council of administration had been instituted 
 at Camp Morton, and had taken charge of the disbursements. 
 Ekin was excluded from this council. He was dissatisfied 
 with the arrangement, and asked that control of the fund be 
 placed in his hands, on the ground that various expenditures 
 which should be paid from it would not be made unless under 
 his direction. He promised he would always confer with 
 Owen and the post quartermaster, Lieutenant J. J. Palmer. 39 
 It is likely that Hoffman and Ekin expected to take care of 
 more ambitious expenditures than those heretofore made from 
 the fund, and as Ekin's suggestion was later carried out, the 
 rapidly increasing sums were used to supplement the hospital 
 fund, for the erection of additional buildings, payment of 
 civilian employees, and the like. 
 
 To return to the chiefs of divisions : having served out 
 the food to the best of his ability, the sergeant in charge was 
 obliged to see that the clean straw supplied for the bunks was 
 equally apportioned. If left unguarded it had a way of dis- 
 appearing. Quantities of straw about the camp presented a 
 fire hazard that demanded unceasing vigilance; smoking was 
 restricted, for in a high wind a fire would have produced a 
 major tragedy. Company chiefs also had to detail men to 
 police the camp, and to act as hospital orderlies and as grave 
 diggers. 
 
 Reports about needed clothing also went through the 
 sergeant's hands. Prisoners were allowed to receive supplies 
 from home, but the garments sent were sometimes impractical. 
 The girl who sent her imprisoned boy friend a pair of em- 
 broidered slippers, for example, was not likely to keep his 
 
 38 0wen to Editor, Indianapolis Journal, April 18, 1862, in Official 
 Records, 2 series, III, 516. See also Owen's Rule 10, ante, p. 264. 
 '^Official Records, 2 series, III, 562-63. 
 
CAMP MORTON 269 
 
 devotion. A pair of thick warm socks and a sweater would 
 have been welcome enough, but good saxony yarn was an 
 unknown quantity in the blockaded South, and such gifts were 
 out of the question. 40 
 
 The intention of the Federal Government to issue clothing 
 and blankets when needed is clear, but in practice these good 
 intentions were only partially fulfilled. Prisoners received 
 clothing which had been furnished to the United States by 
 contractors and condemned by government inspectors. It 
 sometimes happened that the condemned articles were not those 
 most needed in the prison camps, or that shipments were de- 
 layed — transportation constituted a big expense and shipments 
 to troops in the field were given preference. 41 
 
 At Camp Morton, though blankets were issued to the 
 prisoners who had none, 42 a sudden drop in temperature caused 
 extreme suffering among men unaccustomed to a northern 
 climate. The Ladies Patriotic Societies and the Sanitary 
 Commission responded generously to calls for assistance, 
 and during 1862 the prisoners made few complaints of 
 poor treatment. 
 
 Would-be visitors made their appearance before the 
 prisoners were fairly settled. Governor Morton ruled im- 
 mediately that there was to be no communication between citi- 
 zens or guards and camp inmates, and Owen enforced the rule. 
 A notice of the regulation was sent to the Louisville Journal 
 on February 26 ; nevertheless many Kentuckians made the long 
 hard trip to Indianapolis in the hope of seeing their relatives 
 or friends. Neither masculine indignation nor feminine wiles 
 succeeded in getting them into camp. This rule, harsh as it 
 must have seemed in many cases, tended to prevent unrest 
 among the prisoners, and Captain Ekin commended it highly 
 to Secretary of War Stanton. Adjutant General Noble at the 
 
 "For the effect of the blockade on the South, see J. B. Jones, A Rebel 
 War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital (2 volumes. Phila- 
 delphia, J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1866). 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, III, 316-17, 335-36. It should be remembered 
 that the Federal Government had no intention of supplying clothes that would 
 be convertible into Confederate uniforms, should prisoners be exchanged. 
 
 "Ekin to Governor Morton, February 24, 1862, Executive Department 
 file, 109.9, J 86i. 
 
270 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 same time protested against the laxity at Camp Chase, where 
 "avowedly disloyal" visitors were admitted. The result was 
 a tightening of restrictions in other camps, and commendation 
 of the discipline at Camp Morton. 43 
 
 Communication by mail was not cut off. Prisoners could 
 write home — the newspapers asked for donations of stamps 
 for the prisoners' mail — and letters, money, clothing, and other 
 donations were allowed to enter the camp after proper inspec- 
 tion. Assistant Adjutant General James Wilson handled this 
 for a time, 44 but by the middle of March, 1862, censorship and 
 inspection duties were taking the entire time of two important 
 officers, and Colonel Owen appealed to Governor Morton for 
 someone who could take charge of the post office and inspect 
 presents for the prisoners. 45 Abel Evans was thereupon ap- 
 pointed special postmaster for Camp Morton to take charge of 
 all mail. After carefully inspecting the letters written, Evans 
 endorsed each envelope "prisoner's letter," "inspected," signed 
 it, mailed all that were within the Union lines and returned 
 the rest to the Adjutant General's office to be forwarded under 
 a flag of truce. Likewise, he took charge of all letters for 
 prisoners arriving by mail or otherwise, and inspected them 
 before delivering them. 46 
 
 Letters were given out between two and three o'clock in the 
 afternoon and could be mailed out between three and four. 47 
 To reduce the great labor of inspection an order was issued at 
 this time that prisoners might write only to relatives and im- 
 mediate friends. Evidently the request was not obeyed, for 
 nearly a month later, Adjutant General Noble sent Colonel 
 Owen a number of copies of the order to distribute "freely" 
 among the prisoners. He said that he, himself, had burned a 
 number of letters from four to eight pages long, and that half 
 
 43 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 131 ; Indianapolis 
 Journal, February 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; March 17, p. 3, c. 1 ; Official Records, 
 2 series, III, 411, 412. 
 
 ^Indianapolis Journal, February 27, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; March 17, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 45 Richard Owen file, March 13, 1862, Archives Division, Indiana State 
 Library. 
 
 46 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 172. See also Con- 
 federate Veteran, II, 115 (April, 1894), VI, 583 (January, 1898). 
 
 "Ante, pp. 263-64. 
 
CAMP MORTON 271 
 
 of them or more, were to mere acquaintances and of little 
 importance. Evans was expected to reject and destroy this 
 kind. A Federal order issued later in the summer and sent 
 to all camps, limited letters to one page only, the contents to 
 be of a strictly private nature. 48 
 
 The censor's task was not always dull. The following lines 
 from a southern girl to "Dear John" at Camp Morton were 
 published in the Indianapolis Journal and copied in papers 
 throughout the country: 49 "I will be for Jeffdavise til the 
 tenisee river freazes over, and then be for him, and scrach 
 on the ice 
 
 "Jeffdavise rides a white horse, 
 Lincoln rides a mule, 
 Jeffdavise is a gentleman, 
 Lincoln is a fule. 
 
 "I wish I could send them lincon devels some pies, they 
 would never want any more to eat in this world." 
 
 All material contributed to the camp locally, such as news- 
 papers and books, had to be examined for fear that weapons 
 or tools might be concealed between the leaves. Packages sent 
 to the prisoners from home were carefully examined by the 
 censor and contraband materials taken out. Jellies and other 
 delicacies were confiscated for hospital use. 50 
 
 For a time, money which the prisoners brought with them, 
 or which they received while at camp, seems to have been 
 entirely at their disposal. 51 But because attempts at bribery 
 were suspected, or because officials thought too much money 
 was going into the hands of the camp sutler, General Noble 
 decreed on May 2, 1862, that no money should be delivered to 
 prisoners except through the commandant's hands, that no 
 prisoners receive more than a dollar or two a week for neces- 
 saries, and that any funds remaining to a prisoner's credit 
 
 48 Indianapolis Journal, March 19, 1862, p. 3, c. 3 ; Noble, A. G. O., 
 Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 172, 205 ; Official Records, 2 series, IV, 153. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, May 6, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 50 Indiana Soldier, 1, 319. 
 
 51 The Indianapolis Journal, April 8, 1862, p. 3, c. 4, mentions "about 
 $6,000 received lately, and distributed among the rebel prisoners at Camp 
 Morton." The Journal surmised that most of this money, sent by relatives 
 in Kentucky and Tennessee, went into the sutlers' pockets. 
 
272 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 should be held by the commandant, to be doled out in 
 small quantities. 52 
 
 Unauthorized sutlers thronged to every training camp and 
 prison. They had to be watched continually to prevent sale of 
 contraband, and to protect the prisoners from being over- 
 charged. At some camps they became very wealthy, but 
 regulatory precautions were taken early at Camp Morton. 
 There were doubtless some unauthorized venders of goods 
 about, and the regimental sutlers attached to the Sixtieth and 
 Fifty-third Regiments probably supplied the camp to some 
 extent, but shortly after the arrival of the first prisoners, 
 Governor Morton appointed a post sutler, Nathan Crawford. 
 Prisoners' purchases of small articles were supposed thereafter 
 to be made through him. Much friction attended the attempt 
 to prevent sutlers from competing, and nothing but threat of 
 arrest was effective in keeping them away from camp. 53 
 
 Owen evidently considered literary works outside the sut- 
 lers' line. At any rate he allowed William Gibson and a 
 "Mr. Keatting" to sell books and periodicals in the camp, de- 
 fending the procedure as "beneficial to the Prisoners by 
 keeping them occupied & contented." He also secured several 
 hundred books for them from the superintendent of pub- 
 lic instruction. 54 
 
 When free men constantly chafe against restrictions, how 
 much more likely that prisoners of war, humiliated by their 
 capture and depressed by hardships and illness should fret 
 against camp discipline. In spite of their labors at policing, 
 "KP" duty, and at the hospitals and cemeteries, the prisoners 
 had many empty hours which Owen gave them every latitude 
 in filling with such amusements as they could devise. 
 
 Fraternal organizations such as the Masons and Odd 
 Fellows, sent a friendly greeting to prisoner members, and 
 groups from these orders were allowed to meet at the camp 
 in what had once been the headquarters of the Board of 
 
 "Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. i, p. 225. 
 "Ibid., pp. 157, 553, 556. 
 
 "Memorandum, April 26, 1862, Richard Owen file, Archives Division, 
 Indiana State Library; Indianapolis Sentinel, April 11, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
CAMP MORTON 273 
 
 Agriculture. 55 Prisoners with anxious mothers or sweethearts 
 could have their pictures taken at Mr. Charles D. Vajen's 
 "Daguerrian or Photographic establishment." This was 
 authorized in March. Vajen was allowed to employ only two 
 assistants, the three of them being commanded to have no 
 intercourse with the prisoners beyond what was demanded by 
 their business, and to carry no letters or messages. 56 The 
 stream of daguerreotypes that flowed from Camp Morton to 
 Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi must have carried com- 
 fort to the folks at home, no matter how blurry the print or 
 how stary-eyed the subject. 
 
 Music was another palliative. Though camp regulations 
 discouraged the prisoners from congregating in groups of 
 more than two or three, especially at night, they were allowed 
 to form more than one glct club, and a band of Ethiopian 
 minstrels gave concerts now and then. On one occasion the 
 prisoners serenaded the officers with "Dixie" and a collection 
 of other secession songs. A few weeks later, the band of the 
 United States Regulars gave a concert at the camp. We have 
 no record of their program, but it must have been chosen with 
 extreme care, for according to the Sentinel it "enlivened the 
 hearts of both prisoners and citizens." 07 Besides the singers 
 there were some fair actors in the camp, who were allowed to 
 arrange dramatic entertainments for the hospitals. One is 
 said to have taken the oath of allegiance, become a member 
 of the old Metropolitan Company, and remained in Indianapolis 
 for years after the war. 58 
 
 In the big central area of the camp ball games were per- 
 mitted. Another great resource of the prisoner was whittling. 
 Thousands of handmade souvenirs still exist : pipe bowls of 
 many materials, brooches cut from beef bones, and puzzles 
 of the common sort were made in quantity; rings whittled 
 
 ^Ibid., February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; Indianapolis Journal, July 28, 1862, 
 P- 3, c. 1. 
 
 66 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book Xo. 1, p. 173. 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, March 26, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 13, p. 3, c. 1 ; 
 Indianapolis Journal, July 28, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 ^Indianapolis News, February 24, 1897, p. 6, c. 2. 
 
274 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 from rubber buttons and inlaid with silver stars cut from dimes 
 were fashionable; others were carved out of cannel coal. 59 
 
 Unfortunately a brisk contraband trade in these articles 
 developed through the newsboys who entered the camp. Worse 
 still was the fact that the prisoners had been allowed to keep 
 the knives with which they whittled, and even old pistols of the 
 heirloom variety. This gave rise in May to rumors that a 
 great number of "arms" had been smuggled to the prisoners. 
 Regretfully Owen ordered these sorry weapons turned in. 
 They were delivered promptly — some forty or fifty "antique, 
 half-cocked and empty pistols" and about three times as many 
 knives. Each article, carefully labeled with its owner's name, 
 was put away to be redelivered when the prisoners were ex- 
 changed or liberated. The Sentinel commented tartly: "it 
 indicates a singular want of confidence, on the part of 
 any portion of the community, in Col. Owen, who has 
 proved himself a most able and vigilant officer, to inti- 
 mate that his vigilance could permit arms to be smuggled 
 into Camp Morton." 60 
 
 There had been some criticism of Owen's leniency before 
 this date. It had been his practice to allow prisoners to visit 
 their comrades in the hospital. The privilege was extended 
 "to permit some of the sergeants of Prisoners to make a few 
 purchases under the charge of officers who pledged themselves 
 that there should be no interviews." 61 On April 15 a little 
 group started for the business district. They made purchases 
 here and there, then, unluckily for themselves, their fellow 
 prisoners, and Owen, part of them stopped at a saloon and 
 "imbibed freely." Worse still, they bootlegged liquor back to 
 camp, and by night some of the prisoners were so exhilarated 
 that they threw stones and beef bones at the sergeant of the 
 guard. One of the guards was sent posthaste for Owen, but 
 before he could return a well-aimed beef bone knocked the 
 sergeant off his feet. Without waiting for Owen's counsel, 
 
 ^"Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," Century Magazine, XLII, 
 770 (September, 1891). 
 
 60 Indianapolis Sentinel, May 31, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 G1 Owen to Morton, April 16, 1862, in Sixtieth Regiment Indiana Volun- 
 teers file, folder C. 
 
CAMP MORTON 275 
 
 he ordered his men to fire. Four men were injured, two 
 slightly, and two so seriously that they had to be sent to the 
 hospital next day. The battery of artillery which commanded 
 the camp, alarmed by the firing within the wall, hastily fired 
 a round of blank cartridges. Presumably this and Owen's 
 appearance settled the camp for the night, but the episode was 
 not closed. Governor Morton called for an explanation, and 
 both Sentinel and Journal wanted to know how such a situa- 
 tion could arise. 62 
 
 Owen wrote to the Governor on April 16. He told under 
 what instructions the expedition had been allowed and an- 
 nounced the suspension of similar privileges in future. He had 
 not been able to discover which men threw rocks at the guard, 
 but said that the prisoners had "promised to bring them to 
 speedy punishment (saying that hanging was too good for 
 them)." He intimated that if the Governor disapproved of 
 the system adopted or knew of someone who could carry out 
 his views better, "the officers & Soldiers of the Sixtieth would 
 feel grateful for the change. ,, He called attention to the high 
 mortality among his overworked men, and mentioned that he 
 had been informed there was no prospect of his receiving any 
 pay for the past six months' services. 63 
 
 Two days later he wrote to the Journal at greater length, 
 setting forth his aims, the general system of the camp, and 
 the unending demands on himself and his men. "I have never 
 spent one night from camp since I was ordered here," he 
 wrote, "nor entered a hotel or saloon since my arrival. After 
 a heavy day's work, I sometimes, at night, retire to my camp 
 cot, without divesting myself of either coat or boots, in order 
 to be ready at the slightest noise for my responsible and 
 onerous duties." He called attention with justifiable pride to 
 the small number of escapes from the camp proper, only 13 
 out of 4,200 prisoners, part of whom had been recaptured 
 and brought back. 64 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, April 17, 1862, p. 2, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 April 17, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, 
 p. 204. 
 
 63 Sixtieth Regiment Indiana Volunteers file, folder C. 
 
 84 Indianapolis Journal, April 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 1-2. 
 
276 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Another well-intentioned concession to the prisoners re- 
 sulted in much the same way. As the days grew warmer, 
 squads of prisoners were taken daily to Fall Creek, under 
 guard, for bathing. On a day in June a party of five or six 
 inveigled their guards into allowing an examination of their 
 new Enfield rifles. The guards were overpowered in a flash, 
 and the prisoners proceeded southward. 65 
 
 Prisoners acting as hospital orderlies sometimes succeeded 
 in slipping away, as the hospital guards were few. It was not 
 so easy to get away from Camp Morton. Captain Kidd's Bat- 
 tery of Light Artillery deserved part of the credit for this. As 
 a reassurance to the citizens or a warning to the prisoners — 
 perhaps both — the Sentinel announced immediately after the 
 arrival of the first Confederates that the battery was stationed 
 ''about Camp Morton, commanding every entrance and exit 
 and all the buildings and every acre for miles around." 66 There 
 were sentries on the wall and, for a time at least, a chain of 
 guards stationed inside it. These were later reduced to small 
 patrols with side arms. Sentinels were ordered to fire at any 
 prisoner who persisted in ignoring three "positive and distinct" 
 orders to desist from a violation of rules, such as climbing 
 on the fence. At night only one order was required. 67 
 
 Toward the end of March, a prisoner was wounded while 
 attempting to pass the guard. A few days later Governor 
 Morton appointed a special officer to arrest and bring back 
 escaped prisoners; and the same day word went to the camp: 
 that all recaptured prisoners would be sent to the Marion 
 County jail for close confinement in irons. 68 The jail was not 
 popular. Six prisoners inhabiting that "low and degraded 
 Den' asked for a minister of the gospel to sing and pray with 
 them. One of the signers was a George McCormick, whose 
 mess mates later petitioned that he might be allowed to return 
 
 65 Indianapolis Sentinel, May 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; June 14, p. 3, c. 1 ; 
 Madison Courier (daily), June 16, 1862, p. 2, c. 1. 
 
 ""Indianapolis Sentinel, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 67 Rule 9, ante, p. 264. 
 
 68 Indianapolis Journal, April 1, 1862, p. 3, c. 3 ; Noble, A. G. O., Letter 
 and Order Book No. 1, pp. 195, 196. 
 
CAMP MORTON 
 
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 Camp Morton, 1862, adapted from map by E. S. Thrall, Sixtieth Regi- 
 ment Indiana Volunteers. 1. Entrance. 2. Officer of gate. 3. Drummers. 
 4. Barber. 5. Picture gallery. 6. Majors. 7. Chaplain. 8. Steward. 9, 
 Colonel. 10. Magazine. 11. Stable. 12. Wagon master. 13. Gate. 
 14-16. Barracks. 17. Commissary, 60th Regiment. 18. Bakery. 19. Stable. 
 20. Gate. 21. Commissary, 63d Regiment. 22-22,. Prisoners' tents, shed. 
 24. Preacher's stand (Parson Brownlow). 25. Surgeon. 26. Sutler. 27. Pic- 
 ture car. 28. Post office. 29. Barracks. 30. Doctor. 31. Hospital tent. 
 32. Receiving hospital. 33. Dispensary. 34. Prisoners' tent. 35-39. Bar- 
 racks 1-5. + Sentinels. Guard companies, unless otherwise indicated, 
 belonged to the 60th Regiment. Batteries were Captain Coulson's, Captain 
 Xicklin's, and Captain Von Schlen's. 
 
278 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 to camp, to share their "comparatively light imprisonment." 69 
 
 About this time the guards were issued revolvers in 
 addition to the usual arms, to be used in case of attempted 
 prison breaks. Kidd's Battery was withdrawn in the middle of 
 April, and this fact may have stimulated in the prisoners new 
 hopes of escape. Following rumors of an intended stam- 
 pede, the sentinels were doubled, and the patrols inside 
 the camp increased. 70 
 
 Accidents happened, with the camp full of unrest and the 
 guards tense and nervous. One Sunday night about nine 
 o'clock, one of the prisoners mounted a rise in the grounds 
 from which he could see over the wall. He was hailed by 
 the sentry and ordered to move. But the guard was being 
 changed, and in the clatter of orders, the prisoner, as he 
 explained later, did not hear the sentinel's challenge. He did 
 not move, and the sentry fired, wounding him slightly. The 
 man was a Baptist preacher. His statement that he had no 
 intention of disobeying an order was believed, and he escaped 
 the further misery of being dragged off to jail. In spite of 
 the tightened discipline, a prisoner occasionally escaped, or was 
 wounded in the attempt. 71 
 
 One nineteen-year-old youth tried to escape in women's 
 clothes. Said the Sentinel, directing its sarcasm impartially at 
 guards and prisoner : "He was not shot at, for a wonder, but 
 came down to the valiant sentinel voluntarily. He cut an 
 excellent figure the next morning as he was led to jail personat- 
 ing a beautiful and blushing secession damsel." 72 
 
 Camp discipline was badly strained on one occasion when 
 Governor Morton brought a visitor to address the men. The 
 
 ""Petitions of April 25 and May 28, 1862, to Governor Morton, Executive 
 Department file, 109.9, 1861, Archives Division, Indiana State Library. By 
 June 3, there were eighteen recaptured prisoners in the jail. Indianapolis 
 Journal, June 3, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. See also the Sentinel, May 21, 1862, p. 3, 
 c. 2. 
 
 70 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 198, 212. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, April 30, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; May 6, p. 3, c. 3 ; June 
 2, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, April 11, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 6, p. 3, c. 1 ; 
 Confederate Veteran, V, 15 (January, 1897) ; VI, 537 (November, 1* 
 XXXV, 456-60 (December, 1927). 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, June 7, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
CAMP MORTON 279 
 
 Reverend William G. Brownlow, a violently Unionist minister 
 and newspaper editor of Knoxville, Tennessee, was thoroughly 
 detested by the Confederates. To dispose of him, they sent 
 him within the Union lines in the spring of 1862. He began 
 a series of lectures in the northern states, reaching Indianapolis 
 in April. A speech from Parson Brownlow was more than 
 the "obstreperous and unrepentant" Kentuckians could bear. 
 They jeered and shouted, called him "the old traitor," and 
 begged to have him put out. 73 
 
 A constant grievance with the prisoners was the epithet 
 "rebel." When the Journal capped this by referring to some of 
 them as "rowdy rebels," they promptly invited the editor to 
 visit the camp, promising a "cord-is\ reception." 74 
 
 Even when the prisoners were not trying to escape or 
 booing distinguished visitors, they could make a guard's life 
 miserable. Keeping always on the alert, watching and listen- 
 ing, wearied the nerves. It amused the prisoners to start 
 rumors — analogous to the ghost stories of civilian life — filled 
 with references to plans for escape. Or they would entertain 
 themselves by mimicking the cries of men in pain or delirium. 
 Their success in annoying the sentries accounts for the 
 story, probably apocryphal, that a home guard, on the 
 night of an eclipse, fired at his own shadow, mistaking it 
 for a rebel prisoner. 75 
 
 During the first weeks, the guards ploughed their beats in 
 mud "shoe-mouth" deep. As a preventive to sickness, the 
 Adjutant General arranged for the laying of walks, and asked 
 for some Sibley tents with floors and stoves. 76 A house for 
 the guards on duty was later built outside the wall, and paid 
 for from the prisoners' fund. 77 Their regular quarters lay 
 
 ^Confederate Veteran, XVIII, 334 (July, 1910) ; Indianapolis Journal, 
 April 9, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 n Ibid., April 29, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 75 Ibid., June 14, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 76 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 148, 149-50; Indian- 
 apolis Journal, March 9, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. A Sibley tent when pitched was about 
 twelve feet high, conical, and would accommodate twenty men for sleeping 
 purposes. Annals of the Fifty-Seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteers . . . 
 (Dayton, Ohio, 1868), p. 20. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, III, 621. 
 
280 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 south of Camp Morton between Nineteenth and Tinker (now 
 Sixteenth) streets, and came to be known as Camp Burnside. 78 
 
 Owen's force was not large in proportion to the number 
 of men to be guarded. His regiment was not at full strength 
 when he was summoned to Indianapolis in February, and he 
 continued recruiting in addition to all his duties as commandant 
 at Camp Morton. None of the organizations which assisted 
 the Sixtieth — the Fiftv-third, and Kidd's Batterv of Lighl 
 Artillery, succeeded by a battalion from the Sixty-third Regi- 
 ment and some companies from the Sixty-first — remained at 
 the camp for any length of time. On May 4, 1862, Owen 
 called Colonel Hoffman's attention to the fact that he was 
 guarding over four thousand men with a minimum regiment 
 and 207 men from another, while at Camp Chase there were 
 two regiments to guard about a thousand prisoners. 79 The 
 men were overworked, and the death rate among them was as 
 high as among the regiments in the field. 80 
 
 One of Owen's duties was the examination of petitions on 
 behalf of the prisoners. 81 Their variety was astonishing, 
 though most of them had the same basic purpose, to secure a 
 release or parole. Unionist fathers from Kentucky and Ten- 
 nessee asked the release of their sons, offering security for 
 their conduct during the remainder of the war. The com- 
 mander of a force of Federal soldiers which had captured a 
 group of young Confederates from the same county, wrote 
 that the prisoners were truly repentant and requested their 
 parole. An Indianan told how his brother had been persuaded 
 to leave home, how he had gone to Arkansas, started home- 
 ward, and on the way had been impressed into the Confederate 
 Army at Memphis. 
 
 Some petitioners were modest in their requests : for ex- 
 ample, a Kentuckian asked only that his nephew be transferred 
 
 78 "01dfish on Memorials," in Indianapolis News, August 15, 1913, p. 6, 
 c 5- 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, III, 515. 
 
 S0 Owen to Morton, April 16, 1862, Sixtieth Regiment Indiana Volunteers 
 file, folder C ; Report from City Hospital, Indianapolis Journal, April 29, 
 1862, p. 3, c. 3 : Official Records, 2 series, III, 515. 
 
 sl There are three folders of these petitions in the Archives Division, In- 
 diana State Library, Executive Department file. 109.9, 186 1. 
 
CAMP MORTON 281 
 
 from prison quarters at St. Louis to join his comrades at 
 Camp Morton. At the other extreme was the gentleman who 
 confided to Governor Morton that he wanted his son released. 
 but hoped to have him stay in school at Indianapolis for two 
 years ; he asked that the Governor would help him find a good 
 hoarding place. Occasionally people wrote protesting against 
 a release or calling attention to some prisoner who had deserted 
 the Union forces to join the South. 
 
 Petitions from the prisoners show an equal variety. Re- 
 quests for full or limited parole often followed some family 
 catastrophe, children left helpless, a sick sister, a dying wife 
 or mother. Wounds and ailments induced others to apply for 
 parole or discharge, and physicians and comrades frequently 
 joined forces to help these cases. We have no record of the 
 action taken on the majority of these appeals. In one case, 
 Adjutant General Noble instructed Owen to release a boy who 
 had been impressed into service, and since the Government 
 made no arrangement for transportation in such instances, he 
 suggested turning the boy loose, with a note recommending 
 him to the charity of railroad and steamboat lines. 82 
 
 Among the more unusual petitions is one from a Scot who 
 had lost his job in the South and entered the army in despera- 
 tion. He asked to be released to return to Scotland. A 
 German, also, in platelike script begged to be freed to return 
 to the Fatherland. One curious case involved a free colored 
 man and his nephew who had been arrested for aiding the 
 rebels. Some of the petitioners were willing to use any means 
 to help themselves. One man asked Owen if he could not be 
 got off "without exciting any suspicion," and four members 
 of a fraternal organization to which he belonged, promised 
 never to tell if Owen could manage their discharge. 
 
 Some of the petitions show how successfully Owen had 
 preached his doctrine that the Union was worth preserving. A 
 private from Tennessee wrote to Morton : "I thought that 
 I was fighting enimies but I am sadly mistaken." Numbers 
 of Tennesseans asserted that they had been forced into service. 
 "I was always a union man and am one til yet," wrote one of 
 
 "Letter of March 19, 1862, Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 
 1, p. 174. 
 
282 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 this group to Owen. "I voted against the stait going out all 
 the time I had nothinge to Doo with the rebelyan from the 
 first to the last and when Harris made his last cal for thirty 
 thousand troups theay Drafted me in the sirvise. ... I want 
 your advice what to do." Fear of the three-year draft induced 
 numbers of Union sympathizers who could not go North to 
 enlist for one year as volunteers. The idea of abolition was 
 still abhorrent to most of the prisoners, however, and one man 
 spoke for many of his comrades when he said : "I am 
 a union man that is to say I am not an abolitionist by 
 any means whatever." 
 
 Petitions from individuals and groups of prisoners asking 
 to take the oath of allegiance began as early as March, 1862, 83 
 and increased as rumors of a general exchange seeped through 
 the camp. The writers suffered considerably from the resent- 
 ment of their secessionist fellows, and one, who went so far 
 as to write a pro-Union article for the Journal, found the 
 prisoners particularly hot against him. A loyal Pennsylvanian 
 was lodged for a time in the city jail on suspicion of being a 
 spy. When it seemed probable to the authorities that he would 
 be able to establish his standing as a Union man, they trans- 
 ferred him to the less uncomfortable camp to wait until the 
 case was decided ; soon they had to transfer him back, jail prov- 
 ing less unendurable than the jeers and taunts of the prisoners. 
 
 While Camp Morton was settling into comparative serenity, 
 and good feeling grew between the prisoners and the authorities 
 in this little backwater, the main current of war rolled heavily 
 along. In May, 1862, Washington was thrown into a panic 
 by the repeated thrusts of the Confederates, and Morton was 
 called upon for more troops. Brigadier General G. W. Morgan 
 was asking at the same time for troops to be used against 
 John Morgan. On May 12 Governor Morton's secretary 
 telegraphed Morgan that he had scarcely enough infantry to 
 guard the prisoners. Ten days later he suggested to Stanton 
 that if "the rebels" could be sent to Sandusky and Columbus, 
 a good regiment would be ready for immediate service. This 
 
 83 Petitions in Executive Department file, 109.9, 1861, Archives Division, 
 Indiana State Library; Indianapolis Journal, March II, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; March 
 12, p. 3, c. 1 ; March 27, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
CAMP MORTON 283 
 
 regiment was of course Owen's Sixtieth. On May 26 orders 
 came for the regiment to be sent to Halleck, and calls were 
 hurriedly sent out for companies of three-months men to 
 guard Camp Morton. 84 
 
 Colonel Hoffman hated to see the efficient organization at 
 Indianapolis disturbed. He visited Camp Morton toward the 
 end of May and expressed himself as highly pleased with the 
 manner in which the prisoners were kept, and with the man- 
 agement of the finance, quartermaster's, and subsistence de- 
 partments. 85 Although authorized to retain the commanders 
 of Camps Douglas and Morton temporarily, he realized the 
 objections to detaching a colonel from his regiment, and did 
 not try to hold Owen, but he did ask that Lieutenant John J. 
 Palmer, able post quartermaster at Camp Morton, be allowed to 
 remain. Morton, far more interested in keeping the regiment 
 intact, denied having authority to detail Palmer for such duty, 
 and sent him along with Owen. 86 
 
 The news that Owen had been ordered into active service 
 was received by the prisoners with apprehension. There is 
 some evidence that they thought his removal was hastened by 
 the consideration he had shown them. They addressed the 
 following petition to the Governor : 87 
 
 "Knowing that it is a matter of state pride with your 
 Excellency that prisoners of war sent to Indiana should remain 
 quietly until satisfactory arrangements can be made for their 
 release, and believing that this object can better be attained by 
 the 60th regiment being retained in their present situation than 
 by any change, we respectfully solicit your Excellency, if not 
 
 84 01iver P. Morton, Telegraphic Correspondence, February 5-June 10, 
 1862, pp. 240, 241, 243, 255, 259, 262, 263, 273, 274, 278, 279, 289. 
 
 b5 Indianapolis Journal, June 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 86 Lorenzo Thomas to Hoffman, June 13, 1862, Official Records, 2 series, 
 IV, 15; Hoffman to Morton, June 26, 1862, in Sixtieth Regiment Indiana 
 Volunteers file, folder A, Archives Division, Indiana State Library ; Morton 
 to Hoffman, June 28, 1862, in Morton Letter Book, June 23, 1862-January 
 17, 1863, pp. 21-22. 
 
 87 0wen to Morton, May 29, 1862, Richard Owen file, Archives Division, 
 Indiana State Library. The petition is printed in the Indianapolis Journal, 
 May 31, 1862, p. 2, c. 1. The original is in the Oliver Perry Morton special 
 file, Archives Division. 
 
284 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 inconsistent with the interests to which you are pledged, that 
 you will permit the same regiment still to remain in command 
 of Camp Morton feeling that while true to their Government 
 and strictly carrying out all the regulations of your Excellency, 
 they have combined therewith the humanity and kindness we 
 so highly appreciate. As an inducement to grant our request 
 we pledge ourselves that we will conform to the prescribed 
 rules and regulations adopted by your Excellency for our obser- 
 vation and safekeeping, and you will never have cause to repent 
 your having granted us this favor." 
 
 The need for experienced troops outweighed any other con- 
 sideration at the moment, and the only result of the petition was 
 to put on record the devotion which Owen had inspired. He 
 and his regiment left Indianapolis for Louisville on June 20. 88 
 They were sent to Lebanon, and from there to Munfordville, 
 Kentucky. There, in September, the Union forces were sur- 
 rounded by General Braxton Bragg's army, and Owen was 
 captured with part of his regiment. His generosity to the Fort 
 Donelson prisoners was promptly repaid. General Buckner, 
 by this time exchanged and again in service, thanked the 
 Colonel for his kindness to prisoners at Camp Morton and 
 returned his side arms. The men of the Sixtieth Indiana were 
 greeted with equal friendliness by their former prisoners and 
 joined in the jokes on the vicissitudes of war. 89 
 
 A further tribute from southern prisoners to Colonel Owen 
 is the bronze bust in the main- floor corridor of the State 
 House at Indianapolis. More than one memorial to this man 
 exists, but only this one is connected with Camp Morton. 
 S. A. Cunningham, for many years editor of the Confederate 
 Veteran, conceived the idea, 90 and received permission in 191 1 
 to place a bronze memorial tablet somewhere in Indianapolis. 
 Contributions to the project were so generous that the bronze 
 bust illustrated opposite page 262 was substituted for the tablet. 
 
 s8 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 282, 287, 294. 
 
 89 Indianapolis Sentinel, October 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; Official Records, 1 
 series, XIX, pt. 1, pp. 959 ff. ; N. H. Winchell, A Sketch of Richard Owen 
 (reprint from American Geologist, September, 1890), p. 137. 
 
 90 [Cunningham], Memorials . . ., pp. 1-3 1. 
 
CAMP MORTON 285 
 
 It was beautifully designed by Belle Kinney, daughter of a Con- 
 federate soldier, and bears a heartwarming inscription : 
 
 COLONEL RICHARD OWEN 
 
 COMMANDANT 
 
 CAMP MORTON PRISON 1862 
 
 Tribute by Confederate prisoners 
 
 of war and their friends 
 
 for his courtesv and kindness. 
 
III. David Garland Rose : Exchanges and Paroles, 1862 
 
 Camp Morton was in a bustle of reorganization from the 
 last week in May, 1862, until the middle of June. Like 
 a magician suddenly called upon to pull a rabbit from a hat, 
 Governor Morton was expected to provide a new commandant . 
 and to recruit, organize, muster in, and administer a little 
 rudimentary training to a new force of guards. 
 
 His choice for commandant was David Garland Rose, 
 United States marshal for Indiana since 1861. Rose had 
 served as special aide to Morton in connection with relief work 
 among soldiers in Missouri. Because there was some fear that 
 his appointment as commandant at Camp Morton might vacate 
 or interfere with his Federal office as marshal, the position 
 of commandant was offered to Colonel John L. Mansfield of 
 Jefferson County on June 7. Mansfield, engaged with 
 General Love in organizing the Indiana Legion, declined. 
 Morton then appealed to President Lincoln to arrange matters 
 to permit Rose's appointment at Camp Morton. He was 
 mustered in as colonel of the Fifty-fourth Indiana Vol- 
 unteers, in charge of the camp, on June 19. 1 L. Gilbert 
 Knox was appointed lieutenant colonel, and William C. Lup- 
 ton post quartermaster. 2 
 
 In the meantime, Adjutant General Noble had been busy 
 assembling a guard from the Indiana Legion. General Orders 
 No. 38, issued on May 28, 1862, asked for fifteen hundred 
 men, organized in companies of not less than sixty-seven, for 
 four-months service. They were to be mustered into United 
 States service, and receive the same pay and allowance as 
 United States volunteers. This order was superseded on 
 June 2 by General Orders No. 41, which shortened the 
 
 1 Terrell, Report, II, xi, 533 ; Morton, Telegraphic Correspondence, 
 February 5-June 10, 1862, pp. 298, 308, 312; ibid., June 11-July 31, 1862, pp. 
 14, 26. 
 
 'Terrell, Report, II, 533. 
 
 (286) 
 
CAMP MORTON 287 
 
 period of service and made some other modifications in 
 the original order. 3 
 
 Among the first replacements to reach Camp Morton were 
 three Legion companies from Jefferson County. The men 
 in one of these companies had volunteered unanimously, leaving 
 their farms to look after themselves. Volunteers came from 
 all sections of the state. By the end of the first week in June 
 over four hundred had been sworn in for three-months service, 
 and there were half as many more waiting for their companies 
 to be completed. Some of the recruits went into the Fifty- 
 fourth Regiment, under Colonel Rose, some into the Fifty- 
 fifth, under Colonel John R. Mahan. Most of the Fifty-fourth 
 remained at Camp Morton until August; seven companies of 
 the Fifty-fifth were sent to Kentucky in July, and another call 
 went out for replacements at the prisoners' camp. The new 
 men were called for thirty days only. 4 
 
 Continuous shifting of the guard companies caused some 
 confusion at the camp. Lack of experience among the men 
 caused more. They were unaccustomed to strict discipline ; 
 some of them were so awkward with firearms that they 
 wounded themselves. Many of them worried about the fields 
 left untended at home, and because a good harvest was im- 
 portant, they were allowed ten-day furloughs — in relays — to 
 bring in the crops. 5 
 
 Governor Morton, trying to supply troops for active service 
 to meet the heavy demands in June and July, resented the tying 
 up of more than a thousand men at Camp Morton, and tele- 
 graphed for permission to distribute the prisoners among the 
 camps in Illinois and Ohio. He might have been allowed to 
 
 3 Indianapolis Sentinel, May 31, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 3, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 *Terrell, Report, I, 129, 131-34; Report of Major-General Love, of the 
 Indiana Legion, 1861-62 (Indianapolis, 1863), pp. 6-7, 55, 57, 59; Morton, 
 Telegraphic Correspondence, February 5-June 10, 1862, pp. 278, 290; ibid., 
 June ir-July 31, 1862, pp. 84-107 passim, 142; Madison Courier (daily), 
 May 29, June 7, June 14, July 7, July 14, 1862; Indianapolis Journal, June 18, 
 1862, p. 3, c. 1; July 4, p. 3, c. 4; July 14, p. 3, c. 5 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 July 18, 1862, p. 3, c. 3. 
 
 'Ibid., July 6, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book 
 No. 1, p. 348. 
 
288 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 do this had not the plans for a general exchange intervened. 6 
 Under Colonel Rose, a cold militarism gradually sup- 
 planted the paternalistic camp administration which had been 
 cultivated by Owen. Some of the prisoners disliked the new 
 commandant intensely, and in after years had a tendency to 
 attribute to Owen's regime any pleasant occurrence at Camp 
 Morton. For example, the following incident, which, if it 
 happened at all, happened after Rose took charge, was related 
 in the Confederate Veteran as evidence of Owen's magna- 
 nimity. On July 3, 1862, a canard spread through central 
 Indiana that McClellan had gained a great victory, that Lee's 
 army was routed, and that Federal troops were in possession 
 of Richmond. There was great rejoicing in Indianapolis — il- 
 luminations, speechmaking, and vociferous cheering. The 
 prisoners were well aware of the celebration. Next day the 
 truth came out — Richmond was still in Confederate hands, and 
 McClellan had fallen back. That night all the little candle 
 ends in camp — prisoners were allowed to use them until taps — 
 twinkled from stumps of trees and every conspicuous spot in 
 the enclosure. But there was no speechmaking or cheering, 
 and voices were kept down to the level of a whisper. When 
 taps was sounded, every light was extinguished promptly. 
 Some good citizens protested at this unrepentant display, but 
 the Commandant in this instance upheld the prisoners. 7 
 
 Rose wished to take under advisement with Colonel Hoff- 
 man some special cases among the prisoners, and also the 
 handling of the prisoners' fund. He wrote to Hoffman on 
 July 4, asking him to visit the camp. 8 Hoffman's headquarters 
 had by this time been transferred to Detroit, and he had been 
 given full supervision of prisoners of war sent by generals in 
 the field to prison camps. 9 On the seventh of July he issued 
 
 "Morton, Telegraphic Correspondence, June 11-July 31, 1862, pp. 52, 58, 
 64. ^ 
 
 7 Evander Shapard, "Recollections of Camp Morton," in Confederate 
 Veteran, VIII, 211 (May, 1900) ; ibid., XIV, 394 (September, 1906) ; XV, 
 203 (May, 1907) ; Indianapolis Sentinel, July 3, 1862, p. 3, c. 5 ; July 4, p. 3, 
 c. 5. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 126. 
 
 9 He was expected to visit the camps once a month, if practicable. General 
 Orders No. 67, July 17, 1862, ibid., IV, 30. 
 
CAMP MORTON 289 
 
 a set of regulations to all prison camp commandants, which is 
 interesting in comparison with the rules formulated by Owen. 10 
 
 "The following regulations will be observed at all stations 
 where prisoners of war are held : 
 
 "i. The commanding officer at each station is held ac- 
 countable for the discipline and good order of his command 
 and for the security of the prisoners, and will take such 
 measures as will best secure these results. He will divide the 
 prisoners into companies, and will cause written reports to be 
 made to him of their condition every morning showing the 
 changes made during the preceding twenty-four hours, giving 
 the names of the 'joined,' 'transferred,' 'deaths,' &c. At the 
 end of every month commanders will send to the commissary- 
 general of prisoners a return of prisoners, giving names and 
 details to explain alterations. Where rolls of 'joined' or 
 'transferred' have been forwarded during the month it will be 
 sufficient to refer to them on the return. 
 
 "2. On the arrival of prisoners at any station a careful 
 comparison of them with the rolls that accompany them will 
 be made and all errors on the rolls will be corrected. When no 
 roll accompanies the prisoners one will be immediately made 
 out containing all the information required as correct as can 
 be from the statements of the prisoners themselves. When 
 the prisoners are citizens the town, county, and State from 
 which they come will be given on the rolls under the heads, 
 rank, regiment and company. At the same time they will be 
 required to give up all arms and weapons of every description 
 and all moneys which they have in their possession, for which 
 the commanding officer will give receipts. 
 
 "3. The hospital will be under the immediate charge of 
 the senior surgeon who will be held responsible to the com- 
 manding officer for its good order and the condition of the 
 sick. 'The fund' of this hospital will be kept separate from 
 the fund of the hospital for the troops and will be disbursed 
 for the sole benefit of the sick prisoners on the requisition of 
 the surgeon approved by the commanding officer. When the 
 fund is sufficiently large there will be bought with it besides 
 
 10 Ibid. } IV, 152-53. 
 
290 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 the articles usually purchased all articles of table furniture, 
 kitchen utensils, articles for policing, shirts and drawers for 
 the sick, the expense of washing, and all articles that may be 
 indispensably necessary to promote the sanitary condition 
 of the hospital. 
 
 "4. The commanding officer will cause requisitions to be 
 made by his quartermaster on the nearest depot for such cloth- 
 ing as may be absolutely necessary for the prisoners, which 
 requisition will be approved by him after a careful inquiry as 
 to the necessity and submitted for the approval of the commis- 
 sary-general of prisoners. The clothing will be issued by the 
 quartermaster to the prisoners with the assistance and under 
 the supervision of an officer detailed for the purpose, whose 
 certificate that the issue has been made in his presence will be 
 the quartermaster's voucher for the clothing issued. From 
 the 30th of April to the 1st of October neither drawers nor 
 socks will be allowed except to the sick. 
 
 "5. A general fund for the benefit of the prisoners will 
 be made by withholding from their rations all that can be 
 spared without inconvenience to them, and selling this surplus 
 under existing regulations to the commissary, who will hold 
 the funds in his hands and be accountable for them subject 
 to the commanding officer's order to cover purchases. The 
 purchases with the fund will be made by or through the quarter- 
 master with the approval or order of the commanding officer, 
 the bills being paid by the commissary, who will keep an account 
 book in which will be carefully entered all receipts and pay- 
 ments with the vouchers ; and he will keep the commanding 
 officer advised from time to time of the amount of this fund. 
 x\t the end of the month he will furnish the commanding 
 officer with an account of the fund for the month showing 
 the receipts and disbursements, which account will be for- 
 warded to the commissary-general of prisoners with the 
 remarks of the commanding officer. With this fund will be 
 purchased all such articles as may be necessary for the health 
 and comfort of the prisoners and which would otherwise have 
 to be purchased by the Government. Among these articles are 
 all table furniture and cooking utensils, articles for policing 
 purposes, bedticks and straw, the means of improving or en- 
 
CAMP MORTON 291 
 
 larging the barrack accommodations, extra pay to clerks who 
 have charge of the camp post-office, and who keep the ac- 
 counts of moneys deposited with the commanding offi- 
 cer, &c, &c. 
 
 "6, The sutler is entirely under the control of the com- 
 manding officer who will see that he furnishes proper articles, 
 and at reasonable rates. For his privilege the sutler will be 
 taxed a small amount by the commanding officer according to 
 the amount of his trade, which tax will make a part of 
 the general fund. 
 
 "7. Prisoners will not be permitted to hold or receive 
 money. All moneys in possession or received will be taken 
 charge of by the commanding officer who will give receipts 
 for it to those to whom it belongs. They will purchase from 
 the sutler such articles as they may wish, which are not pro- 
 hibited, and on the bill of the articles they will give an order 
 on the commanding officer for the amount, and this will be 
 kept as a voucher with the individual's account. The com- 
 manding officer will keep a book in which the accounts of all 
 those who have money deposited with him will be kept, and 
 this book with the vouchers must be always ready for the 
 inspection of the commissary-general of prisoners. 
 
 "8. All articles contributed by friends for the prisoners 
 in whatever shape they come if proper to be received will be 
 carefully distributed as the donors may request ; such articles 
 as are intended for the sick passing through the hands of the 
 surgeon who will be responsible for their proper use. Contri- 
 butions must be received by an officer who must be held 
 responsible that they are delivered to the persons for whom 
 they are intended. 
 
 "9. Visitors to these stations out of mere curiosity will 
 in no case be permitted. Persons having business with the 
 commanding officer or quartermaster may with the permis- 
 sion of the commanding officer enter the camp to remain only 
 long enough to transact their business. When prisoners are 
 seriously ill their nearest relatives, parents, wives, brothers or 
 sisters if they are loyal people may be permitted to make them 
 short visits ; but under no other circumstances will visitors be 
 
292 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 allowed to see them without the approval of the commissary- 
 general of prisoners. 
 
 "10. Prisoners will not be permitted to write letters of 
 more than one page of common letter paper, the matter to be 
 strictly of a private nature, or the letter must be destroyed. 
 
 "n. Prisoners will be paroled or released only by the 
 authority of the War Department, or by direction of the 
 commissary-general of prisoners." 
 
 In Rule 5, Rose found the answer to his uncertainties about 
 the handling of the prisoners' fund. It did away with the self- 
 constituted council at Camp Morton which had heretofore 
 ordered expenditures, and to which Quartermaster Ekin had 
 objected; responsibility was now concentrated in the hands of 
 Ekin and the commandant. After a visit to the camp, Hoff- 
 man gave Rose further explicit directions. The post quarter- 
 master and commissary, Lieutenant Lupton, was to make no 
 purchases himself. As treasurer of the fund, he was to pay 
 only bills made in Captain Ekin's name, and approved by Rose. 
 Certain post expenditures were criticized — too much for post- 
 age and tobacco, and not enough for vegetables; improper 
 payments in connection with the pursuit of escaped prisoners; 
 too much pay to employees at the camp ; the engagement of a 
 civilian as paymaster at fifty dollars a month. The necessity 
 of keeping the accounts and rolls up-to-date was empha- 
 sized once more. 11 
 
 Toward the middle of July a stampede among the prisoners 
 startled the town. First rumors had it that a hundred prisoners 
 had escaped and fifteen or twenty had been killed; Captain 
 Ekin telegraphed Secretary Stanton that fifty had escaped; but 
 the Journal, after investigating at Camp Morton and the hospi- 
 tals, set the number at about twenty-five. The removal of 
 one of the more experienced guard regiments and the stormy, 
 rainy night of July 14 gave the prisoners as good a chance for 
 escape as they could ever hope for. Prying loose the posts at 
 the northeast corner of the enclosure, they rushed the fence and 
 forced a few panels. The guards, alarmed by the commotion, 
 beat the long roll, and Colonel Rose hastily ordered out all 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 240-41. 
 
CAMP MORTON 293 
 
 available men in three pursuit parties, one along the pike to the 
 left, one to the right, and one to sweep the area between. 
 Thirteen of the fleeing men, two of them wounded, were 
 captured within twenty-four hours ; one poor soul got "tired 
 of walking" and surrendered to a conductor on the Terre 
 Haute line; all the rest but one were brought back to the 
 camp by July 18. 12 
 
 In spite of the stringent orders to prevent prisoners from 
 approaching the walls, some of the more desperate men in the 
 camp continued to take chances by obeying orders tardily or 
 not at all. On July 24 one of this group was wounded by a 
 guard who had apparently given the required three warnings 
 and then fired. The case was reviewed by a court of inquiry, 
 and the guard's action sustained 13 
 
 Disturbing to the morale of the camp as these occurrences 
 were, their effect was minimized by the great excitement fol- 
 lowing rumors of a general exchange of prisoners. 14 The 
 subject had been under discussion between Union and Confed- 
 erate officials for months, but a cartel of exchange was not 
 signed until July 22. 15 Even after the signing, the success of 
 negotiations was threatened in various ways. For example, 
 Governor John Letcher, of Virginia, infuriated by General 
 Pope's order for the removal of disloyal citizens from their 
 lands in the rear of his lines, claimed from the War Depart- 
 ment of the Confederacy the right to try Union officers cap- 
 tured in Virginia in the state courts, on charges of treason 
 and inciting slaves to insurrection. 16 The actual exchange did 
 not take place until late in August. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, July 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; July 17, p. 3, c. 1 ; July 
 18, p. 3, c. 2 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, July 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; July 18, p. 3, c. 1 ; 
 Official Records, 2 series, IV, 225. 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, July 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Journal, 
 July 26, 1862, p. 3, c. 3. 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, June 17, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 15 Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons, 17-33- 
 
 w Ibid., 71, 74, 89; Official Records, 2 series, IV, 781, 828-29, 849-50, 
 875-76; V, 147-48, 212, 222, 223, 286, 358. It was not until March, 1863, 
 that the Virginia legislature overruled the Governor and transferred to the 
 Confederate Government the whole problem of prisoners. See also Indian- 
 apolis Journal, August 15, 1862, p. 2, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, August 16, 
 1862, p. 2, c. I. 
 
294 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 All through the months of June and July Camp Morton 
 buzzed with surmises as to where and when the exchange would 
 take place. Another question was raised by some of the 
 prisoners. What would happen if a man didn't want to be 
 exchanged? Some men felt that they had made a mistake in 
 enlisting; some were influenced by the fact that in the North 
 good labor was in demand and wages were high ; others, whom 
 public opinion had forced into service, dreaded the thought of 
 an exchange which would make them liable for further service. 
 
 This attitude was particularly strong among the Tennes- 
 seans. Owen, a few days before his departure, wrote to 
 Ekin : 17 "After the reception at Camp Morton of a letter 
 addressed by the War Department to a prisoner named 
 Williams, indicating that negotiations were pending for an 
 exchange of prisoners, many persons individually & also as 
 delegates from whole companies, especially of Tennesseans, 
 stated verbally & also in writing, that they should not like to 
 be exchanged. Some of them said they would rather remain 
 in Camp Morton than be exchanged; others enquired if there 
 was no mode whatever by which they could hope to see their 
 homes again except by being forced into the southern army 
 again, which they earnestly desired to avoid. 
 
 "Judging from all I have seen and heard since the 20th 
 day of Feb. /62 when I took charge of the prisoners of war at 
 Camp Morton, I think I am justified in the belief that at least 
 two thirds of the men from Tennessee . . . would regret any 
 circumstances which induced or compelled them again to take 
 up arms against the Union." 
 
 Ekin transmitted Owen's letter to the Secretary of War, 
 with his own endorsement of the views expressed. Assurance 
 came back from Washington that when a system of exchange 
 had been established, no prisoners whose loyalty to the Union 
 was unquestioned would be "forced within the rebel lines.'' 18 
 On August 2, Ekin addressed Stanton again, asking what rule 
 
 "Letter of June 17, 1862, enclosed with Ekin's letter of the same date 
 to Secretary of War Stanton. Photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State 
 Library. 
 
 18 C. P. Wolcott to Owen, June 21, 1862, Official Records, 2 series, IV, 
 48. See also ibid,, IV, 328. 
 
CAMP MORTON 295 
 
 was to be adopted in the case of the prisoners at Camp Morton 
 who wanted to take the oath of allegiance. 19 
 
 Most of Tennessee was at this time in Union hands, and 
 a temporary government had been set up with Andrew Johnson 
 as military governor. He was asked by the War Department 
 for suggestions as to the disposition of the Tennesseans at 
 Camp Morton, and proposed that a commissioner be sent to 
 examine all Tennesseans in northern prison camps. Those 
 willing to take the oath and meaning it, would be released; 
 those unwilling to comply or whose motives were questionable 
 would be held for exchange or continued confinement. 20 
 
 Johnson's plan was carried out. Former Governor Wil- 
 liam B. Campbell, the commissioner appointed, reached 
 Indianapolis on the thirteenth of August and began his exam- 
 ination of the prisoners. 21 The camp was in a turmoil. 
 Prisoners wishing to take the oath were marched outside the 
 enclosure for the ceremony. According to the Sentinel, 22 those 
 inside "hooted, yelled, threw stones, old shoes, and every mis- 
 sile they could lay their hands on, at the peaceably-disposed. 
 Col. Rose had patrols placed over the ground to keep order, and 
 was obliged to threaten the free use of powder and ball. One 
 prisoner insisted upon mounting the fence. The guard outside 
 ordered him down. He would not get down. The guard then 
 fired over his head. At this the man only evinced the greater 
 determination to keep his head above the fence. The 
 guard then deliberately fired at him. The ball passed 
 through the ear of the man aimed at, and struck one on the 
 inside, some fifty or one hundred yards away, in the forehead, 
 killing him instantly." 
 
 19 Ibid., IV, 331. See also Hoffman to General Thomas, July 15, 1862, 
 ibid., IV, 223. 
 
 20 Ibid., IV, 328, 333. Johnson had had the matter under consideration for 
 some time. In April, Tennessee prisoners at Camp Douglas had appealed to 
 him to use his influence with the Federal Government to secure their release 
 upon taking the oath of allegiance. At that time Johnson wrote to Secretary 
 Stanton that he thought the reappearance of the prisoners among their friends 
 and relatives would "exert a great moral influence in favor of the perpetuity 
 of the Union." Ibid., Ill, 457-58, 643. 
 
 "Ibid., IV, 362, 387. 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, August 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 1, 2; Indianapolis 
 Journal, August 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
296 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Although order was restored without further bloodshed, 
 Ekin telegraphed for permission to remove the Union sym- 
 pathizers, because the feelings of the other prisoners were so 
 bitter toward them. He was instructed to hold them until 
 Adjutant General Thomas should arrive with instructions. On 
 the twentieth Thomas and Colonel Hoffman both reached 
 Indianapolis, where they interviewed Governor Morton and 
 Campbell, and it was arranged that the prisoners from Ten- 
 nessee who had taken the oath should be released and furnished 
 transportation to Nashville. Most of them left Indianapolis 
 on August 22, six months almost to the day from their entry 
 to Camp Morton. Over three hundred had taken the oath 
 of allegiance. 23 
 
 During his visit, General Thomas made a thorough exam- 
 ination of Camp Morton, and of the other camps and the 
 arsenal. The administration of the Camp Morton quarter- 
 master's and commissary departments he complimented as the 
 best seen in any prison camp. 24 Thomas' principal concern was 
 the completion of arrangements for exchange, which he worked 
 out with Hoffman and the camp authorities. There was the 
 question of guards. By this time two-thirds of the force at 
 the camp were thirty-day men, whose time of service had ex- 
 pired on August 17. Willing to do their share in the emer- 
 gency, most of these men agreed to remain until the exchange 
 had been completed. 25 
 
 Rolls of all prisoners, including those on parole, had already 
 been made up under an order issued by Hoffman to camp com- 
 mandants on July 3 1. 26 Hoffman had never ceased exhorting 
 his subordinates to keep their records straight, but now every 
 slip, every omission, every error that had been made was vitally 
 important to some prisoner. A man could not be exchanged if 
 his name did not show on both Union and Confederate tallies. 
 If he had enlisted under a false name and forgotten his 
 pseudonym or if his name had been struck off the rolls by 
 
 '"Official Records, 2 series, IV, 396, 397, 410, 413-M, 422. Indianapolis 
 Journal, August 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; August 23, p. 3, c. 1. 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, August 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 331, 361, 375. 
 "Ibid., IV, 318-19. 
 
CAMP MORTON 297 
 
 mischance, he was liable to be classed with the guerilla 
 prisoners, who were recognized by neither government and 
 were not subject to exchange. 27 
 
 Death rolls were neither complete nor accurate, and some 
 guerillas managed to be exchanged by answering to the names 
 of dead men from organized regiments. 28 In spite of the care 
 exercised slip-ups did occur, some too ludicrous to be received 
 as sober fact. For example, there was the famous case, not 
 connected with Camp Morton, of Lieutenant J. W. Adams, 
 who was exchanged three times, all without his knowledge and 
 while he was flat on his back in a hospital at West Point. 29 
 
 Final orders for the removal of the prisoners were issued 
 on August 22. Captain H. M. Lazelle, Eighth United States 
 Infantry, was made agent for their delivery at Vicksburg; 
 Captain H. W. Freedley, Third United States Infantry, 
 superintended their departure from Camp Morton. To 
 Lazelle, Hoffman wrote : 30 
 
 "The prisoners of war at Camp Morton will be forwarded 
 to Cairo by rail and thence on steamers to Vicksburg under a 
 flag of truce. They will leave in three detachments — the 
 first to-morrow evening. . . . 
 
 "Each party will take with them rations for the day on 
 which they will leave. . . . 
 
 "A guard of one company will be provided by the com- 
 mander of Camp Morton to accompany each party. The three 
 parties will be assembled at Cairo whence they will leave at the 
 same time on steamboats under convoy, the whole being 
 under your orders. 
 
 "The commanding officer at Cairo has been instructed to 
 furnish all things that may be necessary for the movement. 
 
 "All moneys belonging to prisoners in the hands of Colonel 
 Rose will be turned over to you with a detailed account 
 of the amount due each person, and the amount will be 
 given to the prisoners by you when they are turned over to 
 the Confederate agent. 
 
 "Ibid., IV, 437- 
 "Ibid., IV, 545- 
 "Ibid., IV, 474- 
 "Ibid., IV, 420-21. 
 
298 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 "You will be furnished with duplicate rolls of all prisoners 
 to be exchanged, and when they are delivered to the agent of 
 the Confederate States you will take his receipt on both rolls 
 for all prisoners present, one of the rolls being left in his 
 hands and the other you will forward to the Adjutant 
 General at Washington." 
 
 Freedley received some additional instructions. 31 Guerilla 
 prisoners and political prisoners were to be sent to the depot at 
 Sandusky. The account of the prisoners' fund was to be made 
 up as soon as possible and sent to Hoffman at Detroit. To 
 help in this business, Hoffman allowed the retention of 
 prisoners of war who were acting as clerks in the quarter- 
 master's department, with the understanding that they be sent 
 to Cairo before September 15. 
 
 Twelve hundred thirty-eight prisoners left Indianapolis on 
 Saturday, August 23, departing as they had arrived, among a 
 crowd of interested spectators ; 773 more left for Cairo on 
 Sunday, 333 for Sandusky on Monday, and 990 for Cairo on 
 Wednesday. One lot of prisoners, probably about six hundred, 
 was scheduled to leave for Cairo Thursday. 32 Safely south- 
 bound from Cairo on the gunboat "Lexington," the prisoners 
 began to worry about the arms which had been taken from 
 them at Camp Morton and, to the probable confusion of Cap- 
 tain Lazelle, produced a receipt for them from the camp com- 
 mandant. It is probable that they did receive their worn and 
 blunted knives, but their pistols were lost to them forever. 
 Orders directing the return of "side arms" to the Fort 
 Donelson prisoners upon their arrival at Vicksburg had ex- 
 pressly excluded that weapon. 33 There remained at Camp 
 Morton a few men whose names did not appear on any 
 rolls — among them a group of 26 from Kentucky who had 
 just arrived — and in the City Hospital, another group of the 
 sick and their nurses, 107 in number. The greater part of the 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 421. 
 
 32 Ibid., IV, 436-37, 460-61 ; Indianapolis Journal, August 25, 1862, 
 p. 3, c. 2; August 28, p. 3, c. 2; August 29, p. 3, c. 3; September 1, 
 p. 3, c. 3; Indianapolis Sentinel, August 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; August 27, 
 p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 33 0fficial Records, 2 series, IV, 365, 464, 521. 
 
CAMP MORTON 
 
 299 
 
 convalescents were discharged in the first week of September. 34 
 The actual exchange of prisoners at Vicksburg was in 
 charge of two field officers, one Union, one Confederate. 
 These officers had the right to refuse to accept any man whose 
 organization they did not recognize, or any man whom they 
 knew to be a criminal with warrants out against him. The 
 following table of equivalents had been agreed upon in the 
 cartel drawn up by General John A. Dix of the Union Army 
 and General Daniel H. Hill, for the Confederacy: 35 
 
 Commander in Chief 
 or Admiral 
 
 Flag officer or 
 Major General 
 
 Commodore or Brig- 
 adier General 
 
 Navy Captain or 
 Colonel 
 
 Commander or 
 Lieut. Col. 
 
 Lieut. Commander 
 or Major 
 
 Navy Lieut, or 
 Army Captain 
 
 Master's Mate or 
 Army Lieut, or 
 Ensign 
 
 Midshipman, navy 
 warrant officer, 
 master of mer- 
 chant vessel, or 
 commander of pri- 
 vateer 
 
 All petty officers 
 or noncoms. 
 
 for officer or 
 
 of equal rank 
 
 60 privates or 
 
 common seamen 
 40 
 
 20 
 
 15 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 The men to be exchanged stood in two lines, Indian file, the 
 line of Confederates headed south, the Federal men headed 
 north. This apparently childish arrangement added a great 
 deal to the moral effect of the exchange. At a certain spot 
 
 u Ibid., IV, 461 ; Indianapolis Journal, September 3, 1862, p. 3, 
 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 479. 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 266-67. 
 
 c. 2 
 
300 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 some distance from any building, ditch, or tree, two captains, 
 one Union, the other Confederate, stood facing each other. 
 Ten feet away stood another pair of captains. The Union 
 men moved north between one pair of captains, the Confed- 
 erates moved south between the other pair. As each prisoner 
 passed between the officers, each captain struck him lightly 
 on the shoulder, counting audibly — one, two, three, and so 
 on. Each captain had to have the table of exchange clearly 
 in mind, and watch for the insignia of rank. After the count 
 of "fifty" the lines halted. A sergeant's guard from each side 
 stood by to see to it that the fifty men who had just been 
 counted stood in the line until the count had been verified, and 
 that the fifty men in each line were agreed upon by the two 
 captains in each case. The trouble came, of course, from the 
 fact that there were not always fifty men in the line, but the 
 equivalent of the number, according to the table adopted. 
 
 When both lines had been checked, the men could break 
 rank and join their friends, but these groups had to be un- 
 armed, and were not permitted to approach within one hundred 
 feet of the four officers who did the counting. The counting 
 was a slow and tiresome process, since many of the men were 
 ill and had to be helped. Many of them were overcome with 
 emotion ; some fainted from exhaustion. Everyone was eager 
 to get the matter over with and everything possible was done 
 to expedite the exchange. 36 
 
 Following the actual exchange, each government took 
 charge of its own reclaimed men. After a physical examina- 
 tion, those who were fit were returned to their own outfits or 
 assigned to others. Those whose health was impaired were 
 sent home on furlough or discharged. Some who were not 
 equal to duty in the field were put to such lighter work as 
 orderly service or guard duty in public buildings. Their 
 main requirements were plenty of sleep and shelter 
 from bad weather. Many of this class eventually made 
 a complete recovery. 
 
 ^From a verbal account given by the late Captain and Assistant Adjutant 
 General E. Lewis Moore, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, who served as 
 an official several times during exchange. 
 
CAMP MORTON 301 
 
 The closing of prison camp records at Camp Morton fell to 
 Captain Freedley. Any part of the prisoners' fund remaining 
 on hand was to be turned over to Captain Thomas Foster, Jr., 
 commissary of subsistence at Indianapolis. Sums of money 
 belonging to prisoners and uncalled for at their departure were 
 to be turned over to Hoffman, with a list of the owners. The 
 rolls for the last two months and a half had to be checked 
 and put in order. All this done, the records of the camp were 
 to be safely boxed and put into the hands of Captain Ekin. 37 
 
 By the first of September, 1862, Camp Morton had been 
 cleared of rebel prisoners. It was in bad shape, and an im- 
 mediate "renovation and purification" was begun by companies 
 from the Fifth Cavalry. They had instructions to put the 
 quarters into shape and build new bunks, 38 but before much 
 work could be done, accommodations were required for troops 
 in training and for Indiana volunteers who had been captured 
 at Richmond, Kentucky, on August 30, and sent home on 
 parole. On Saturday morning, September 6, the State House 
 grove was crowded with men from the Twelfth, Sixteenth, and 
 Fifty-fifth Indiana Regiments, the first arrivals. After some 
 delay they were organized as far as possible into their regular 
 companies, and marched out to Camp Morton. 39 Several 
 thousand more Indiana troops, including Colonel Owen and 
 part of the Sixtieth, were paroled at Munfordville, Kentucky, 
 on September 17. They were not allowed to take their way 
 northward through the Confederate lines, but sent southward 
 with four days rations, to reach the Union forces under Buell 
 at Bowling Green and then make their way to Louisville. 
 From there some of them were sent to Indianapolis. 40 
 
 The War Department had set up camps of instruction for 
 paroled prisoners, one at Annapolis, one at Camp Chase, one 
 in Missouri. Indiana prisoners were scheduled to go to Camp 
 Chase. Morton combated this arrangement with his usual 
 extraordinary vigor, for parolees there were said to be badly 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 567. 
 
 38 Indianapolis Sentinel, August 26, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; September 4, p. 3, c. 
 1 ; Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 477. 
 39 Indianapolis Journal, September 8, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 701. 
 
302 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 demoralized — insubordinate, indifferent, and disinclined to 
 make any effort to fit themselves for further service. 41 The 
 Governor had no intention of allowing the same thing to hap- 
 pen to six thousand Indianans. He was determined to keep 
 them in their own state, maintain discipline, and give them 
 intensive training toward the time when exchange would make 
 them available in the field. 42 
 
 Two things worked in Morton's favor. First, the com- 
 mandant at Camp Chase begged that no more paroled prisoners 
 be sent there. 43 Second, a twenty-day furlough was granted to 
 officers and men of several of the captured Indiana regi- 
 ments. 44 They were ordered to report at Camp Chase on 
 October 21, but Morton was rightly confident that he could 
 keep them in Indiana. 
 
 Apparently the Twelfth and Sixteenth Regiments remained 
 at Camp Morton, which was put in charge of Colonel John R. 
 Mahan. 45 The Fifty-fifth was mustered out toward the middle 
 of September when its term of enlistment expired. Parts of 
 other paroled regiments may have remained, and at least one 
 regiment of recruits (the One Hundredth) was in training 
 during September and October. 
 
 Letters written by the young adjutant of the One 
 Hundredth Regiment give some idea of how the camp appeared 
 to a recruit. 46 His regiment found it "in a very filthy condi- 
 tion," and had "lots of work to do to set things right," but in 
 spite of cold nights, quarters with three others in a "very small 
 and leaky shanty," and "none too much to eat," he liked the 
 life "very well," and considered the men "happy and con- 
 tented." On September 12, he reported that about fifteen 
 hundred paroled prisoners from the Richmond fight were 
 expected, and two weeks later wrote that times were lively 
 with over three thousand troops in camp. His first review, 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, IV, 94, 519, 546, 569-71, 594, 644-45. 
 
 i2 Ibid., IV, 522, 562, 623, 638, 641 ; Morton, Telegraphic Correspondence, 
 September 2-September 29, 1862, p. 314. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 563. 
 
 "Ibid., IV, 5/1,5/2, 585-86, 613. 
 
 45 Indianapolis Journal, November 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 46 Edward P. Williams, Extracts from Letters . . . 1862-1864 ( New York, 
 1903), pp. 5-14. See also Indianapolis Journal, November 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
CAMP MORTON 303 
 
 which kept him in the saddle for two hours in the forenoon 
 and from one until six-thirty in the afternoon, left him "very 
 tired," but he had worn his full dress uniform, "the first 
 occasion," and considered the day a satisfactory one. 
 
 Nothing really bothered him except the Sundays. "There 
 was preaching this evening," he wrote on October 5, "but none 
 during the day, the men having been kept busy cleaning up 
 the whole grounds. The whole camp (thirty acres) was swept 
 thoroughly. I do not approve of making the men do so much 
 work on Sunday." And later: "Am sorry to say we know 
 no Sunday here. It is hard work every day. Never in all 
 my life has time passed so rapidly as here." 
 
 Late in the month three thousand paroled prisoners came 
 into camp at the end of their furloughs, and from that time 
 there w r as a good deal of trouble in holding in check the more 
 rebellious of them. Such compensations as the recruits dis- 
 covered in the hard, driving days at Camp Morton made 
 little appeal to the paroled men. They were tired and their 
 morale was low. Having lost most of their belongings in 
 Kentucky, they expected a fresh issue of tents and mess equip- 
 ment, but discovered that the Government did not provide these 
 things for paroled soldiers. 
 
 They wrote bitterly to the newspapers 47 that they had been 
 ordered to camp "to drill, to be rearmed and reclothed and 
 await exchange," but actually had "barely escaped starving." 
 Their whole treatment seemed to be of a "uniform meanness," 
 which they interpreted as punishment for a capture which was 
 not their fault. It was a specially sore point that the camp of 
 the drafted men was filled with tents while they were left to 
 manage as best they might. 
 
 Although they were not permitted to do any duty which 
 would free troops for active service, they were kept busy 
 guarding and policing their own camp, repairing barracks re- 
 quired for their own use, drilling seven hours a day, and taking 
 part in occasional parades. 48 This strict discipline had good 
 results, and when word reached Indianapolis on November 
 
 4T Indianapolis Journal, October 2, 1862, p. 3, c. 4 : October 22, p. 3, c. 2. 
 i8 OfficiaI Records, 2 series, IV, 653-54. Colonel Henry B. Carrington 
 had charge of the training. 
 
304 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 17, 1862, that their exchange had at last been effected, the 
 men were in excellent condition. It was a gala day at Camp 
 Morton. The men cheered and shouted, and welcomed the 
 Governor with enthusiasm when he arrived to address the 
 regiments one by one. 
 
 Freed for service, the regiments began moving to the field 
 as fast as organization and equipment were completed. There 
 were still enough soldiers in town to make a good showing at 
 the Thanksgiving Day celebration, but by December 6, Camp 
 Morton was almost depopulated. 49 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 700-1, 705, 707, 717, 735-36; Indianapolis 
 Journal, November 18, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; November 27, p. 3, c. 2 ; December 6, 
 p. 3, c. 1. 
 
IV. EMERGENCY HOSPITALS, 1862 
 
 More than one half of the Fort Donelson prisoners were 
 in need of medical care when they reached Indianapolis 
 late in February, 1862. The Mississippians were in particu- 
 larly bad shape. In the retreat from Fort Henry they had lost 
 most of their baggage and extra clothing; when they reached 
 Fort Donelson they were at once pressed into work on the 
 fortifications, and during the siege lay half frozen in the 
 ditches and rifle pits day and night. Such exposure would 
 have been dangerous to seasoned troops; among these lads, 
 many of them under eighteen years of age, the effects were 
 disastrous. The miserable journey to Indianapolis in the most 
 disagreeable month of the year exhausted what little endurance 
 they had left, and for the first six weeks after their arrival 
 hundreds of them were on the sick list. 1 
 
 Hospital quarters in the old power hall at Camp Morton 
 were totally inadequate. Part of the small space was needed 
 for guards on the sick list, leaving only twenty-five bunks for 
 prisoners. At the City Hospital most of the beds were already 
 occupied by sick and wounded Union soldiers, but some 
 emergency cases among the prisoners were taken there. 2 
 Dr. Patrick H. Jameson treated as many as he could in the 
 barracks at camp, with some assistance from prisoners who 
 had a little medical knowledge. To provide for the rest, 
 Adjutant General Noble, Quartermaster Ekin, and Dr. John S. 
 Bobbs, chief surgeon, secured quarters in two buildings on 
 Meridian Street. 
 
 One of these, the Gymnasium building on the northeast 
 corner of Meridian and Maryland, became Military Hospital 
 No. 2 almost overnight. About sixty prisioners were moved 
 in on the twenty-sixth of February, and by March 3 the 
 
 Indianapolis Journal, March 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 3 ; Patrick H. Jameson, 
 Report to the Adjutant General, June 1, 1862, Executive Department file, 
 109.9, 1861, Archives Division, Indiana State Library. 
 
 2 Indianapolis Journal, February 28, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 (305) 
 
306 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 number was more than doubled. The Reverend Horace 
 Stringfellow, rector of Christ's Church, seems to have 
 superintended the nursing during the first few days, aided by 
 volunteers from the men and women of Indianapolis. 3 
 
 In this little interval, good will sometimes had to take the 
 place of training and experience. A story which went the 
 rounds of the newspapers in the state illustrates this point, and 
 is not past believing. Its central figure is a warmhearted 
 young lady who had offered her services in the hospital, but 
 found herself uncertain as to how best to make herself useful. 
 At last, after several unsuccessful attempts to minister to the 
 patients, she seized a towel and a basin of water and advanced 
 upon another soldier. "Can't I wash your feet?" she asked. 
 The man opened his eyes just long enough to reply with 
 resignation, "Well, I don't care if it will be any pleasure to 
 you, but they have already been washed three times today." 
 
 To bring some order out of the existing confusion, 
 Dr. William B. Fletcher was put in charge of Hospital No. 2, 
 and Colonel Owen was asked to send ten "sprightly intelligent" 
 men from among the prisoners at Camp Morton to help with 
 the sick. A few days later twenty more were called for. When 
 about half of them proved "entirely worthless" as nurses, 
 Adjutant General Noble asked Owen to supply eight or ten 
 healthy Germans or Irishmen if they could be found. At the 
 same time, "owing to the difficulty in properly organizing 
 and arranging the Hospital," he issued an order excluding all 
 visitors except those detailed for duty by the surgeon in 
 charge. This rule was later extended to cover all the hospitals, 
 and proved most beneficial. By March 6 Hospital No. 2 
 was functioning in an orderly way. Two matrons had been 
 employed and kitchen accommodations improvised where food 
 could be prepared properly. Already the capacity of the 
 hospital was overtaxed, and again measures had been taken 
 to secure supplementary quarters. 4 
 
 ^Indianapolis Journal, February 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 3 ; February 28, p. 3, 
 c. 1 ; March 1, p. 3, c. 2. John H. Holliday, Indianapolis and the Civil War 
 (Indiana Historical Society Publications, IV, no. 9, Indianapolis, 191 1), 573- 
 
 4 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 146, 147, 152; Indian- 
 apolis Journal, March 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 4; March 6, p. 3, c. 2. Newspapers 
 often referred to Hospital No. 2 as the Meridian Street Hospital. 
 
CAMP MORTON 307 
 
 Space was available in the old four-story post office on 
 Meridian Street near the corner of Washington. Captain Ekin 
 cut more red tape, contracted for the building on March 5, and 
 had Military Hospital No. 3 crudely ready for patients in 
 thirty-six hours. The first and second floors were divided into 
 two wards each, and preparations were made for similar ar- 
 rangement of the two upper stories. It was thought that from 
 200 to 250 men could be accommodated. Having no mattresses 
 ready, Ekin begged help of the young ladies of Miss Merrill's 
 school, and these young women put together one hundred and 
 fifty bed sacks and a number of pillow slips in a single day. 
 Dr. Talbot Bullard was placed in charge of this hospital, with 
 Dr. Will Bullard as his assistant. Two sergeants from the 
 Fourth Mississippi were selected as ward masters, and given 
 a detail of twenty of their comrades to act as nurses. At least 
 a hundred prisoners were brought into the hospital by March J. 5 
 
 In a few cases, sick prisoners were removed to private 
 houses, where they could be cared for to better advantage 
 than in crowded hospitals, but this practice was soon discon- 
 tinued by General Halleck's orders. 6 
 
 During these busy days. Colonel Hoffman, commissary 
 general of prisoners, visited Camp Morton and the hospitals, 
 and on March 5 reported to General Meigs what had been 
 done. 7 Since the City Hospital, under Dr. Kitchen, was oc- 
 cupied exclusively by sick volunteers and prisoners of war, he 
 arranged that expenses there be borne by the Government. 
 Expenses of the two downtown hospitals were estimated at 
 $225 each per month, exclusive of rent. At each the attending 
 physician was paid $100, a steward, $40, two matrons, $30 
 each, and an apothecary, $25. Rental for one building was 
 $104 and for the other, $60. 
 
 Supplies of sheets and pillowcases, and sufficient under- 
 clothing to insure cleanliness were authorized by the Govern- 
 ment, but it took time to secure them in quantity, and appeals 
 
 5 Indianapolis Journal, March 6, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; March 7, p. 3, c. 2. This 
 hospital was often referred to as Center Hospital. 
 
 6 Terrell, Report, I, 461-62; Indianapolis Journal, March 6, 1862, p. 3, c. 
 1 ; March 27, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 ''Official Records, 2 series, III, 348-49, 375- 
 
308 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 were made to the townspeople to send old shirts, underclothing, 
 and bed linen. Some homes were practically stripped of 
 bedding, first, by contributions to sick Union soldiers in 
 Kentucky and Indiana, and now by gifts to the prisoners. 
 Their woeful state probably induced more than one young 
 lady to give up her own pillow, when every spare one in the 
 house had gone for some soldier's use. 8 
 
 To secure suitable food for the sick men, a hospital fund 
 was set up; this operated as did the prisoners' fund at Camp 
 Morton. From the regular issue of one soldier's ration for 
 each patient, excess quantities of food were bought back by 
 the commissary, and the money thus accruing was expended 
 in purchasing vegetables and delicacies. Here again the citizens 
 of Indianapolis were asked to supplement what the hospital 
 kitchens could supply. Corn bread and buttermilk were two 
 of the articles most in demand, and quantities were sent in 
 by individuals and associations. Clothing, fruits, and wines 
 came also from friends of the prisoners in Kentucky. Addi- 
 tional purchases were made from the prisoners' fund, which 
 increased much faster than the hospital fund. 9 
 
 The improvised accommodations for the sick were far from 
 satisfactory. Occupants of the building adjoining Hospital 
 No. 2 objected to its location, protesting that the stench would 
 be intolerable as summer months approached. A sharp reply 
 in the Journal asserted that the hospital wards were clean, dry, 
 and free from odor, and pointed out that the authorities had 
 done the best they could in the exigencies of the situation : no 
 quarters had been available outside the city, and the sick 
 could not wait. 10 
 
 The criticism was valid, however. The situation of the 
 hospitals was not only bad for neighboring buildings ; the dust 
 and noise were undesirable for the patients. The buildings 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, III, 375, 400-1 ; Indianapolis Journal, Feb- 
 ruary 28, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; March 11, p. 3, c. 3; Indiana Soldier, I, 3 2 3~24- 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, III, 401, 617, 620-21 ; Indianapolis Journal, 
 March 5, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; March 6, p. 3, c. 2; March 8, p. 3, c. 2; March 11, 
 p. 3, c. 2; March 14, p. 3, c. 3; March 17, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 10 Ibid., March 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; March 14, p. 2, c. 2; March 15, 
 p. 3, c. 2. 
 
CAMP MORTON 309 
 
 themselves had not been designed for hospital use. Ingress 
 and egress were badly arranged, and the prisoners on duty as 
 nurses and orderlies found it fairly easy to make their escape. 
 Iron bars were finally put into the rear windows of Hospital 
 No. 3 as a preventive. 11 
 
 Captain Ekin looked about for better quarters, and settled 
 upon a frame building on the corner of Curve and Plum streets, 
 east of the Bellefontaine car shops and north of Massachusetts 
 Avenue. This could be fitted up for about eighty cots, and 
 would allow the hospital in the Gymnasium to be dismantled. 
 Patients and equipment were moved from Hospital No. 2 on 
 April 3. Dr. Fletcher resigned at the time of the move and 
 was succeeded by Dr. Livingston Dunlap, with Dr. J. H. Til- 
 ford as his assistant. 12 
 
 Ever since Hoffman's visit, plans had been under way for 
 the construction of an addition to the City Hospital, which 
 would make a convenient and permanent provision for as many 
 as three hundred sick prisoners. It would also be less expensive 
 than several separate hospitals. Since the existing dispensary 
 and kitchens could be used, the chief requirement would be 
 additional nurses and attendants. It was thought that $2,500 
 would cover the cost of the addition. 13 
 
 The main building was a three-story brick structure on 
 the site of the present City Hospital. The addition erected 
 to the north of the old building for the prisoners was of frame 
 construction, a hundred feet long, forty-two feet wide, and 
 three stories high. 14 It was completed in May, and by the 
 twenty- fourth of that month the patients from the downtown 
 hospital in the old post office and from the Bellefontaine 
 hospital had been transferred there. The Journal describes 
 it as follows : 15 
 
 u Ibid., March 14, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; April 1, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 March 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; March 22, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 12 Indianapolis Journal, March 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; April 3, p. 3, c. 2 ; 
 April 4, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, III, 349, 375- 
 
 u Ibid., Ill, 386-87; Indianapolis Journal, March 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 15 Ibid., May 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 1-2. See also Indianapolis Sentinel, July 
 21, 1862, p. 3. c. 2. 
 
310 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 "The stories are but nine feet, not quite so high as they 
 should be, but as the building is only intended as a temporary 
 summer hospital this defect is but slight. The wards are 
 larger than those in the main building, and they are fully as 
 comfortable, being well provided with windows, thus giving 
 plenty of air and light. These wards are kept neat and clean, 
 and no bad odor is emitted to nauseate both patients and 
 attendants, as was the case with one of our down-town hos- 
 pitals. . . . The number confined to a ward is greater than 
 in the Federal hospital, but this is owing to the size of the 
 rooms. None are crowded. 
 
 "The cooking is under the supervision of two Sisters of 
 Providence, who employ only females for the purpose. Every 
 article of food is well cooked and promptly furnished upon 
 short notice. The two classes of patients of the convalescents 
 [Union and Confederate] have separate dining rooms. ... In 
 fact the hospital is conducted in such a way that the two 
 hospitals are almost as distinct as if they were miles apart. No 
 intercourse whatever is allowed between our men and the 
 prisoners. The arrangements for washing and ironing are 
 complete. A constant change of clean clothes for the . . . pa- 
 tients and for their beds is supplied each week, or oftener, as 
 occasion may require. 
 
 "The City Hospital has for over a year been under the 
 charge of Dr. J. M. Kitchen, who has introduced such perfect 
 system . . . that everything goes like clockwork. . . . 
 
 ". . .In the prisoners' hospital, Dr. Wilkes, a Surgeon 
 who was taken prisoner at Fort Donelson, is the Surgeon in 
 charge. . . . The Hospital Steward, Dr. Reame, is one of the 
 most industrious and faithful of men, and is a model of 
 promptness and efficiency." 
 
 Enlargement of the receiving hospital at Camp Morton 
 was also deemed advisable, and was carried out by putting in 
 a second floor or half floor. 16 There was nothing elaborate 
 about this institution. To save expense in furnishing, each 
 patient was required to bring his own blanket. The steward, 
 ward masters, nurses, cooks, and other assistants, all prisoners, 
 
 16 Official Records, 2 series, III, 387, 401. 
 
CAMP MORTON 311 
 
 received no regular compensation, but Dr. Jameson gave them 
 books and papers, and occasional small sums of money. Ac- 
 cording to his report of June I, 1862, the whole number of 
 patients admitted to the receiving hospital since March 1 1 
 was 700. Of these 127 were returned to quarters, I had 
 died, 9 were still in the receiving hospital, and 563 had been 
 sent to the emergency quarters in the city which have 
 already been described. 17 
 
 Many of the patients died, in spite of the best efforts of 
 the surgeons. Exposure and poor fare for weeks before they 
 reached Indianapolis left them too weak, too depressed, to 
 make any effort at recovery. Although they found better 
 quarters at Camp Morton than they had had for some time, 18 
 there was little about a prison camp to revive their spirits, and 
 the cold weather of February and March had the worst possible 
 effect. With the facilities of present-day hospitals at their 
 disposal, they might have had some chance of recovery, but 
 the military hospitals of 1862 were little more than shelters 
 where the sick could be segregated from the well. 
 
 One physician described the pitiable condition of the Fort 
 Donelson prisoners thus : 19 "The prevalent diseases among 
 them were typhoid fever and typhoid pneumonia, occurring in 
 persons in whom the vital forces had been reduced to the lowest 
 possible degree; many 'dropped dead' while walking about 
 their quarters, without having manifested any disease, organic 
 or functional, except great general debility. In persons of this 
 class, while moving about looking apparently in medium health, 
 the action of the heart and arteries would be so feeble as to be 
 scarcely perceptible in pulsations at the wrist." 
 
 Three Mississippians died on February 25, and the number 
 of deaths increased rapidly. "The mortality among the 
 prisoners does not abate," reported the Journal uneasily on 
 March 24. "The list below shows thirty-two deaths last week, 
 and no since the first arrival of prisoners here, being a greater 
 
 "Jameson, Report to Adjutant General Noble, June 1, 1862, Executive 
 Department file, 109.9, 1861, Archives Division, Indiana State Library. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, March 8, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 ^Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, Medical 
 Volume, pt. Ill (Washington, 1888), 54- 
 
312 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 number than have died at Chicago, where there are over 2,000 
 more prisoners." In April a case of smallpox appeared at 
 Camp Morton. Dr. Jameson found it necessary to vaccinate 
 about half the prisoners there, and fortunately this precaution 
 prevented the spread of this most-dreaded disease. 20 
 
 Although no epidemics swept through the camp or hospitals, 
 it was not until June that the surgeons joined in reporting that 
 general health conditions were much improved. The total 
 number of deaths by the end of July was at least 265. In the 
 humid month of August, Dr. Jameson was obliged to report an 
 increase of dysentery and fevers at the camp. More than a 
 hundred prisoners were too weak to be conveyed to Vicksburg 
 late that month for exchange, but most of them were able to 
 leave early in September. Eight hundred nineteen Confed- 
 erates had by this time been treated in the City Hospital. 21 
 
 Official medical records for these months are incomplete, 
 although hospital stewards were instructed to transmit to 
 Colonel Owen and Adjutant General Noble a report of all 
 deaths, giving the name of the deceased, date of admittance 
 to the hospital, company, regiment, and finally a list of any 
 personal effects, which were to be held for delivery to relatives 
 of the dead. 22 In the lists of deaths among the prisoners 
 which appeared fairly regularly in the newspapers, the notation 
 "name unknown" is not uncommon. 23 
 
 By direction of Governor Morton, five lots were purchased 
 near the City Cemetery for the interment of the Confederate 
 prisoners who died at Camp Morton. The cemetery lay along 
 Kentucky Avenue between West Street and the river, and came 
 to be called by the name of one of its additions — Greenlawn. 
 There was little ceremony about the burial services. Weaver 
 and Williams, an Indianapolis firm of undertakers, had con- 
 tracted to furnish plain wooden coffins for $3.50 each, and 
 
 ^Indianapolis Sentinel, April 3, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 21 Ibid., August 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; August 29, p. 3, c. 2 ; September 3, p. 3, 
 c. 1 ; September 5, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 22 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 195, 218; Indian- 
 apolis Journal, March 6, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 2:; See especially weekly issues of Indianapolis Sentinel, March 4-July 24, 
 1862. 
 
CAMP MORTON 313 
 
 delivered the bodies at the cemetery. There details of prisoners 
 dug the graves, trenches about twenty feet long in which the 
 coffins were laid side by side, with a stout board carrying a 
 painted identification number at the head of each one. If a 
 burial service was read or a prayer offered, the rite was 
 performed by one of the prisoners for his dead comrades. 24 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, February 27, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; March 18, p. 3, c. 2 ; 
 Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 133, 134; Indianapolis 
 Sentinel, February 26, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; March 6, p. 3, c. 2 ; January 31, 1865, 
 p. 3, c. 1. 
 
V. CAMP MORTON IN DECLINE, 1863 
 
 Camp Morton's best period was past. By the beginning 
 of 1863, the connection between camp and state admin- 
 istration was greatly lessened. Guards, supplies, inspections, 
 camp improvements were under the control of the Federal 
 Commissary General of Prisoners, and if everything was not 
 always what the prisoners had a right to expect, state pride 
 was not greatly affected. As far as the citizens and news- 
 papers were concerned, prisoners had ceased to be an interest- 
 ing novelty, and other concerns gradually thrust them from 
 the public mind. Such circumstances as did recall them to 
 notice — reports of the miseries suffered by Union prisoners 
 in the South, or anti-administration attacks made more and 
 more frequently on the purposes and conduct of the war — did 
 them no service. From every point of view their fortunes 
 changed for the worse with the prolongation of the war. 
 
 The prisoners' camp should have had a thorough renovation 
 and rebuilding in the first months of 1863, for it was "much 
 dilapidated and sadly in need of repairs." 1 For two years 
 Union recruits and Confederate prisoners had crowded the 
 barracks and swarmed over the enclosure. The buildings 
 which dated from the camp's fairground days had been put to 
 every use but the intended ones, and the few which had been 
 erected since the beginning of the war were flimsy makeshifts 
 designed on the theory that the war would soon be over. Noth- 
 ing was ever done in anticipation of a probable need, and by 
 the time the necessity of an improvement was acknowledged, 
 weeks and months of delay had usually aggravated the need 
 to twice its original proportions. From 1863 until 1865 tne 
 records contain a sorry round of inspectors' complaints and 
 recommendations, and orders from the Commissary General 
 of Prisoners in which permission for improvement was always 
 balanced by the strictest exhortation to economy. 
 
 The capture of several thousand Confederates at the 
 
 1 Official Records, 2 series, V, 227. 
 
 (314) 
 
CAMP MORTON 315 
 
 Arkansas Post and at Murfreesboro in January, 1863, found 
 prison camp officials as unprepared as the first large captures 
 made in 1862. Exchanges had been proceeding at City Point, 
 Virginia, and at Vicksburg, but were now halted at the 
 latter point by fighting in the area, and by the reluctance 
 of the Union command to reinforce a city which they were 
 intent on reducing. 2 
 
 The prisoners were sent to St. Louis, where they were held 
 for several miserable days on the boats until quarters could 
 be found for them. To an inquiry about Camp Morton, 
 Adjutant General Noble replied that the barracks could be 
 made to accommodate two thousand prisoners, but no guard 
 was available. The lack of a sufficient guard was particularly 
 unfortunate at Indianapolis, where the number of seces- 
 sion sympathizers and anti-administration politicians was 
 steadily growing, but Hoffman had no better station avail- 
 able, and the prisoners were divided between Camp Morton 
 and Camp Douglas. 3 
 
 Beginning on January 29, they reached Indianapolis in lots 
 of from two to three hundred, until, by the end of March, 652 
 prisoners were lodged in the tumble-down barracks. Nearly 
 all of them had been captured in the hospitals at Murfreesboro. 
 They came from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama regi- 
 ments ; perhaps a dozen of them had been at Camp Morton 
 with the Fort Donelson prisoners. Among them were about 
 ninety badly wounded, who were dispatched to the Central 
 Hospital; 172 less seriously injured had to be taken care of 
 in the old hospital at Camp Morton, and in one of the barracks 
 which was taken over for their use. 4 
 
 Because there was no crowding, the Murfreesboro prisoners 
 fared reasonably well. The drafty sheds along the north side 
 of the enclosure remained unoccupied. A fatigue party 
 worked hard at policing the camp, and although no major re- 
 pairs were made on the barracks, Captain Ekin furnished a 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, V, 163, 176, 179-80. 
 
 3 Ibid., V, 201, 203-4, 228. 
 
 4 Ibid., V, 227-28, 391-92; Indianapolis Journal, January 29, 1863, p. 3, 
 c. 3 ; February 12, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, January 30, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; 
 February 16, p. 3, c. 1 ; March 2, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
316 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 carpenter who constructed some bunks, and put in additional 
 windows. It was recommended that several temporary bar- 
 racks at Camp Carrington (one of the many Indianapolis 
 camps for Union soldiers) be brought to Camp Morton in 
 anticipation of a larger number of prisoners, but the move was 
 not ordered. Five large buildings were in use, one 40 by 24 
 feet, one no by 20, two 100 by 20, and one 120 by 20 feet. 
 Nurses and noncommissioned officers attached to the hospitals 
 were quartered in three small buildings. 5 
 
 Colonel James Biddle, of the Seventy-first Indiana 
 Volunteers, commanded the camp. Most of his regiment, 
 captured by Morgan at Muldraugh's Hill, Kentucky, on 
 December 28, and paroled on the field, were now at Camp 
 Morton awaiting exchange. The 250 men of the regiment 
 not on parole were assigned to guard the prisoners, with two 
 companies of the Sixty-third assisting them. Other admin- 
 istrative officers included Captain Ekin, of the quartermaster 
 department, and his assistant, Captain L. L. Moore, who also 
 had charge of the camp commissary. No issues of clothes 
 were deemed necessary, for the prisoners had arrived warmly, 
 if not uniformly clad, and most of them in possession of 
 blankets. Supplies, furnished by Captain Thomas Foster, Jr., 
 assistant commissary of subsistence, were rated as "good and 
 wholesome in all parts," and the ration was mentioned as 
 quite sufficient. Bread still came from the bakehouse managed 
 by the state quartermaster general. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon A. N. Weir, of the Seventy-first 
 Indiana, headed the medical department, with two Indianapolis 
 physicians, Dr. David Funkhouser and Dr. Patrick H. Jame- 
 son, employed by contract as assistants. Funkhouser was the 
 only one of these physicians who continued active at the camp 
 during the summer. Although patients crowded the two hos- 
 pital buildings, a camp inspector reported on March 24 that 
 the cases were all old ones, principally wounded, and that under 
 the circumstances the total of twenty-three deaths since the 
 end of January was not alarming. No cases of smallpox had 
 appeared. 6 His report seems unduly cheerful, for Dr. Funk- 
 
 5 Official Records, 2 series, V, 227-28, 239-40, 391-92. 
 9 Ibid., V, 391-92. 
 
CAMP MORTON 317 
 
 houser announced in the Indianapolis Sentinel two days later 
 that the wounded prisoners had been almost entirely without 
 rags and bandages for some time, and entreated "humanely 
 disposed" citizens of Indianapolis to contribute supplies. 7 
 
 Whatever the lacks in camp and hospital equipment, the 
 prisoners at Camp Morton at this period seemed to the in- 
 spector more cheerful and happy than at other posts. Besides 
 being cleanly in appearance and performing the required police 
 duties with willingness and alacrity, they showed a healthy zest 
 for games and exercise that was uncommon in a prison camp. 
 
 Their imprisonment lasted less than three months. Ex- 
 change of enlisted men was still progressing, although 
 indignation at the attitude of the Confederates toward com- 
 manders of negro troops had put an end to the exchange of 
 officers. 8 The prisoners from Camp Morton were ordered to 
 City Point, Virginia, and on April 6 and 23 almost six hundred 
 began the long journey. Some of the wounded had to be taken 
 to the station in wagons and ambulances, while many more 
 hobbled along with the aid of canes ; such a trip was a severe 
 test of their fortitude and endurance. 9 
 
 Authorities rejoiced to see them go. Ever since the draft 
 of August, 1862, opposition to the administration and the 
 war had come more and more into the open. In December, 
 Colonel Henry B. Carrington felt impelled to report to the 
 Secretary of War the spread in Indiana of a secret order which 
 incited the desertion of soldiers with their arms, furthered 
 resistance to arrest of deserters, and exerted its influence to 
 stop enlistments and prevent the carrying out of the draft. 10 
 
 In March, 1863, at Governor Morton's request, Carrington 
 forwarded a memorandum on continued activities of the 
 Knights of the Golden Circle i 11 in several counties arrest of 
 deserters had met with armed resistance ; nearly 30,000 arms 
 had entered the state in February and March alone, and 
 
 'Indianapolis Sentinel, March 26, 1863, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, V, 192-93, 199, 234-35, 3 18, 706. 
 
 *Ibid., V, 357; Indianapolis Journal, April 7, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis 
 Sentinel, April 23, 1863, p. 3, c. 3. 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, V, 108. 
 
 xl Ibid., V, 363-67. The names "Order of American Knights" and "Sons 
 of Liberty" were used later. 
 
318 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 plans had been discussed contemplating the seizure of the 
 arsenal, railroads, and telegraph ; kegs of powder were being 
 smuggled in in boxes marked "nails" or "pickaxes." Carring- 
 ton said that Indiana membership in the order had been put 
 at 92,000 persons, and with lodges in all but seven counties, he 
 was inclined to believe the number might not be extravagant. 12 
 Bitterness and recklessness were becoming more evident day 
 by day. "I am convinced," said Carrington, "that the tension 
 cannot long last; reaction or violence is certain." 
 
 It seemed to Morton, Carrington, and Brigadier General 
 Orlando B. Willcox, commanding the military district of 
 Indiana and Michigan, no time to introduce a large body of 
 prisoners into the distraught community. Camp Morton was 
 a big place, and at least six companies would be required to 
 guard it efficiently. No one wanted to spare so many men 
 for guard duty when there was every chance that disturbances 
 in the state would require their services, or that General 
 Morgan might suddenly appear north of the Ohio and start 
 raiding operations in Indiana. Turning the camp over to 
 prisoners also meant that some other place had to be found for 
 assembling Indiana recruits or paroled troops. 
 
 Hoffman saw clearly enough that the camp system was 
 inadequate and inconvenient, and suggested the building of 
 one big depot capable of holding eight or ten thousand 
 prisoners, but his estimate that the cost would run to $50,000 
 quashed any interest the War Department might have had in 
 the idea. 13 The old camps had to serve. 
 
 The next group of prisoners to arrive at Camp Morton 
 came from Gallatin, Tennessee, late in May. Grant's success- 
 ful operations near Vicksburg provided a much larger install- 
 ment within the week, when 4,400 Confederates were sent 
 north to be divided between Camp Morton and Fort Delaware. 
 Three trainloads came in on the afternoon of June 2, and 
 once again the townspeople turned out to watch their entry. 
 Ragged and travel-stained as they were, they had a hardy, 
 
 12 Logan Esarey, in his History of Indiana, II, 781, says there "were per- 
 haps 50,000 members" in 1863. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, V, 511-13- 
 
CAMP MORTON 319 
 
 vigorous appearance that was commented on by both the 
 Journal and the Sentinel. On the next day, the remainder of 
 the 4,400 arrived. Their officers, scheduled to go on to Camp 
 Johnson, were fed and lodged for the night at the Soldiers' 
 Home, which had been built the preceding summer to provide 
 temporary shelter and refreshment for transient soldiers. 14 
 
 A group of conscripted East Tennesseans among the 
 prisoners attracted much attention. Their petition to take the 
 oath of allegiance and enlist with the Union troops was 
 warmly seconded by the Journal, which described them en- 
 thusiastically as "great stalwart men with frames like giants, 
 bare-footed, bronzed with exposure, hardy as their own hills, as 
 brave as men can be." 15 The War Department had frowned 
 on the enlistment of prisoners of war, but the practice had 
 continued sporadically at the camps, and Secretary Stanton 
 was soon to give it his approval. 16 At Camp Morton, 250 
 Tennesseans took the oath of allegiance some time before 
 June 12, and immediately enlisted — 50 in the Seventy-first 
 Indiana, 50 in the batteries, 155 in the Fifth Tennessee 
 Cavalry. Quite a parade was made of the departure of this 
 last group for Lexington on June 13. With an escort from 
 the Seventy-first Indiana they marched down Pennsylvania 
 Street to Market and through the heart of town to the Union Sta- 
 tion where they entrained with rousing cheers for the Union. 17 
 
 Willcox protested to Hoffman on June 11 that it was 
 highly impolitic to keep the prisoners at Indianapolis, and 
 asked where he could send them. Hoffman telegraphed per- 
 mission to forward them to Fort Delaware, but it appears from 
 the record that Willcox had started most of them to Camp 
 Chase before Hoffman's message was received (there were 
 only 1 1 1 prisoners in the camp on July 1 ) . In a letter written 
 
 "Indianapolis Sentinel, May 30, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 3, p. 3, c. 3 ; June 
 4, P- 3, c. 3 ; June 8, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 12, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Journal, 
 June 1, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 3, p. 3, c. 3 ; June 4, p. 3, c. 2, 4 ; Official Records, 
 2 series, V, 722, 728. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, June 12, 1863, p. 2, c. 2-3. 
 
 lr 'Official Records, 2 series, V, 242, 297, 345, 381-82, 446, 659, 669, 707; 
 VI, 31, 186. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, June 12, 1863, p. 3, c. 1, 2; June 15, p. 3, c. 2, 3 ; 
 Indianapolis Sentinel, June 12, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 15, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
320 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 the same day, the Commissary General of Prisoners made it 
 perfectly plain that Camp Morton could not be dispensed 
 with, for the other camps were not much better able to hold 
 the prisoners securely, and altogether would not accommodate 
 more than twelve or fifteen thousand. 18 He pointed out that 
 recent exchanges had released all of the Seventy-first (Biddle's 
 regiment), the Fifty-first, and Sixty-third Indiana regiments, 
 which could be assigned as guards. 19 Willcox acknowledged 
 this letter with a reiterated warning that Camp Morton was 
 no safe spot for prisoners. 20 
 
 A week after Willcox had hustled off most of his prisoners, 
 Captain Thomas H. Hines, of Morgan's Cavalry, crossed the 
 Ohio into Perry County with less than a hundred men. For 
 a soul-satisfying day, he proceeded calmly through the country 
 toward Paoli in the guise of a Union officer in search of 
 deserters. He actually arrested two. Whenever he saw a 
 promising cavalry mount, he gathered it in, leaving the owner 
 in happy possession of a broken-down horse and a generous 
 voucher on the Federal quartermaster at Indianapolis. But 
 the next day his secret was out, and Hines fell into the hands 
 of a conscripted "guide" as impudent as himself. Under 
 pretext of eluding the Legion companies which were springing 
 to action on right and left, the guide led him to Blue River 
 Island, with the assurance that it was a practicable fording 
 point. It was, as far as the island, but on the southern side the 
 current ran deep and strong. By the time the Confederates 
 had made their devious and long-drawn-out march to the 
 island, Indiana legionnaires were in position to block retreat. 
 They opened fire, killing several Confederates and wounding 
 several more. Hines made his escape by swimming the river, 
 but fifty men and two officers were captured and dispatched 
 to Louisville. 21 This incursion, brief and ineffective as it 
 was, had no soothing effect on Indianapolis. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, V, 441 ; VI, 3 5 Indianapolis Sentinel, June 
 12, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 13, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, V, 400, 408, 409, 414, 584, 735. 
 
 "Ibid., VI, 19-20. 
 
 a Terrell, Report, I, 161-65; Indianapolis Journal, June 23, 1863, p. 2, c. 
 1-2; Louis B. Ewbank, Morgan's Raid in Indiana (Indiana Historical Society 
 Publications, VII, no. 2, Indianapolis), 135-39 ; Basil W. Duke, History of 
 Morgan's Cavalry (Cincinnati, 1867), 430-31. 
 
' CAMP MORTON 321 
 
 Two weeks later came the word that General John Morgan 
 had started north through Kentucky. To help repel this in- 
 vasion, practically all the United States troops in Indianapolis 
 were ordered to Louisville, leaving the city thinly guarded by 
 two companies of the Sixty-third Indiana, some hundreds of 
 recently exchanged prisoners of the Fifty- first and Seventy- 
 third regiments, and a few recruits. Into the general gloom 
 trickled news of victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and on 
 July 7 the citizens celebrated with bonfires, fireworks, and 
 speeches. Next day they heard that Morgan had crossed the 
 Ohio at Brandenburg. 22 
 
 Out from Governor Morton's office on Thursday, July 9, 
 went a general order to all able-bodied men in the several 
 counties south of the National Road to form themselves into 
 companies of at least sixty persons, elect officers, and arm 
 themselves as best they could. In Indianapolis alarm bells 
 summoned the townspeople to listen to an order closing 
 all places of business at three o'clock that afternoon, so 
 that military companies might be formed in preparation 
 for possible danger. 
 
 Reports credited Morgan with at least four thousand men 
 and four pieces of artillery. Morton and Willcox both feared 
 that he might move directly on the capital to release rebel 
 prisoners, destroy the arsenal with all its arms and ammunition, 
 and perhaps burn the city. The Governor asked for the return 
 of the Seventy-first Indiana and Myer's Battery, which had 
 been recently sent to Kentucky, and then hesitated to trust 
 them to the railroad for fear they would be derailed or 
 entrapped on route by the Confederates. 
 
 A city regiment was organized almost overnight, and 
 drilled in University Square, while eight additional companies 
 were forming in various wards. Banks had sent their specie 
 northward for safety; business houses, except for the grocery 
 
 22 For accounts of Morgan's raid, see Terrell, Report, I, 165-202, and 
 Appendix, pp. 279-80; Duke, History of Morgan's Cavalry, 430-39; Basil W. 
 Duke, Orlando B. Willcox, and Thomas H. Hines, "A Romance of Morgan's 
 Rough Riders," in Century, XLI, 402-25 (January, 1891) ; Ewbank, Morgans 
 Raid, 140-83 ; Foulke, Life of Morton, I, 278-85 ; Official Records, 1 series, 
 XXIII, pt. 1, 632 f f. ; Holliday, Indianapolis and the Civil War, 582-83 ; 
 Indianapolis Journal, July 15, 1863, p. 2, c. 2-4. 
 
322 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 stores and newspapers, shut their doors. For three days armed 
 men poured into the city. By Saturday the streets were 
 crowded, camp fires burned in every grove, and Morton had 
 to ask that no more men be sent. Occasionally the alarm bell 
 rang, but Morgan did not come, and on the fourteenth it was 
 established that he had moved out of Indiana into Ohio. 
 
 No miracle of restraint could have concealed from the 
 prisoners the flurry and bustle in the near-by barracks. How 
 soon they discovered that Morgan was on the march we have 
 no way of knowing, but if, as Carrington suspected, they had 
 contacts with secession sympathizers in the vicinity, they 
 probably guessed why Colonel Biddle and his regiment were 
 suddenly withdrawn, and why the camp was left in charge of 
 Captain Albert J. Guthridge and a curtailed guard. 
 
 Their last hope of a dramatic rescue died on July 23, when 
 eleven hundred of Morgan's men who had been captured in 
 Ohio were brought to join them. 23 A hundred more arrived 
 a week later. 24 
 
 No other prisoners ever confined at Camp Morton excited 
 such interest as the men from Morgan's command. After 
 their spectacular will-o'-the-wisp flight through the southern 
 counties, it seemed almost incredible that they could be clapped 
 into a prison camp like ordinary mortals. They were subjected 
 to the thorough search which all prisoners had to undergo. 
 This one proved unusually productive, for spoils of the raid 
 began to appear in little wads of greenbacks — $20 extracted 
 from one man's pipe bowl, $1,100 from another's canteen. 25 
 
 After this initiation, the prisoners were allowed more than 
 the usual latitude in receiving visitors. This was doubtless 
 due to the slackening of camp discipline under temporary 
 commandants. Guthridge, Biddle's immediate successor, had 
 served only until July 23, 26 when he was relieved by Captain 
 
 23 Indianapolis Sentinel, July 24, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; July 25, p. 3, c. 1 ; In- 
 dianapolis Journal, July 25, 1863, p. 2, c. 1, p. 3, c. 1, 2. 
 
 2i Ibid., July 30, 1863, p. 3, c. 3. 
 
 "-'Ibid., July 27, 1863, p. 2, c. 1. 
 
 2u Post Special Orders 15, Indianapolis, July 23, 1863, Newton D. Mer- 
 eness Calendar of Papers from the National Archives (hereafter cited as 
 Mereness Calendar), War Department, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 
 116, pp. 48-49. 
 
CAMP MORTON 323 
 
 David W. Hamilton, of the Seventh Indiana. Hamilton 
 was a native of Kentucky, and many of Morgan's men came 
 from wealthy and respected Kentucky families. Hardly had 
 they reached Camp Morton, wrote an outraged and anonymous 
 observer to Colonel Hoffman, "until their friends crowded 
 to see them, furnishing them with money and clothing and 
 various articles of food, treating and talking to them as 
 martyrs and heroes. ... I am informed," continued the 
 writer, "that the permission to visit these rebels comes from 
 General Burnside and General Willcox, and you can see at 
 the Bates House ladies and gentlemen from Kentucky flourish- 
 ing their permits and boasting of the prowess of their relatives 
 in the Confederate Army/' 27 There is evidence that some of 
 the visitors were loyal Unionists, come to beg their sons to 
 take the oath of allegiance. They had no success with Morgan's 
 ardent young followers. 28 
 
 Taking due notice of the questionable form in which these 
 charges were made, Hoffman referred them to the Secretary 
 of War, who sent dispatches to Burnside, Willcox, and Morton 
 directing them to correct any undesirable laxness. Restrictions 
 were put into effect at once, 29 greatly to the relief of Lieutenant 
 Edward J. Robinson, newly appointed to act as commissary of 
 prisoners at Camp Morton. He had reached the camp on 
 July 8, to find "no rolls or books, and everything in confusion 
 in all matters pertaining to prisoners of war and the camp 
 in general." The appearance of the Morgan prisoners and 
 their visitors had increased confusion to a point where Robin- 
 son found himself grudgingly "waiting on them all day" and 
 compelled to work on the prison rolls at night. 30 
 
 Inside the camp, the Morgan raiders proved equally dis- 
 turbing. They made trouble among the other prisoners, and 
 there were quarrels and riots that called for interference from 
 the guards. A particular antipathy showed itself between 
 this group and the Tennesseans, several hundred of whom 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 162-63. 
 28 Indianapolis Journal, July 27, 1863, p. 2, c. 1. 
 
 ^Ibid., July 29, 1863, p. 3, c. 3 ; August 15, p. 3, c. 2 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 August 6, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; Official Records, 2 series, VI, 257. 
 "Ibid., VI, 195. 
 
324 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 , 
 
 were proposing to take the oath of allegiance and enlis 
 as Union soldiers. 31 
 
 During the first two weeks of August eighteen hundred 
 Confederates taken at the siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, 
 and in the campaign around Jackson, Tennessee, brought the 
 total of prisoners at Camp Morton to about three thousand. 
 According to the Indianapolis Sentinel, they were divided in 
 the following proportions : from Tennessee, 830 ; Kentucky, 
 680; Arkansas, 631; Mississippi, 331; Alabama, 131; Louisi- 
 ana, 106; Georgia, 106; Florida, 50; South Carolina, 51; 
 North Carolina, 50. Over eleven hundred men, including most 
 of Morgan's raiders, were transferred to Camp Douglas on 
 August 17 and 18, and comparative quiet settled down on 
 Camp Morton. About fifteen hundred prisoners remained 
 in the squalid and unhealthy camp. Twenty-six men had died 
 there during August, and ninety-eight were on the sick list. 32 
 
 Inadequate hospital facilities had been worrying the medical 
 officers all spring and summer. The addition to the City 
 Hospital, built for prisoners from the prisoners' fund, had 
 been gradually appropriated for Union wounded during the 
 last quarter of 1862 and the first quarter of 1863, when there 
 were very few Confederates at Camp Morton. When the 
 problem of accommodating prisoner sick arose again with the 
 arrival of prisoners from the Vicksburg campaign, there were 
 two possible ways of meeting it: (1) the Union soldiers 
 could be turned out of one wing of the City Hospital and the 
 Confederates moved in, in which case a new hospital would 
 have to be built to take care of the Federal overflow; (2) the 
 Union soldiers could be left in possession of the City Hospital 
 and new quarters provided for the rebels at Camp Morton. 
 
 Local officials inclined to the second plan, which would 
 keep the two groups of hospital cases entirely separate and 
 
 31 Indianapolis Journal, August 18, 1863, p. 3, c. 2 ; September 23, p. 3, 
 c. 1 ; Post Special Orders, 34, 36, and 38, Indianapolis, August 19, 22, and 
 24, 1863, Mereness Calendar, War Department, Northern Department Orders, 
 Vol. 116, pp. 59-61. One of the prisoners who took the oath and enlisted in 
 the Seventh Cavalry came off winner in a buffalo chase held at the Fair- 
 grounds in September. 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, August 3, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; August 8, p. 3, c. 2, 3 ; 
 August 15, p. 3, c. 2; Indianapolis Sentinel, August 19, 1863, p. 3, c. 2 
 
CAMP MORTON 325 
 
 eliminate the necessity for extra guards outside the camp. If 
 it had been promptly carried out, their choice would have 
 seemed a sensible one, but they neglected to report the circum- 
 stances to the Commissary General of Prisoners, and the result 
 was an agonizing delay. Meanwhile, the number of prisoners 
 in camp doubled and trebled, and the need grew desperate. 
 
 Captain Ekin, of the quartermaster's department, tele- 
 graphed to Commissary General Meigs early in June that 
 additional hospital space was "required" at Camp Morton, and 
 suggested that a temporary addition to the old hospital building 
 would meet the "emergency" economically. Four days later 
 he telegraphed again that the situation was urgent. 33 There 
 was no immediate response, but some weeks later a medical 
 inspector, making the rounds of prison camps to report on the 
 causes of sickness and mortality, stopped at Camp Morton. 34 
 
 He found the hospital capacity limited to eighty-three old 
 wooden bunks, some of them occupied by two patients. 
 Bedding was scanty. Even air space was woefully limited — in 
 some wards not more than 350 cubic feet per man, so that on 
 a blistering summer day the quarters must have been stifling. 
 A faulty diet, lacking in vegetables except for an occasional 
 issue of potatoes, also operated against quick recoveries. In- 
 spector Humphreys earnestly recommended increased accom- 
 modations, and Dr. Bobbs followed up with a request for 
 permission to buy ice for the hospitals. 35 
 
 Some of the illness was attributed by Humphreys to the 
 poor drainage of the camp. The little ditch which the prisoners 
 called "the Potomac" was flooded in the rainy seasons, while 
 in hot dry weather it disappeared except for a few stagnant 
 pools. In these the prisoners washed their clothes. Camp 
 police was bad, sinks were filthy, and barracks were over- 
 crowded. Finally, many of the prisoners disregarded all rules 
 of cleanliness and were consequently "profusely verminous." 
 
 From this report, forwarded to him from the Surgeon 
 
 ''Official Records, 2 series, V, 741, 762. 
 
 ^Report of Lewis Humphreys, July 3, 1863, photostat in Indiana Di- 
 vision, Indiana State Library, from War Department, Northern Department 
 Letter Books, Vol. 199, pp. 38-40. 
 
 '"Ibid., p. 38. 
 
326 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 General's office, Colonel Hoffman apparently received his 
 first intimation that the new wing of the City Hospital was 
 no longer at the disposal of Confederate prisoners. On July 
 16, 1863, he wrote to General Willcox asking for information, 
 and expressing his desire that the building be used for the 
 purpose for which it had been erected. Willcox thereupon 
 ordered Bobbs to remove part of the Federal sick from the 
 City Hospital and release one wing for prisoners. 30 
 
 Dr. Bobbs was in a most uncomfortable position. He knew 
 the storm that such a move would provoke, for many citizens 
 were already passionately indignant at the hardships Union 
 prisoners had suffered at Libby and Belle Isle prisons in 
 Richmond, and some had gone so far as to advocate retaliation. 
 Bobbs hastily filed his objections with the Medical Director 
 of the Department of the Ohio, pointing out the practical 
 difficulties involved in carrying out the order, and the certainty 
 of resentment and exasperation among the people of Indiana. 
 At the same time he emphasized the immediate need for enlarge- 
 ment of the hospital at Camp Morton. The result was the 
 suspension of Willcox's order, and instructions to place the 
 Confederate sick in tents if necessary. 37 Bobbs could only 
 hope that a new appeal through the quartermaster's depart- 
 ment would be more effective. In the meantime some tents 
 were put into service for hospital cases. 38 
 
 After reading the official reports referred to above, it is 
 difficult to explain an item which appeared in the Indianapolis 
 Sentinel of August 28, quoting Dr. Funkhouser to the effect 
 that hospital arrangements at Camp Morton were admirable, 
 and that everything necessary was done for the comfort of 
 sick rebel prisoners in the city. 39 It is probable that camp 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 122-23; Bobbs to W. H. Church, Medical 
 Director, Department of the Ohio, July 26, 1863, photostat, in Indiana 
 Division, Indiana State Library, from War Department, Northern Depart- 
 ment Letter Books, Vol. 199, pp. 51-53. 
 
 37 Bobbs to Church, op. cit. 
 
 38 Bobbs to Ekin, July 24, 1863, and Ekin to Meigs, same date, Mereness 
 Calendar, War Department, Quartermaster General, Letters Received ; Bobbs 
 to J. T. Carpenter, Cincinnati, Ohio, September 10, 1863, ibid., War Depart- 
 ment, Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 199, pp. 91-92. 
 
 39 Indianapolis Sentinel, August 28, 1863, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
CAMP MORTON 327 
 
 officials were guarding against any public outcry on behalf 
 of the prisoners that might provide fuel for secession sym- 
 pathizers. A similar item, appearing a few days later and 
 commenting on the issue of blankets to the prisoners during 
 the recent cool weather, ended with a distinct note of self- 
 satisfaction : "We certainly, here in Indiana, will treat our 
 prisoners of war as men unfortunately in our hands, and we 
 ardently hope that brave and gallant Hoosiers in limbo in the 
 South will be likewise looked after." 40 
 
 Actually conditions grew steadily worse, and there was no 
 hope for improvement as long as command of the camp con- 
 tinued to be transferred at short intervals. Hamilton, who 
 had taken charge on July 23, was transferred elsewhere some- 
 time before September 23, and Captain Guthridge was recalled 
 for a second brief term as stop-gap commandant. 41 
 
 The guards at Camp Morton during this period were the 
 Fifty-first and Seventy-third Indiana regiments, whose offi- 
 cers were still held prisoners at Richmond. Several months 
 on parole, and the lack of any commissioned officers except 
 seven who had been recently appointed, had left them badly 
 demoralized and undisciplined. 42 Quick to take advantage of 
 a slack guard, numbers of prisoners started laying plans for 
 escape. One group, after working for twelve days on a tunnel 
 under the north fence of the enclosure, was betrayed on the 
 eve of escape ; several other groups were caught after they had 
 got outside the enclosure ; but thirty- five men got safely aw r ay 
 between the first of August and the end of October. 43 
 
 In September, Medical Inspector Humphreys visited Camp 
 Morton again, and added to his earlier complaints other dis- 
 tressing comments : there were dead animals near the camp ; 
 the post-mortem rooms and dead house were not in good 
 
 "'Ibid., August 31, 1863, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 41 The date of the transfer has not been found. Hamilton was still in 
 command on August 25 (Indianapolis Journal, August 25, 1863, p. 3, c. 2), 
 and Guthridge had succeeded him by September 23 (ibid., September 23, 
 1863, p. 3, c. 1). 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 143-44, 492-93- 
 
 iZ Post, p. 379; Indianapolis Journal, September 23, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indian- 
 apolis Sentinel, September 24, 1863, p. 3, c. 2. 
 
328 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 condition ; the largest barracks was unfit for winter use. 44 But 
 this was mild in comparison with the scorching report made 
 on October 22 by Augustus M. Clark, another medical inspector. 
 It is quoted in full because it covers the physical condition of 
 the camp with such thoroughness, and shows the difficult situ- 
 ation faced by the commandant who took office on that date : 45 
 "Designation of camp — Camp Morton. Commander of 
 camp — Captain Guthridge, Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteers, 
 this day relieved by Colonel Stevens, Invalid Corps. Command 
 and strength — prisoners, rebel officers, 7; rebel soldiers, 2,325 ; 
 civilians, 30 ; total, 2,362. Location of camp — one mile and a 
 half north of Indianapolis, Ind. Time occupied — about 
 eighteen months. Water, source and supply — by pumps from 
 wells, five in number ; supply, sufficient. Water, quality and 
 effects — good, slightly alkaline. Fuel — wood and coal. Soil — 
 clay and sand, muddy. Drainage — bad from want of atten- 
 tion; ditches and drains choked with rubbish. Topography — 
 ground level, some trees, deep ditch, formerly bed of a creek 
 running through middle of camp. Police of camp — very 
 bad. Discipline in camp — lax. Tents or huts, position — bar- 
 racks on north and west sides of square. Tents or huts, pattern 
 and quality — one story and in dilapidated condition. Tents or 
 huts, ventilation — only ventilated from dilapidation. Tents 
 or huts, sufficiency — the barracks at present used for prison 
 purposes are sufficient for 2,000 to 2,200 prisoners. Tents 
 or huts, heating — stoves in a few of the barracks. Sinks, 
 construction — exceedingly faulty, two excavations about twenty 
 feet long, five feet wide, two feet deep, entirely open. Sinks, 
 condition and position — very foul, one on north side about 25 
 feet in rear of barracks; on west side about 100 feet in 
 rear. Sinks, management — no management at all. Removal 
 of offal, &c. — unattended to; the central ditch is a general 
 receptacle for refuse of all kinds. Previous use of camp — 
 State fair-ground. Rations — abundant and of good quality. 
 Cooking in camp — by prisoners over camp-fires. Inspection 
 
 "Quoted in John M. Cuyler to the Surgeon General, October 13, 1863, 
 photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, from War Depart- 
 ment, Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 199, pp. 1 18-19. 
 
 45 0fficial Records, 2 series, VI, 424-26. 
 
CAMP MORTON 329 
 
 of food — said to be inspected by commanding officer. Portable 
 ovens — none, bread furnished by commissary. Vegetables — 
 potatoes only. 
 
 "Cleanliness of men and clothing — foul; bathing and 
 laundry facilities entirely insufficient. Quality and quantity 
 of clothing obtained from quartermaster's department — suf- 
 ficient. Blankets and bedding — insufficient both in hospital 
 and camp; no satisfactory reason given therefor. Condition 
 of men — in barracks, exceedingly foul; in hospital, miserable. 
 Hospital buildings — two, one dilapidated and utterly unfit for 
 use; the other (former guard-house) in good condition, but 
 much overcrowded. Hospital tents — six, destitute of stoves 
 or other means of heating. Hospital police — very much 
 neglected, especially in cook-house, which is in filthy condition. 
 Hospital discipline — none to speak of. Hospital diet and 
 cooking — very little if any attention paid by officers. Hospital 
 heat and ventilation — heated sufficiently by stoves except in 
 tents ; the guard-house ward is properly ventilated, the other 
 only by dilapidation. Hospital capacity — 36 in tents, 12 in 
 guard-house ward; total, 48. Number sick — 216; of these 125 
 are in barracks who should be in hospital and well taken care 
 of. State of medical supplies — sufficient, but very disorderly 
 kept. State of surgical instruments — none in hospital. State 
 of hospital records — carelessly kept. State of hospital fund — 
 $368, September 30, 1863. Reports — carelessly made. Medi- 
 cal attendance — virtually none. Nursing — by prisoners. 
 Interments — by contract. Diseases, local — pulmonic, diarrhea, 
 several cases of scurvy. Diseases, prevention of — no care 
 taken. Recoveries from diseases — slow and uncertain. Mor- 
 tality from diseases — during the month of September 23 out 
 of 183 patients died, being over 12.45 P er cent - Medical 
 officer — Acting Assistant Surgeon Funkhauser. This officer 
 is utterly unfit for the post he holds. I am informed that his 
 contract is for $100 per month. This requires him to devote 
 his whole time to his hospital and camp duties to the exclusion 
 of all outside business. I am also informed that he has a large 
 outside practice, and that he usually (and sometimes omitting 
 even this) visits the camp not to exceed half an hour daily, 
 leaving the almost entire charge of the sick and everything 
 
330 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 pertaining to the sanitary management of the camp to an 
 enlisted man, who, though he has paid some attention to the 
 study of medicine, and endeavors to do his best, is entirely 
 unequal to the proper discharge of these duties. As a conse- 
 quence of this the sick are neglected or improperly treated : the 
 ratio of mortality is unwarrantably large, the hospital is in a 
 most lamentable condition, and the general sanitary manage- 
 ment of the camp is utterly neglected. I would respectfully 
 suggest that this officer be at once removed and a competent 
 man assigned in his stead. 
 
 "As the foregoing report will show, this camp is a disgrace 
 to the name of military prison. It is filthy in every respect. 
 The vicinity of the sinks is obvious for many yards around, 
 they being perfectly open; no attempt made to disinfect them. 
 They are, moreover, insufficient in number. The seven rebel 
 officers confined here are crowded into a small room about 
 ten by twelve and eight feet high. In this they sleep, live, and 
 cook. There are good natural facilities for drainage, but the 
 drains are choked with rubbish, and the large central ditch is 
 a grand receptacle for the refuse of the whole camp. The 
 main hospital ward is in so dilapidated a condition that the 
 patients are obliged to fasten their blankets along the wall for 
 partial protection from wind and weather, and are thus de- 
 prived of the necessary covering. In fact, every patient whom 
 I examined had more or less of pulmonary trouble accompany- 
 ing his disease, whatever it might be. The hospital cookhouse 
 was in filthy condition, and the food which had just been 
 prepared for dinner at the time of my visit was most miserably 
 cooked. I found the bath and wash house used for storing 
 straw for bedding. The hospital fund is not expended with 
 sufficient freedom in procuring comforts for the sick, nor 
 could I ascertain that any account of the less perishable articles, 
 as table furniture, &c, purchased from the fund is kept. The 
 commanding officer states that he has been directed to erect 
 two additional hospital barracks, but they are not as yet com- 
 menced. The prison fund on hand September 30, 1863, was 
 
CAMP MORTON 331 
 
 $959.68. This fund is drawn on for repairs, cooking, police, 
 utensils, &c, of which an account is kept. 
 
 A. M. Clark, 
 
 Surgeon 
 and Acting Medical Inspector of Prisoners of War/' 
 
 On the strength of this report, Hoffman refused to allow 
 Funkhouser's account for services, and wrote to the Surgeon 
 General asking that "a competent surgeon with an assist- 
 ant ... be ordered for duty at the camp without delay." 46 
 Funkhouser defended himself against Clark's charges, asserting 
 that he had visited all patients at least once every day, and 
 usually twice, in addition to looking after the men of the Fifth 
 Regiment, Invalid Corps, recently quartered at Camp Burnside. 
 "It is no fault of mine," he said bitterly, "that the Hospital 
 Buildings have been exceedingly defective consisting of several 
 old rickety sheds, a few Hospital tents together with some 
 Wall and Bell Tents and Boards put together according to no 
 well established Style of architecture, which doubtless have 
 prejudiced in some degree the mind of Med. Inspector Clark. 
 Better buildings you are aware were ordered, sometime ago, 
 but for good reasons doubtless their construction has been 
 delayed." Bobbs supported him, and asked for further con- 
 sideration of the case, but Funkhouser was replaced by 
 Dr. W. A. Johnson. 47 
 
 The "better buildings" which Funkhouser mentioned, were 
 two new hospital wards, which were not opened until Decem- 
 ber, 1863, and were not even then complete. They were 
 designed to increase the hospital capacity to 160, allowing 800 
 cubic feet of air to each patient, and could be made to accom- 
 modate more than that number in emergencies. These wards 
 were built by the quartermaster's department; to pay for 
 
 iQ Official Records, 2 series, VI, 442-43. 
 
 47 Funkhouser to Bobbs, November 14, 1863, and Bobbs to Ekin, Novem- 
 ber 20, photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, from War 
 Department, Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 199, pp. 137-40; Bobbs 
 to R. C. Wood, Louisville, Kentucky, February 27, and March 4, 1864, 
 Mereness Calendar, War Department, Northern Department Letter Books, 
 Vol. 199, pp. 325, 345 ; Official Records, 2 series, VI, 879. 
 
332 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 them, an exchange for the prisoners' wing of the City Hospital 
 was suggested, and may have been made. 48 
 
 48 Indianapolis Sentinel, November 2, 1863, p. 3, c. 2 ; Ekin to Quarter- 
 master General Meigs, October 31, 1863, Mereness Calendar, War Depart- 
 ment, Quartermaster General, Letters Received ; Official Records, 2 series, 
 VI, 879, 880; Carnahan, Camp Morton, 21-22. 
 
 
VI. REORGANIZATION UNDER COLONEL 
 STEVENS, 1863-64 
 
 Colonel Ambrose A. Stevens, the new commandant, was 
 regarded as a capable and intelligent officer. He had 
 served as lieutenant colonel and colonel with the Michigan 
 troops, was wounded at Perrysville, Kentucky, in October, 
 
 1862, and resigned the next February. When the Invalid 
 Corps, later the Veteran Reserve Corps, 1 was created, Stevens 
 received an appointment as major of the Fifth Regiment. 
 This regiment was ordered to Indianapolis early in September, 
 
 1863, to relieve the Indiana troops on guard at Camp 
 Morton. On September 25, Stevens was advanced to a 
 colonelcy, and on October 22, was placed in command of 
 Camp Morton. 2 
 
 Stevens held this position until the end of the war, and was 
 accounted an admirable commandant by the authorities, who 
 were chiefly interested in preventing disturbances at the camp. 
 His talents were not sufficiently diverse to make him entirely 
 successful: although he was well-intentioned, he lacked dis- 
 cernment and intuition in dealing with the prisoners, and he 
 was not impelled by the zeal on their behalf which made Owen 
 unique among camp commandants. 3 
 
 Thomas Sturgis, in Prisoners of War, 1861-65 (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 
 1912) 268-69, gives an amusing explanation of the change of name. The 
 Invalid Corps was recruited for guard and garrison duty from men who 
 were incapacitated for active service by wounds or disease. They wore on 
 their light blue uniforms the insignia I. C, also used by the quartermaster's 
 department to designate property which had been "inspected and condemned." 
 The rebels soon learned the double significance of the lettering and joyously 
 christened the Invalid Corps the "Condemned Yanks." To rescue its gallant 
 veterans from this unholy ridicule, the Government renamed the Corps 
 Veteran Reserves. 
 
 2 Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register . . . of the United States 
 Army . . ., I (Washington, D. C, 1903), p. 922; Indianapolis Journal, 
 September 11, 1863, p. 3, c. 1; October 27, p. 3, c. 1. The Fifty-first and 
 Seventy-third Indiana regiments, which had been guarding prisoners, left 
 for Tennessee on October 23. Ibid., October 26, 1863, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 3 Terrell, Report, I, Appendix, p. 285 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, July 30, 
 
 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; Official Records, 2 series, VII, 71 ; Carnahan, Camp Morton, 
 19. 
 
 (333) 
 
334 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 His first report indicates his limitations. Hoffman had 
 sent him a copy of the rules governing prisoners' camps, and 
 asked for a full report on conditions at Camp Morton. Stevens' 
 reply was made on November 9, after a little more than two 
 weeks in his new post. 4 It is a short, colorless document, 
 substantiating without comment or amplification the criticisms 
 made by Inspector Clark. 5 
 
 Stevens devoted more than half his letter to the shortcom- 
 ings of the old guard and his plans for the new one. As a 
 preventive against further escapes, the daily patrols had been 
 increased from 141 to 160 men, and again to 200, a number 
 that he thought might be reduced if the guards had revolvers 
 in addition to their muskets. 6 The unfitness of the barracks 
 for winter occupancy and the insufficiency of the hospitals 
 were disposed of in two sentences, and the proposed remedies 
 in two more : "New and commodious hospitals are at present 
 being erected for the accommodation of the sick. Repairing 
 of the barracks had been commenced by Captain Guthridge, 
 former commandant, which are now being continued, and when 
 completed will be capable of accommodating 3,000 prisoners." 
 
 Stevens might have expatiated a little on these matters, for 
 the "commodious" new hospitals were designed to care for 
 only 160 cases while the sick list was over two hundred, and 
 already the number of prisoners in camp was nearing or had 
 passed the three thousand mark. He might have mentioned 
 also that repairs to the barracks did not go beyond the squeez- 
 ing in of extra bunks and a coat of whitewash. They remained 
 unfloored, badly heated, and badly ventilated. 
 
 Reaching the subject of the prisoners, Stevens contented 
 himself with remarking: "I found the prisoners generally 
 supplied with necessaries, though in a poor state of health. The 
 cause I am unable to determine, as our own troops quartered 
 near them and equally crowded enjoyed excellent health." 
 
 'Official Records, 2 series, VI, 445-46. 
 
 5 Ibid., VI, 492-93- 
 
 6 On November 27, 1863, Hoffman recommended to Stanton that 400 
 revolvers and 25,000 rounds of ammunition be sent to each prison camp. Camp 
 Morton received its share early in December. Official Records, 2 series, 
 VI, 584, 650. 
 
CAMP MORTON 335 
 
 Unfortunately for the prisoners then at Camp Morton and 
 in all the other stations north and south, the Union and Con- 
 federate governments had reached an impasse on the subject 
 of exchanges. 7 While the agents of the two governments 
 quarreled over terms of parole, equivalents, and the status of 
 negro soldiers, the despondent prisoners watched their hopes 
 of early release dwindle and disappear. Public indignation at 
 the interruption of exchange was fed by the efforts of each 
 government to fasten the blame on the other. In the North, 
 ugly stories about the southern prisons were given much prom- 
 inence, and Secretary Stanton began to threaten retaliation. On 
 November 9, 1863, he wrote to Major General Ethan A. 
 Hitchcock, Union commissioner for exchange : 8 "You will 
 please report what measures you have taken to ascertain the 
 treatment of United States prisoners by the rebels at Rich- 
 mond, and you are directed to take measures for precisely 
 similar treatment toward all the prisoners held by the United 
 States, in respect to food, clothing, medical treatment, and 
 other necessaries." 
 
 Hitchcock replied that if treatment of Union prisoners at 
 Richmond was what rumor represented, retaliation "would 
 result in an uprising of the prisoners against their guards at 
 Camps Morton and Chase," and probably at other places where 
 the means of security were slender. 9 General Halleck deplored 
 the adoption of a retaliatory policy on the more lofty ground that 
 resort to "this extreme right," though fully justified by the laws 
 and usages of war, was revolting to the sense of humanity. 10 
 What followed was a series of everchanging regulations, 
 based one moment on the theory that what was good enough 
 for a Union prisoner was good enough for a Confederate, 
 and the next on the theory that the Federal Government must 
 uphold a standard of generous treatment to prisoners of war. 
 It was difficult for the North to defend the imposition of 
 unnecessary hardships on prisoners, in view of its relatively 
 ample resources of money and food. The medical inspectors 
 
 7 Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons, 99-113. 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 485- 
 •Ibid., VI, 486. 
 "Ibid., VI, 523-24. 
 
336 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 had no sympathy with such a policy, and the public, though 
 it might clamor for retaliation, abhorred it in practice. As a 
 result of this uncertain course, camp commanders had to be 
 ready to alter their rules at a moment's notice : they must take 
 respectful account of restrictive orders about food and cloth- 
 ing, but they must also avoid stirring up any hornets' nests 
 by allowing reports to go out that prisoners were underfed or 
 half frozen. The commandant who failed to preserve his 
 balance on this tightrope was liable to a sharp reprimand. 
 
 At Camp Morton chilly weather had set in early, its first 
 blasts foretelling a winter of extreme cold and heavy snows. 
 The shivering Confederates found no comfort now in the 
 open spaces that were Camp Morton's greatest asset in spring 
 and summer, and none in the barracks, crowded toward the end 
 of October by hundreds of additional prisoners from the 
 Chattanooga area. 11 They packed the wooden sheds and 
 overflowed into tents. 
 
 The new arrivals looked shabby and forlorn. Tattered 
 remnants of the clothes in which they had begun the summer 
 campaign scarcely covered their thin bodies. Many had no 
 shoes. Wounds, exhaustion, and hunger brought them to 
 Indianapolis "as nearly dead as alive," defenseless against the 
 unaccustomed cold, and prime subjects for pneumonia, bron- 
 chitis, and typho-malarial fevers. In November the list of 
 sick climbed to 328, and deaths totaled 68. 12 
 
 Hoffman had requested Commissary General Meigs to 
 reserve fifteen thousand suits of inferior clothing, the same 
 quantity of blankets, and a larger number of shirts for the 
 use of prisoners during the winter, but these had to be doled 
 out sparingly because nobody knew how many prisoners might 
 be added to the twelve or fifteen thousand already in the 
 western camps. 13 The garments furnished by the Government 
 
 "Chattanooga prisoners continued to arrive until the last week in 
 November. Indianapolis Sentinel, October 17, 1863, p. 3, c'. 1 ; November 2, 
 p. 3, c. 1 ; November 6, p. 3, c. 1 ; November 21, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis 
 Journal, October 19, 1863, p. 3, c. 2; October 21, p. 3, c. 1; November 11, 
 p. 3, c. 2; November 12, p. 3, c. 1 ; November 20, p. 3, c. 3. 
 
 "Carnahan, Camp Morton, 24, quoting J. W. Hosman, hospital steward 
 from 1863 to 1865. Post, p. 379. 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, VI, 468. 
 
COLONEL AMBROSE A. STEVENS 
 
 Commandant, Camp Morton, 1863-65 
 
CAMP MORTON 337 
 
 were of regulation blue ; to make sure that they were not used 
 as a disguise by escaping Johnny Rebs, the coats were shorn of 
 their buttons and long skirts, and incidentally made less effec- 
 tive protection against the cold. The prisoners hated the 
 bobtailed Federal uniforms. 14 
 
 At Camp Morton blankets and clothing were issued to 
 the most destitute cases only. Stevens had reason to think 
 that a small distribution was all that would be approved, for 
 Hoffman wrote on November 12: "For the present you will 
 issue no clothing of any kind except in cases of utmost neces- 
 sity. So long as a prisoner has clothing upon him, however 
 much torn, you must issue nothing to him, nor must you allow 
 him to receive clothing from any but members of his im- 
 mediate family, and only when they are in absolute want." 15 
 
 The order was applied too literally to meet general approval, 
 however. Captain Ekin, of the quartermaster's department, 
 who had been in charge of erecting the two new hospital wards, 
 thought that the patients were insufficiently clad, and without 
 notifying Stevens, telegraphed Hoffman that they needed 
 drawers, socks, and shirts. Hoffman promptly turned on 
 Stevens, writing on December 17 : 16 "This state of things 
 should not exist, nor is it proper that the information should 
 come to me through Captain Ekin. . . . there is no good 
 [reason] why at any time there should be any deficiency 
 of necessary articles." 
 
 Prisoners were still receiving sufficient rations in Novem- 
 ber, although lack of fresh vegetables induced some scurvy. 
 The daily issue was three quarters of a pound of bacon or a 
 pound of fresh beef, good wheat bread, hominy, coffee, tea, 
 sugar, vinegar, candles, soap, salt, pepper, potatoes, and 
 molasses. The food was of good quality, but each man cooked 
 for himself, or with a small group of friends, and in this 
 
 u Ibid., VI, 503-4. 
 
 ^Ibid.; Indianapolis Sentinel, November 2, 1863, p. 3, c. 2. Clothing 
 supplied by the prisoners' families was required to be gray in color. Official 
 Records, 2 series, VI, 257. 
 
 1Q Jbid., VI, 713. See also Hoffman's letter of February 19, 1864, to 
 Brigadier General H. D. Terry, commanding at Sandusky, Ohio. Ibid., VI, 
 
338 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 haphazard preparation wasted food and fuel, and ruined his 
 digestive system. Hoffman undertook to reduce the losses by 
 installing huge kettles called "Farmers' boilers," in which 
 from 30 to 120 gallons of soup or stew could be prepared 
 at once, but as usual the reform was accomplished slowly. 17 
 
 The prisoner who had credit at the commandant's office 
 could vary his diet with purchases from the camp sutler. He 
 was also allowed to receive boxes of food from friends and 
 relatives. On the first of December, 1863, both these 
 privileges were suddenly cut off by Stanton's order — no more 
 milk, butter, eggs, or canned fruit ; worst of all, no more 
 tobacco. The deprivation of tobacco caused more discontent 
 than the short allowance of clothing, and Hoffman recom- 
 mended that it be supplied from the prison fund rather than 
 risk disturbances. Altogether, this experiment in retaliation 
 was proving more awkward than anyone had anticipated. 
 Sutlers had supplied postage stamps, letter paper, some 
 underclothing, and other articles that were constantly in 
 demand. Were these to be cut off too? 18 
 
 During November and December the Confederate Govern- 
 ment allowed quantities of blankets and provisions to be 
 delivered by the Federal and state governments to Union 
 prisoners in the South. It was also reported that the person- 
 nel of the southern prison commissariat had been changed for 
 the better. By the end of December Stanton was convinced 
 that the condition of Federal prisoners had been materially 
 improved, and sent word to Hoffman to make up a list of 
 articles which Confederate prisoners might purchase. Sale 
 of tobacco, pipes, writing materials, and stamps was thereafter 
 permitted, but for two freezing months when extra food would 
 have been painfully welcome to the prisoners, none was 
 allowed them. 19 
 
 The turn of the year was stormy and fearfully cold. At 
 one o'clock on the afternoon of Thursday, December 31, the 
 temperature in Indianapolis stood at 40 — raw and chilling, 
 but not severe to men accustomed to exposure. During the 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, VI, 660-61, 702, 878. 
 18 Ibid., VI, 625, 628-29, 649-50, 701-2. 
 19 Ibid., VI, 774, 948, 967. 
 
CAMP MORTON 339 
 
 afternoon the mercury began a relentless descent ; at eleven 
 o'clock it passed the zero mark, and before sunrise on New 
 Year's Day had reached 20° below. The cold wave extended 
 far to the west and north, and south to Nashville, Tennessee. 
 It closed over the Mississippi, freezing it clear across, "solid," 
 the newspapers said, so that for several days heavy teams were 
 able to cross on the ice. 20 
 
 With the cold came a furious swirling snowstorm that 
 half buried the town, blocking streets and stopping railroad 
 transportation north and south. There was no comfort any- 
 where. New Year's Eve gatherings at the most luxurious 
 homes in town were afterwards remembered less for their 
 warmth and gaiety than because the guests barely escaped 
 freezing on the way home. But this discomfort could be 
 laughed at next day. At the other end of town, misery was 
 not a matter of an hour. It fastened upon Camp Morton a 
 grip that did not loosen for weeks. 
 
 Dismayed officials hurried about, making what provision 
 they could for prisoners and guards. Raids on the city wood 
 yards yielded a double ration of four-foot sticks for the cast- 
 iron stoves in the barracks, and huge camp fires were built in 
 the enclosure. Extra straw was distributed too, but not enough 
 to stop the sweep of wind and snow through cracks in the 
 walls. (The total quantity of straw issued in December was 
 24,376 pounds — with 3,372 prisoners, each man's share was 
 about 8 pounds.) 21 Finally, division by division, the prisoners 
 were marched past headquarters, where seven hundred blankets 
 and many pairs of shoes were given out. 22 Colonel Stevens 
 had let regulations go by the board in his efforts to secure 
 
 ^Indianapolis Sentinel, January r, 1864, p. 3, c. 2, 5 ; January 4, p. 3, c. 1 ; 
 Indianapolis Journal, January 1, 1864, p. 3, c. 4; January 2, p. 3, c. 1 ; January 
 4. P- 3, c. 1 . 
 
 21 Carnahan, Camp Morton, 26, 28. The issues of wood and straw for 
 the winter months are given as follows : 
 
 November, 1863, wood 542 cords ; straw, 16,000 pounds 
 
 December, 1863, wood, 675 cords ; straw, 24,376 pounds 
 
 January, 1864, wood, 600 cords; straw, 12,988 pounds 
 
 February, 1864, wood, 560 cords ; straw, 8,818 pounds. 
 
 ""Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, 
 XLII, 761, 762. 
 
340 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 extra clothing. On January 2, on the principle that confession 
 of sin should follow as soon as possible on its commission, he 
 sent off to Washington duplicate requisitions and an account 
 of the emergency. 23 
 
 In spite of these efforts at relief, suffering was intense. 
 On the long shelves that served as bunks, the prisoners lay 
 huddled together, usually in groups of three, with one man's 
 blanket and a little straw beneath them, and the other two 
 blankets, or more, if they were lucky, spread above. It was 
 customary to take turns occupying the middle space, but 
 occasionally someone was allowed to keep it permanently as a 
 concession to extreme youth or frailty. The men slept spoon 
 fashion — it made a shorter line and the blankets lay a little 
 thicker — and at intervals through the unhappy night, a shiver- 
 ing end man would order his file to "Spoon!", a command 
 that was answered by a mighty flop, as precisely executed as 
 any maneuver on the parade ground. 24 None of the expedients 
 so painfully learned during the first weeks of winter proved 
 efficacious on the last night of 1863. The cold struck in to 
 the men's very bones. 
 
 Outside, the guards were kept at their patrols, although 
 there was little likelihood that any prisoners would be fool- 
 hardy enough to make a break on such a night. Officers took 
 their watches with the men. They were ordered off the 
 exposed sentinels' walk along the outside of the fence to make 
 their rounds inside the enclosure, and they were relieved every 
 hour, or oftener on call. The cry "Officer of the Gua-a-a-rd, 
 Post Number 5," usually meant that a sentry's feet or hands 
 were frosted. A number of them went to the hospital next 
 day, and some suffered lasting injuries. 25 At the other camps 
 in town, officers called in the sentinels, trusting the bitterness 
 of the night to keep off marauders and camp followers. 
 
 sz Official Records, 2 series, VI, 809. 
 
 24 Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 
 
 846-47. 
 
 ^Indianapolis Sentinel, January 4, 1864; Indianapolis Journal, January 2, 
 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; January 4, p. 3, c. 1 ; January 5, p. 3, c. 2 ; Carnahan, Camp 
 Morton, 27 ; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century 
 Magazine, XLII, 761. , 
 
CAMP MORTON 341 
 
 Under the stimulation of such extraordinary weather, 
 rumor outran the distressing actuality: from ten to fifteen 
 prisoners were said to have frozen to death on New Year's 
 Eve ; a guard had succumbed from exposure after being tied to 
 a tree to keep him at his post ; soldiers had frozen to death 
 on stalled railroad trains. 20 Such stories were dangerous, and 
 the Governor ordered General Carrington to investigate condi- 
 tions in every camp in town. His report was calculated to quiet 
 all outcry : there had been no deaths or serious injury among 
 the guards ; there was less sickness among the prisoners than 
 usual; and they lacked nothing indispensable to their health 
 and comfort. The men were described as "cheerful and 
 thankful," and one was quoted as saying that it would be ex- 
 travagant to ask for anything more than they had. 27 
 
 Against this optimistic statement, we have the official 
 prisoners' rolls, recording 91 deaths and 244 sick at Camp 
 Morton in December, 1863, and 104 deaths and 251 sick in 
 January, 1864. These figures include only the hospital cases. 
 An inspection made on January 26 put the number of sick 
 in hospital at 240, in barracks, at 706, making a total of 946. 
 Nine men died in one day. Although camp officials then and 
 afterwards denied vehemently that any prisoner ever froze 
 to death at Camp Morton, the record carries an unavoidable 
 implication that the abnormally cold weather, together with the 
 shortage of warm clothing and blankets, brought on or 
 hastened many deaths. 28 
 
 Relief from the cold was slow in coming. Top temperature 
 on New Year's Day was 12 below zero. The next afternoon 
 it crept above zero, and on Sunday it reached ij° above, but 
 there was snow all that night. On the fifth and sixth there 
 was below-zero weather again. For the rest of the month cold 
 blustery days predominated. February brought little relief. 
 
 26 Indianapolis Sentinel, January 4, 1864, p. 3, c. 1,2; Indianapolis Journal, 
 January 4, p. 3, c. 1,2 ; January 7, p. 2, c. 6. 
 
 ^Indianapolis Sentinel, January 7, 1864, p. 3, c. 2; Indianapolis Journal, 
 Tanuary 7, 1864, p. 2, c. 6. 
 
 ™Post, p. 379; Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century 
 Magazine, XLI, 847 ; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century 
 Magazine, XLII, 761-62; Carnahan, Camp Morton, 31; Official Records, 2 
 series, VI, 878-79- 
 
342 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 On the seventh a violent storm of rain, hail, and wind swept 
 over Indianapolis. A week later came another period of bitter 
 cold, followed by snow, rain, and more snow. On the fourth 
 of March a ''furious and universal" snowstorm raged. Spring 
 lagged, farmers unable to plough or plant. The last snow to 
 be recorded in the newspapers that season did not fall 
 until April 16. 29 
 
 Difficult as the situation was, Colonel Stevens succeeded 
 in making enough improvements at the camp to draw a favor- 
 able comment from Inspector Clark when he visited Indian- 
 apolis toward the end of January. 30 Slackness in the guard 
 had completely disappeared. Thanks to efficient policing, the 
 enclosure was sloughing off its unkempt air, and one of the 
 former eyesores, the trash- filled creek bed, had been trans- 
 formed into a valuable addition to the drainage system. 
 
 Camp hospitals also showed a change for the better. Their 
 capacity, including the two new wards and ten additional hos- 
 pital tents, had been increased to 292, and the patients were now 
 clean, comfortable, and better supplied with medical supplies 
 and surgical instruments. Clark directed the purchase of three 
 hundred outfits of clothing to be held for hospital use, and 
 urged the enlargement of the kitchen and the construction of 
 a hospital laundry to round out facilities. He was pleased 
 with the staff. Dr. Johnson was a skillful and energetic 
 officer, and responsible for many of the improvements. He 
 had as assistants three acting assistant surgeons and two 
 physicians from among the prisoners. Unfortunately, Johnson 
 was determined to retire from service; in spite of Clark's 
 attempt to dissuade him, he left Camp Morton in February 
 and was succeeded by Surgeon Charles J. Kipp. 
 
 At the time of Clark's visit, patients with contagious 
 diseases — measles was the commonest — were segregated in 
 special hospital tents. In February three cases of smallpox 
 appeared, possibly brought into camp by a small body of 
 prisoners who arrived on February 14. Stevens wrote for 
 permission to establish a tent hospital outside the enclosure 
 
 20 Indianapolis Journal and Sentinel, January 1 -April 18, 1864, passim. 
 30 Official Records, 2 series, VI, 878-80. 
 

 o 
 
CAMP MORTON 343 
 
 for these cases, a proposal which was carried out and which 
 apparently prevented any spread of the disease. 31 
 
 A military prison was constructed about this time. It was 
 a stout affair with walls, floors, ceiling, and doors of two 
 thicknesses of two-inch planking, laid transversely to each 
 other. It had four cells 15 feet square, ventilated by overhead 
 gratings, a main prison room 24 by 30 feet, a dungeon 16 feet 
 square, and an office and guardroom 12 by 24 feet. Sixty 
 prisoners could be lodged there ; there were thirty inmates in 
 January, 1864, some of them Union bounty- jumpers await- 
 ing court-martial. Three of these men, found guilty of re- 
 peated desertions, were executed on the parade ground near 
 Camp Morton. 32 
 
 Prisoners in the general barracks were still wretchedly 
 clothed and quartered. Those who had no change of clothing 
 could scarcely be expected to wash their only garments or 
 bathe often in near-zero temperature, and vermin flourished 
 among them. The plague drove some of the more fastidious 
 prisoners to band together for the purchase of top bunks 
 where the little beasts swarmed less profusely; occasionally, for 
 the common good, a prisoner was forcibly bathed and shaved 
 by his associates. 33 
 
 Strict policing would have helped to keep the barracks 
 free of other nuisances, and the prisoners would have been 
 better off for some regular occupation, but Stevens had not 
 roused their co-operative spirit. "Colonel Stevens is intelligent, 
 of good habits, and competent to fill the position he occupies," 
 said one inspector, "but does not fully understand the proper 
 management of the prisoners." 34 
 
 Lacking any camp duties, prisoners devoted themselves to 
 plans for escape. They tried everything, singly and in groups, 
 but Stevens' Veteran Reserves kept a strict watch. Two men 
 
 31 Official Records, 2 series, VI, 992; Indianapolis Sentinel, February 15, 
 1864, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 32 Indianapolis Journal, January 28, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 January 29, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; Terrell, Report, I, Appendix, p. 287. 
 
 33 0fficial Records, 2 series, VII, 71, 95-96; Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp 
 Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 852. 
 
 3i Official Records, 2 series, VII, 71. 
 
344 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 managed to evade the guard in November, and a member of the 
 Twenty-seventh Louisiana died trying. In December, the 
 intense cold helped to keep the record clear of escapes ; in 
 January three men were lucky enough to get away, and an- 
 other man was shot in the attempt. 35 
 
 Hoffman suggested to Stevens the advisability of employ- 
 ing detectives to ferret out plans for escape and to uncover 
 communications between the prisoners and "ill-disposed persons 
 outside." 36 This was doubtless a reference to the Sons of 
 Liberty, once again active in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. 
 Stevens already had some informants in the camp, but they 
 were not omniscient, and the prisoners were resourceful. 
 
 One of the lucky ones was a young Texan about twenty 
 years old who had been at Camp Morton since October, and 
 had had his fill of northern winter. The slow tunneling 
 process did not appeal to his temperament. He made a ladder 
 of sorts from bits of wood and odds and ends of cloth, and 
 concealed it in his bunk until one night when falling snow kept 
 the sentinels blinking and blurred the sharp lights above the 
 enclosure. At a moment when two sentries were farthest 
 from each other on their beat, the ladder was flung across the 
 top of the smooth high wall. A scramble, and the young 
 Texan was over. The ladder slid back, and under a quick drift 
 of snow remained undiscovered until the young man was safely 
 on his way to Kentucky. 37 
 
 Goacin Arcemont was unlucky. He came from Louisiana, 
 and like the Texan, he hated the stinging northern winter. At 
 one thirty in the morning of January 16 he slipped out of his 
 barracks by a door that was not supposed to be used, and 
 headed for an angle of the enclosure where prisoners had got 
 safely away before. Challenged by the guard and ordered 
 back to quarters, he stopped, but he did not turn back. He 
 knew well enough what would follow a refusal to obey the 
 second challenge, but perhaps he did not care very much. The 
 guard repeated his order. Despairing or stubborn, Arcemont 
 
 ZB Post, p. 379; Indianapolis Sentinel, November 2, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indian- 
 apolis Journal, November 16, 1863, p. 3, c. I, 2; November 19, p. 3, c. 3. 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 893. 
 37 Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 849. 
 
CAMP MORTON 345 
 
 stayed where he was, and after a little pause the guard fired, 
 inflicting a wound of which the prisoner died. 38 
 
 This occurrence brought from Hoffman a demand for a 
 detailed account of the affair, based on an investigation made 
 by Stevens himself. Were the prisoners fully apprised of the 
 rules? What was the interval between the guard's second 
 order and the shot? Who, beside the guard, gave evidence 
 about the case ? There must be no room for charges by the 
 Confederacy that prisoners were shot down on trifling pre- 
 texts. Although Stevens was able to assure him that the guard 
 had observed every requirement in this particular case, 
 Hoffman sent an order to all camp commanders on March 
 17, 1864, requiring that a board of officers be summoned to 
 investigate every case involving the shooting of a prisoner by 
 a sentinel, and reiterating his warning against any ex- 
 cesses or cruelties. 39 
 
 The prisoners meanwhile shut their eyes to the odds against 
 successful escape and continued to plot. Two scaled the wall 
 early in February. A few days later, ten men in Barracks G, 
 near the fence, decided to tunnel out. They boarded up the side 
 of a bunk, explaining to the guard that the muddy feet of men 
 climbing to the bunks above dirtied their blankets. Behind 
 this shield went the dirt dug on the first night. Next night, 
 the refuse from the tunnel was lodged in the topmost bunk 
 across the aisle. On the third night they devoted all their 
 time to digging and none to concealment. Between three and 
 four o'clock in the morning of February 11, they opened the 
 tunnel outside the enclosure, beneath, and concealed by, the 
 guards' walk. Due to this fortuitous point of exit, all of the 
 original plotters except one who lost heart at the last 
 minute emerged safely, taking with them two prisoners 
 from other quarters. 40 
 
 38 Indianapolis Sentinel, January 19, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; Official Records, 2 
 series, VI, 884-85, 911-12, 941-42. 
 
 "Ibid., VI, 91 1 -1 2, 1073. 
 
 "Colonel Stevens and two of the prisoners involved, have left accounts 
 of this escape. The story told by J. T. Branch in the Confederate Veteran, 
 VIII, 71-72 (February, 1900) is the most circumstantial. See also article 
 by J. J. Montgomery, in ibid., VII, 10-12 (January, 1899), and Stevens' 
 report, Official Records, 2 series, VI, 1043-44. 
 
346 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Word of the escape was whispered about the camp all 
 day. So far as the prisoners knew, the tunnel had not been 
 discovered, and there was a chance that it could be used again 
 from Barracks G. In other parts of the camp excited prisoners 
 laid plans to rush the wall. That night the two groups made 
 a concerted try for freedom, but Stevens had been warned that 
 a break was likely, and extra guards were stationed at vulner- 
 able sections of the enclosure. One man was shot as he 
 emerged from the tunnel, cutting off that route of escape, and 
 musket fire thwarted the stampede against the wall. A few 
 prisoners managed to get over the fence in the uproar, but 
 some of them were recaptured; as a general uprising, the 
 venture failed dismally. 41 
 
 During the rigid inspection of the barracks that followed, 
 another tunnel was found opening from Barracks A, and 
 within a month four tunnels were discovered elsewhere in the 
 camp. 42 Guards were put under the strictest orders to prevent 
 further escapes — a hard assignment. All the prisoners were 
 restless and defiant, although the more intelligent continued 
 to shield their plans behind a front of good behavior. The 
 stupid and vicious showed less foresight, making trouble 
 among their comrades and insulting guards and officials 
 openly. To send a stone cracking against a sentinel's cartridge 
 box and spin him into an awkward about-face yielded a 
 malicious joy that these men would not forego even to help 
 their chances of escape. Stevens considered some of them "as 
 tough and depraved characters" as he had ever seen, never- 
 theless, guards were commanded never to answer an insult 
 and never to use force unless violence threatened. 43 Most of 
 the Reserves had enough self-control to comply with the order, 
 but a few were irritated into acts of brutality that no amount 
 of provocation could justify. 
 
 Several prisoners were punished for attempted escape by 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 946-47; Indianapolis Journal, February 
 15, 1864, p. 3, c. 1; February 19, p. 3, c. 2; Indianapolis Sentinel, February 
 15, 1864, p. 3, c. 2; February 20, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 946-47, !044- 
 
 43 "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, 
 XLII, 768, 769. 
 
CAMP MORTON 347 
 
 having their arms fastened behind a tree while they marked 
 time hour after hour ; at least once, a culprit was tied up by 
 the thumbs until he fainted from exhaustion. Other cruelties 
 are said to have taken place with even less excuse : men were 
 held unnecessarily long at roll call in freezing weather; a 
 youngster was kicked and beaten for trying to secure an extra 
 jacket when clothing was being issued ; there were unauthorized 
 shootings into the barracks — one prisoner who made a light 
 after taps in order to help a sick comrade was shot, had to 
 have his arm amputated, and died as a result. When these 
 charges came into controversy, their truth was testified to by 
 numbers of prisoners and in some cases by camp officials. 
 Apparently most of the blame was attributable to one or two 
 bullies among the noncommissioned officers; other guards and 
 officials were absolved of responsibility even by the prisoners. 44 
 
 "The Indianapolis newspapers contain very little information about 
 what was going on at Camp Morton at this time, aside from one or two 
 articles about the abnormally cold weather and mentions of the arrival and 
 departure of prisoners. Outsiders were rigidly excluded from the camp. 
 The reports of harsh treatment were first publicized in April, 1891, when 
 John A. Wyeth, prisoner at Camp Morton from October, 1863 to February, 
 1865, and later a physician of repute and president of the American Medical 
 Association, wrote an article for Century Magazine (XLI, 844-52) called 
 "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton." It painted a dark picture, and was received 
 with great indignation in Indiana. In November, 1891, it was answered by 
 W. W. Holloway, Governor Morton's secretary during the war, in a state- 
 ment which Century printed (XLII, 757-70) together with a rejoinder by 
 Wyeth (ibid., 771-75). Each side offered much supporting testimony, 
 Holloway to the effect that the charges were indefensible and malicious, 
 and Wyeth to show that he had exaggerated nothing. Much of the material 
 in these articles was reviewed by James R. Carnahan, of the Indianapolis 
 Commandery, Loyal Legion, in a defense of Camp Morton, printed in 1892, 
 while numerous articles upholding Wyeth's assertions appeared in the 
 Confederate Veteran. In 1914 Dr. W'yeth retold his story as a chapter in a 
 volume called With Sabre and Scalpel. A comparison of this chapter with 
 his first article shows some modifications, based on the replies of Holloway 
 and Carnahan, and on the eight volumes of Official Records dealing with 
 prisoners of war (these volumes began to appear in 1894) but in the essentials 
 he sticks to his original story. At those points where the Official Records 
 cover the matters of which he speaks — for example, the condition of barracks, 
 hospitals, and clothing issues — they tend to substantiate his statements. For 
 material on the charges cited in the text, see Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp 
 Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 849, 850-51 ; "Treatment of Prisoners 
 at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLII, 768, 772-74. 
 
348 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Harsh treatment may have cowed some of the weaker 
 spirits, but it was not, generally, effective in preventing escapes. 
 Other measures worked far better. Stevens ordered twenty 
 feet taken off the end of the barracks nearest the fence, and 
 started the prisoners digging a trench within the walls so wide 
 and deep that tunneling below it would be practically impos- 
 sible, The Confederates regarded this occupation with extreme 
 disfavor, as might be expected, but the work went on, and 
 when the job was finished, a stout board enclosure was erected 
 inside the old wall as a further barrier against unauthorized 
 departures. 45 
 
 In late February, 1864, a squabble between Hoffman and 
 Major General Benjamin F. Butler, who had been made a 
 special agent of exchange, did the prisoners a good turn. Butler 
 found his attempts to supply comforts to Union prisoners 
 coldly received by the Confederates because Hoffman was 
 refusing to allow the delivery of boxes of provisions to 
 southern prisoners. Exasperated by this inept management, 
 Butler wrote to Colonel Hoffman in the tone of a sarcastic 
 headmaster addressing a clumsy schoolboy. Hoffman's com- 
 ment that the delivery of packages caused a great deal of 
 trouble to the prison commandants especially provoked him, 
 since it was obvious that a little more effort on the part of 
 these gentlemen would work as much to the advantage of 
 Union as of Confederate prisoners. 46 
 
 "I desire to have and shall have the delivery of packages 
 made in accordance with the views herein contained/' an- 
 nounced Butler, * "unless specifically directed to the contrary 
 by the Secretary of War." Hoffman forwarded the letter to 
 Stanton, and with it requests from the commandant at Camp 
 Chase for permission to extend the list of articles which might 
 be sold to prisoners of war. It was decided that the exchange 
 of provisions be allowed on a reciprocity basis, and that a 
 sutler be appointed in each camp. 47 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 946-47, 1044; VII, 95; Indianapolis 
 Journal, March 21, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; March 28, p. 3, c. 2 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 June 22, 1864, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, VI, 954-55, 973-75 ', VIII, 343- 
 
 "Ibid., VI, 983-85. 
 
CAMP MORTON 349 
 
 Boxes "containing nothing hurtful or contraband" were 
 thereafter delivered at the camps. Military equipment and 
 intoxicating liquors were among the contraband articles, and 
 clothing was not allowed in excess of "immediate" require- 
 ments. This last stricture was narrowly construed. For 
 instance, one destitute prisoner who appealed to his family for 
 a new outfit got only a shirt and pantaloons, a pair of socks, 
 and a pair of shoes out of a package which contained a coat, 
 hat, another shirt, and extra socks in addition. 48 
 
 Prisoners did their best to get around the antiliquor rule. 
 Wines and whiskies kept in the hospital storeroom had an 
 irresistible attraction for an orderly named Whitehead. He 
 discovered in the storeroom ceiling a hole intended to accom- 
 modate a stovepipe, and by means of a lasso was able to fish 
 out a bottle of liquor every now and then. For a while 
 occasional breakages in the locked room were attributed to 
 mice and rats, as he had hoped, but a suspicious surgeon 
 eventually set a watch on the place, and Whitehead found 
 himself repining the loss of his "bitters" in the guardhouse. 49 
 
 The new regulations for sutlers, issued on March 3, were 
 sensible and generous. No sales were to be made before eight 
 o'clock or after half an hour before sundown, when they would 
 obviously interfere with camp routine. The stock was to be 
 restricted to certain articles — a fairly comprehensive list which 
 would have allowed the prisoner (always providing that he 
 had funds) to enlarge his supply of shoes, socks, and under- 
 clothes, and supplement his rations with fruit, vegetables, and 
 other nourishing foods. 50 
 
 It does not appear that Stevens applied the rules strictly. 
 The first report mentioning the sutler at Camp Morton states 
 that he was selling pies, cakes, soda water, and candies, but 
 whether these articles were in addition to those on Hoffman's 
 list or a poor substitute for them, is not clear. A new circular 
 covering the treatment of prisoners of war, issued on April 
 
 48 Ibid., VI, 1036; VII, 75; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," 
 in Century Magazine, XLII, 774. 
 
 49 Indianapolis Sentinel, November 2, 1863, p. 3, c. 2. 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 1014, 1036. 
 
350 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 20, 1864, required that sutlers be obliged to furnish the pre- 
 scribed articles at reasonable prices. The sutler was to pay a 
 small tax, which was to become a part of the prisoners' fund. 51 
 
 The circular of April 20 also carried a new ruling about 
 rations. Whereas until this time the amount of the regular 
 army rations that might be withheld from the prisoners and 
 commuted into a prisoners 1 fund had been left to the judgment 
 of the camp commandants, this order made a flat schedule for 
 all prison depots. 52 Whether the new allowance was more or 
 less than the issue then in effect at Camp Morton does not 
 appear ; it is probable that it was less, for inspectors had never 
 criticised the quantity of food furnished there, although they 
 had found plenty of fault with the shortage of vegetables and 
 the poor cooking arrangements. 
 
 At least one camp commander considered the new ration 
 too small, but the commander of big Camp Douglas wrote to 
 Hoffman that he thought it could be reduced still further. He 
 recommended doing away with hominy, tea, and candles, on 
 the grounds that the hominy was almost entirely wasted, tea 
 was unnecessary, and the candles had been used chiefly "in 
 tunneling or in studying up some other means of escape." 5 
 
 Hoffman welcomed the suggestion. Since dispatching the 
 circular of April 20, he had made a visit to Annapolis to 
 oversee the reception of some paroled Union soldiers brought 
 North by truce boat. He found most of the officers in good 
 health and happy, but the condition of the enlisted men return- 
 ing from Belle Isle Prison horrified him, and caused him to 
 discredit the Confederate claim that prisoners were receiving 
 army rations. Reports from Andersonville, established in 
 December, 1863, were also distilling bitterness. On May 3, 
 1864, Hoffman wrote to Stanton advocating retaliation on 
 the officers in northern prisons, and on the nineteenth he wrote 
 again, proposing a general reduction in prison rations. His 
 proposal was approved by Stanton, Halleck, the Acting Surgeon 
 General, and the Commissary General of Subsistence, and on 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 71, 74. 
 
 "Ibid., VI, 1081 ; post, p. 381. 
 
 53 0fficial Records, 2 series, VII, 134, 142-43- 
 
CAMP MORTON 351 
 
 June i was incorporated in a circular and transmitted to 
 prison commanders. 54 
 
 Candles and molasses had disappeared from the allowance 
 completely; bread was reduced from 18 to 16 ounces per day, 
 potatoes from 30 pounds to 15 pounds per hundred men, and 
 the salt portion was lessened. Sugar and coffee or tea were 
 removed from the ration of all but the sick and wounded: the 
 latter were allowed small amounts every other day. 55 From the 
 dietary angle, the worst feature of the measure was the reduc- 
 tion of potatoes and salt ; from the prisoners' point of view, the 
 regulation best exemplifying Yankee hatefulness was the 
 withdrawal of the daily cup of coffee. 
 
 Stevens received the order with misgivings. For one 
 thing, the temper of the camp had been increasingly inflamed 
 ever since the shooting of two prisoners a few weeks before. 
 Several prisoners had been detailed to help with the disposal 
 of garbage. While they were marching along behind the 
 wagon, followed by an excitable and inexperienced guard, two 
 of them stepped out of line and ran up beside the wagon. Ac- 
 cording to the guard's story, he ordered them to fall back, and 
 at the same time brought his musket to "Charge bayonets," 
 cocking it with his thumb as he brought it down. In his 
 excitement the musket was discharged, and the two men in the 
 path of the bullet were fatally wounded. The guard was 
 arrested, tried for murder, and acquitted, but many of the 
 prisoners were convinced that the shooting had been intentional, 
 and continued to look upon the guard as nothing better 
 than an assassin. 56 
 
 Investigations made by General Carrington were also 
 disturbing. Stevens was convinced that the Sons of Liberty 
 now had contacts within the camp, and that designs were being 
 laid to promote an uprising. To add to his uneasiness, the 
 
 '"'Official Records, 2 series, VII, 110-11, 150-51, 183-84. A somewhat 
 larger ration was established on June 13 for prisoners employed on public 
 works. Ibid., VII, 366-67. 
 
 a Post, p. 381. 
 
 5G Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 
 849-50: Carnahan, Camp Morton, 40-41; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp 
 Morton," in Century Magazine, XLII, 773, 774. 
 
352 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 prisoners' strength had been increased by six hundred men 
 sent North in May; more were expected/' 7 To reduce rations 
 was to invite an explosion. Additional safeguards were 
 demanded, and General Carrington procured a howitzer 
 battery from St. Louis, which was placed to protect the angles 
 of the fence. 58 
 
 Introduction of the short ration met the belligerent recep- 
 tion that Stevens expected. "I have just returned from Camp 
 Morton, where there are indications of attempted revolt of the 
 prisoners," wrote Carrington on June 4/" 9 ''Last night stones 
 had been collected in large numbers and tunnels had been 
 pushed forward to considerable progress. They have destroyed 
 some of their utensils and talk defiantly. A portion of the 
 excitement grew out of reduction of rations. To-day the issue 
 of coffee ceases. 
 
 "The officers and guard are on the alert and will be 
 doubled to-night. The force is inadequate for the duty 
 devolved upon them, and lumber is greatly needed for neces- 
 sary repairs. I have ordered an inspection of the prison." 
 
 The threatening muzzles of the howitzer battery and the 
 doubled guard held the prisoners in check temporarily, and 
 Stevens turned his attention to providing accommodations for 
 extra prisoners. 
 
 57 Indianapolis Sentinel, May 23, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 27, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indian- 
 apolis Journal, May 25, 1864, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 58 Terrell, Report, I, Appendix, 273 ; Official Records, 2 series, VII, 193. 
 "Ibid. 
 
VII. THE LAST YEAR, 1864-65 
 
 Camp Morton housed 4,999 prisoners in July, 1864, a fifty 
 per cent increase since the first of May : 609 had arrived 
 late in that month, 1,350 in June, and 568 in July. 1 Renova- 
 tions and improvements at the camp had not been made on a 
 scale to accommodate half the newcomers. By the end of July 
 the seven barracks housed from 436 to 484 inmates each, 554 
 men occupied the old cattle shed, and a fourth of the men were 
 still sweltering in tents set in cramped rows between the 
 buildings. Fortunately kitchens had at last been erected, in 
 each of which cooking was done for from three to four 
 hundred prisoners; this was a great reform, but its good effects 
 were reduced by the omission of succulent vegetables from the 
 diet. Beef cooked in quantity might taste better and go 
 further, but it did not prevent scurvy. 2 
 
 The advent of July was dreaded by the camp physicians. 
 The hot days brought deadly exhalations from the earth, 
 trampled by thousands of men and impregnated with filth, 
 while the sink, situated near the center of the camp, spread 
 its noxious gases broadcast. July was the month too when 
 malaria began to seize its victims. Even in 1863, when the 
 number of prisoners was below a thousand, the death rate 
 during that month had been high. In 1864, the camp was 
 swarming, and matters were made still worse by heat as blister- 
 ing as the winter cold had been severe. Three cases of sun- 
 stroke in downtown Indianapolis were reported by the Sentinel 
 of June 21. Later issues commented in a depressed fashion on 
 the succession of burning days, and by July 23 wells and 
 cisterns had begun to go dry. 3 
 
 The hospitals were soon full. One building had been 
 remodeled to contain the office and dispensary, storerooms, 
 and a kitchen and messroom, while the wards had become such 
 
 x Post, p. 379- 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 512-13, 554- 
 
 'Ibid. 
 
 (353) 
 
354 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 "models of neatness" that a sojourn there was regarded as 
 the best thing the camp had to offer. 4 The patients were better 
 clothed and better fed than the men outside, and behind 
 Surgeon Kipp's professional ability they perceived a heart- 
 warming personal interest. Kipp had efficient assistants, 
 too. 5 His worst foes were the intolerably crowded quarters 
 and a general debility which complicated every case of illness. 
 Following a week when twenty-four of his patients died, he 
 was requested to make a statement of the causes to Surgeon 
 Charles J. Tripler, Medical Director of the Northern Depart- 
 ment. His reply showed plainly that no improvement could 
 be expected as long as the prisoners remained in cramped 
 quarters and were denied antiscorbutics. 6 
 
 With Tripler's strong endorsement, the statement eventually 
 reached Hoffman's hands. It was reinforced almost immedi- 
 ately by a report from Medical Inspector Alexander, who 
 visited Camp Morton on August 5 and 6. 7 He said bluntly 
 that the number of sick — 327 in hospital and 256 in barracks — 
 was out of proportion to the number of prisoners, and recom- 
 mended (1) enlargement of the camp; (2) building of eight 
 hospital wards in the added area; (3) conversion of existing 
 hospital wards into quarters; (4) reconstruction of the cattle 
 shed into a barracks by the addition of another half; 
 
 (5) a free supply of vegetables for the next two months; 
 
 (6) improved police. 
 
 All this he thought could be done at less than the cost of 
 replacing 198 worn-out tents still in use but unfit for winter 
 occupancy. He himself had instituted measures to improve 
 the sinks, and had ordered onions supplied from the prison 
 fund, which amounted to $36,215.52 at the end of July. 
 
 Hoffman was impressed into instituting the reforms that 
 could be handled without much expense. Antiscorbutics were 
 issued regularly thereafter — half a pound of potatoes or six 
 
 Official Records, 2 series, VII, 94- 
 
 5 Ibid., VII, 556. Five acting assistant surgeons of the U. S. Army were 
 now on duty at Camp Morton. They were R. N. Todd, W. P. Parr, I. N 
 Craig, W. S. Thompson, and S. C. Dove. 
 
 6 Ibid., VII, 512-13, 554-56. 
 
 "Ibid., VII, 554-56. 
 
CAMP MORTON 355 
 
 ounces of onions per man. Stevens was ordered to take into 
 the enclosure about ten acres at the northeast corner, and to 
 report weekly on the condition of the camp. 8 He appointed 
 Lieutenant J. W. Davidson, of the Veteran Reserve Corps, 
 to act as camp inspector and see that policing was regular and 
 thorough. 
 
 After examining the noisome barracks, Davidson character- 
 ized the prisoners as "the filthiest set of men in the world." 
 They obstructed his every move, but they could not balk this 
 stubborn officer. As soon as the barracks were empty in the 
 morning, a detail of prisoners was assigned to give them a 
 sweeping. Bedding was then aired and rolled neatly at the 
 head of each bunk, in regular army camp fashion. The men 
 were inspected, too, and anyone who came dirty to the morning 
 line-up was taken from the ranks and washed. 9 
 
 Davidson had scarcely had time to admire the results when 
 Hoffman, in a fit of economy, threatened to reduce the soap 
 ration. Davidson saw his charges slipping back into their 
 former grimy state, and protested with an earnestness that 
 gave no thought to the niceties of grammar : "The rations of 
 soap, I have found, is not more than is required, owing to the 
 water that has to be used for washing being of such a nature 
 as to require a large quantity to enable them to keep themselves 
 and their clothing clean." 10 
 
 Other reforms recommended by Inspector Alexander 
 bogged down because Hoffman and Stevens got at cross pur- 
 poses over requisitions and authorizations. As an illustration 
 of the disastrous results produced in the prison camps by false 
 economy and red tape, the struggle to improve accommodations 
 for the winter of 1864-65 will be followed in some detail. 
 
 The whole plan to provide barrack room for the men in 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 585, 599- 
 
 °Ibid., VII, 693, 771, 843: Indianapolis Journal, October 25, 1864, p. r, 
 c. 4-5. Davidson has been accused of tyrannical and cruel behavior toward 
 the prisoners (Confederate Veteran, XV, 223-26. May, 1907), and his reports 
 sometimes betray extreme exasperation at their unhelpfulness. On the other 
 hand, his efforts to secure better quarters for them were unremitting. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 599, 694. Stevens reported that SA95 l A 
 pounds of soap, and 1,030^ gallons of vinegar were required in August. 
 Ibid., VII, 824. 
 
356 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 tents and reduce the crowding in the regular quarters hinged 
 on the building of enough new hospital wards to accommodate 
 all the sick, and release the old wards for conversion into 
 barracks. Perhaps Stevens did not emphasize this point suf- 
 ficiently when he forwarded the recommendations of his sub- 
 ordinates. Kipp had added several details to the suggestions 
 already made. He wanted windows in the barracks, bunks 
 limited to two tiers instead of three, an "ablution room" at- 
 tached to each building, and a messroom to each kitchen. 11 It 
 was impossible to keep the barracks clean in winter when the 
 men had to eat indoors. Davidson begged for the construction 
 of floors in the barracks, partly as a sanitary measure, and 
 partly to make tunneling more difficult. He was distressed 
 about the men in leaky tents, and harped on the necessity of 
 providing better quarters for them before cold weather. 12 
 Stevens unfortunately neglected to provide estimates of costs, 
 a fatal omission in dealing with Hoffman. 
 
 As the days went by without word from Washington, 
 Stevens revised his plans and began makeshift repairs with 
 materials on hand. By remodeling an extension of the cattle 
 shed along the north wall, brought inside the enclosure by the 
 enlargement of the grounds, it was possible to take 585 men 
 out of tents. The most dilapidated tents were then discarded 
 and the rest moved to fresh ground. 13 Beyond improvements 
 of this sort Stevens was unwilling to go without authoriza- 
 tion from Washington. 
 
 When Hoffman finally wrote to Stevens on September 14, 
 he did not mention the barracks at all, and he criticized the 
 proposals for the hospital as too elaborate. Instead of authoriz- 
 ing the construction of the six or eight wards needed, he ordered 
 the building of two. Specifications were to be as follows: 14 
 
 Dimensions, 25 feet by no, with 9 1/2 feet elevation from 
 the floor ; clothes room, bathing room, and closet in each ward ; 
 eight windows in a side at intervals of 1 1 feet, allowing three 
 beds between; one row of beds to run lengthwise, providing 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, VII, 663-64. 
 
 12 Ibid., VII, 693-94, 771, 812, 843, 918. 
 
 n Ibid. 
 
 "Ibid., VII, 823. 
 
CAMP MORTON 357 
 
 accommodations for fifty men to a ward. A building 20 by 60 
 feet was authorized for the kitchen and messroom, and another, 
 24 by 75 feet, to contain a room for the surgeon, an office, 
 dispensary, storeroom, and a room for attendants. The 
 buildings were to be put up without framing, the posts set in 
 the ground and the joists spiked to them. Felt roofing was 
 recommended as warmer than shingles, and floors were to be 
 elevated one foot above the ground. Stevens was asked to 
 report on the costs as soon as the wards were completed. 
 
 Materials had to be assembled before work could begin, 
 and construction was further delayed by heavy rains. Hoff- 
 man, waiting to hear how the hospital wards were progressing, 
 got nothing but Davidson's weekly pleas for better barracks. 
 Irritated and impatient, he wrote to Stevens on October 3 
 scoring these "vague suggestions" and "recommendations 
 without details." 15 
 
 Stevens replied patiently with a statement of what he had 
 done and what he hoped to do. By October 20 the hospital 
 wards were finished, and reporting this fact, Stevens brought 
 up once again the need for at least four more. 16 Expense was 
 not prohibitive, for the first two cost but $915.46, and the 
 prison fund was climbing steadily. 17 Hoffman received the 
 suggestion as though it were brand new. "If the tents now 
 in use can possibly be made to serve . . . this winter, no 
 further buildings will be erected; but if the tents are wholly 
 unfit for further use, you are authorized to erect additional 
 hospital wards and convert the present hospital into barracks, 
 as you recommend. Report what you think proper to do in this 
 matter." 18 If Stevens read this communication with anger 
 and frustration, who can blame him? For weeks he had been 
 reporting the measures that he considered necessary, and his 
 reports had been backed up by recommendations of the camp 
 inspector, the camp surgeon, and the district medical inspector. 
 
 "Ibid., VII, 919. 
 
 ls Ibid., VII, 927-28, 1034. 
 
 "Ibid., VII, 1 166. In December, 1864, the prison fund amounted to 
 about $75, 000. Alvin P. Hovey to The Adjutant General, December 2, 1864. 
 Photostat, Indiana Division, Indiana State Library. 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, VII, 1069-70. 
 
358 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Shortly after this, on November n, Hoffman was made 
 Commissary General of Prisoners West of the Mississippi, a 
 position which he held until February i, 1865. For that period 
 he was replaced at Washington by Brigadier General Henry W. 
 Wessells. Immediately, Stevens' communications began to 
 receive consideration, but so much time had been wasted 
 already in fruitless correspondence that the camp was doomed 
 to face another winter ill prepared. 
 
 Construction of additional hospital wards, approved by 
 Wessells' office on November 21, was retarded by snow and 
 ice ; before they were completed it was plain that they would 
 not suffice (on December 29, Surgeon Kipp had room for 240 
 patients and a daily sick report of 400, many of the patients 
 coming from the group of prisoners who were still living in 
 tents). Kipp begged for three more wards and toward the 
 end of January, 1865, received permission to build them 
 with prison labor. 19 
 
 What the months of haggling over hospitals and winter 
 quarters cost is told by the prisoners' death rolls : September, 
 
 1864, 33 ; October, 21 ; November, 18 ; December, 53 ; January, 
 
 1865, 117; February, 133. 20 
 
 Life at Camp Morton from the summer of 1864 to the 
 spring of 1865 followed the pattern of the preceding year in 
 other aspects. On August 10, 1864, Hoffman once more 
 prohibited sutlers from selling food to prisoners of war, and 
 so restricted the delivery of boxes from their families as 
 virtually to cut off that source of supplies. Sutlers still 
 furnished tobacco, stamps, and odds and ends of toilet and 
 sewing articles, and some of them did a little smuggling on 
 the side. The Camp Morton sutler, Dwight Roberts, was 
 charged with selling small gingerbread cakes worth about two 
 cents each to agents among the prisoners at the rate of eleven 
 cakes for a dollar; the agents then tacked on a big profit for 
 themselves, and the hungry consumer had to pay fifteen or 
 twenty-five cents for his illicit bite of gingerbread. Another 
 sharp practice was to force the prisoners to buy at least thirty 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 1102-3, 1117, 1128, H54-55, 1166, 1202, 
 1211, 1242, 1294; VIII, 134, 144. 
 "Post, p. 379- 
 
CAMP MORTOX 
 
 359 
 
 iniiMiiiuiiim 
 
 Century Magazine, XLII, 764. 
 
 Camp Morton, 1865 (Compiled from sketches by several persons who 
 were on duty in the camp). 1. Headquarters. 2. Old hospital. 3. Hospital 
 tents. 4. Sutler. 5. Hospitals — built in 1863. 6. New hospitals — built in 
 1864. 7. Barracks. 9. Gates. 10. Quartermaster. 11. Commissary. 
 12. Bakery. 13. Baseball grounds. 15. Bridges. 16. Pumps. 17. Sheds, 
 officers' horses. 19. Dining room. 20. Kitchen. 21. Dining room. 22. Con- 
 sulting room. 2^. Reception room. 24. Engineer. 25. Prescription, supplies. 
 Guard line. 
 
 cents worth of provisions at a time or forfeit the change due 
 from a sutler's check worth a dollar. 21 As will appear later, 
 the prisoners found a way of avenging themselves. 
 
 Food gradually became the center of men's thoughts, the 
 subject of most of their conversations, and the basis of a 
 strange camp commerce. Chief commodities in camp trading 
 operations were bread (''duffers"), crackers ("hardtack"), 
 beef bones, and bone butter, and the unit of currency was 
 a "chaw" of tobacco, cut to a standard size of an inch square 
 and a quarter inch thick. Bone butter rated as the top luxury 
 on the prison bill of fare. If a man drew a beef joint on his 
 
 n Official Records, 2 series, VII, 573-74; letter of James A. Edwards to 
 "the Proper Officer," Washington, D. C, February 27, 1865, photostat, 
 Archives Division, Indiana State Library, from War Department, Letters 
 Received, Secretary of War. 
 
360 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 ration he had the makings of this delicacy and was happy. The 
 meat was scraped off and cooked. The bone was then split 
 into very small pieces and boiled until all the fat was extracted 
 and the water evaporated. After the residue had been filtered 
 through a cloth and allowed to harden, the bone butter was 
 ready — and worth a big price in camp currency. 
 
 In fair weather the dealers had a regular market place ; on 
 rainy days they made their rounds through the barracks. Al- 
 most everybody joined in the daily bargaining. It was an 
 occupation that relieved the terrible ennui of the long days and 
 provided a momentary defense against nostalgia. 22 
 
 Some men found their entertainment in gambling. Since 
 rations were the usual stake the game was exciting, but the 
 losers had to choose between starving like gentlemen or ob- 
 taining food by irregular means. Rat eating was not uncom- 
 mon during the period of short rations : there was no stigma 
 attached to the practice. When the sutler's dog went the way 
 of the rats, however, some of the prisoners invited to the 
 vengeful feast could not bring themselves to share it. A 
 few men were driven to the extremity of filching scraps from 
 the hospital garbage, but their comrades soon formed a com- 
 mittee to prevent this degrading practice. They also held court 
 on the rascals who stole from their comrades. 23 
 
 Early in August, 1864, the prisoners' clothing was described 
 as bad and deficient. There were some reserves in the quarter- 
 master's department, but not enough to last through the winter. 
 Late in the month, Lieutenant Davidson asked for 530 woolen 
 blankets, 825 pairs of trousers, 1,250 pairs of shoes, 850 shirts, 
 and 350 coats, and took the trouble to point out that most of 
 the 4,800 prisoners at Camp Morton were too poor to secure 
 outfits from home. The supplies arrived slowly — there was 
 still a shortage of shoes on October 18 — and later more shirts 
 and blankets had to be requisitioned. In December, Davidson 
 
 "Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 
 851-52. 
 
 2i Ibid., 848, 851 ; "Plain Living at Johnson's Island," in Century Mag- 
 azine, XLI, 715 ; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century 
 Magazine, XLII, 765, 774, 775 ; Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 347, 348. 
 
CAMP MORTON 361 
 
 asked that straw be furnished for bedding as the prisoners 
 did not have enough blankets. 24 
 
 In the meantime a plan was being worked out under which 
 the Federal Government was to furnish Union men in southern 
 prisons with food, clothing and blankets, shelter and fuel, and 
 hospital stores, while the Confederacy supplied its men in the 
 North. To secure funds, the South was allowed to ship cotton 
 for sale in New York. 25 Brigadier General William N. R. 
 Beall, a prisoner at Fort Warren, was paroled on December 6 
 to take charge of the sale, make the necessary purchases, and 
 manage the distribution. The cotton came late (January 24, 
 1865) and in such bad condition that it had to be rebaled. It 
 was sold on February 8, and by the tenth Beall had made his 
 purchases. To the dismay of General Halleck, not a cent was 
 spent for provisions : every penny went for tobacco and for 
 shoes, gray blankets, and clothing that was "in every respect 
 the Confederate uniform (save the buttons)." Since ex- 
 changes were once more under way, this looked like an attempt 
 to outfit the men for the field, and the North refused to extend 
 its agreement to cover further sales of cotton. 26 
 
 General Beall's purchases were distributed in February. 
 Prisoners at Camp Morton received as their share 12 packages 
 of tobacco, 1,500 blankets, 1,580 coats and jackets, 1,585 pairs 
 of trousers, 1,730 shirts, 1,600 drawers, 1,800 pairs of socks, 
 and 800 pairs of shoes. 27 This was an impressive issue in 
 comparison with the quantities asked for by Lieutenant David- 
 son, and leaves the unhappy conviction that coats and blankets 
 at the camp were far too few from November to February. 
 
 During the summer and autumn of 1864 liberation of 
 prisoners again became an important objective of forlorn-hope 
 Confederates and hotheaded leaders of the Sons of Liberty in 
 the North. Their extravagant scheme contemplated the over- 
 
 2i Official Records, 2 series, VII, 694, 785, 843, 927, 966, 1007-8, 1147, 
 1 166, 121 1. 
 
 ^Ibid., VII, 1070-73, 1 107-8. It was part of the agreement that no article 
 furnished by either Government should be "upon any pretense or for any 
 cause whatever, diverted from the use" for which it was dedicated. 
 
 ™Ibid., VII, 1117-18, 1131, 1148-49, 1199-1200; VIII, 124, 227, 241-42. 
 
 "Ibid., VIII, 318, 750. 
 
362 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 throw of the state governments of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, 
 and Ohio, and the occupation of Kentucky. Governor Morton 
 was to be assassinated. The arsenals were to be seized and 
 the prisoners freed and armed to join Confederate forces mov- 
 ing in from Missouri and Kentucky. 
 
 "Visionary and desperate as this scheme may appear," 
 said one of Morgan's ablest officers later, "it was in reality 
 very nearly the last hope the South had of prolonging the war. 
 She had exhausted every other means of recruiting her fear- 
 fully depleted armies. Much of her territory had been over- 
 run and no longer furnished either men or supplies to the 
 Confederate cause. Enlistment in the territory still under 
 Confederate control had almost ceased; indeed, the material 
 for it had scarcely any longer existence. The conscription, no 
 matter how rigorously enforced, brought no acquisition to the 
 ranks, simply because it could not find men capable of serving. 
 Nowhere, except among the great army of her veterans cooped 
 up in Northern prisons, could the South find the men who, 
 with their remaining comrades yet in the field and standing 
 desperately at bay, might still fight her battles and prolong 
 the struggle." 28 
 
 So much for the position of the South. But the plan went 
 far beyond anything dreamed of by most northern members of 
 the order. Shocked and alienated by its treasonable aspects, 
 many withdrew in Indiana. Others succeeded in postponing 
 action in the state, and the plan for a rising in August col- 
 lapsed with the seizure of a shipment of arms — labeled Sunday 
 school books — at the office of H. H. Dodd, Grand Commander 
 for Indiana, and his subsequent arrest. 29 Some of his agents 
 were sent to the military prison at Camp Morton. 
 
 General Carrington reported that papers found in Dodd's 
 office included a list of four hundred prisoners of war who 
 were members of the Sons of Liberty, and that he had learned 
 from some of the prisoners that two thousand of their number 
 
 28 General Basil W. Duke, in Introduction to John B. Castleman's Active 
 Service (Louisville, Kentucky, 1917). 
 
 ^Terrell, Report, I, 299 f f . ; Indianapolis Journal, August 22, 1864, p. 2, 
 c. 1-5; August 23, p. 1, c. 5-8, p. 2, c. 1-2; Official Records, VII, 801-3, 
 930-53, 1089. 
 
CAMP MORTON 363 
 
 had organized battalions and chosen leaders in preparation for 
 an outbreak. Dodd denied that any prisoners were members 
 of the order, but he was quoted at his trial in September as 
 having said that with 150 men he could seize the artillery at 
 Camp Morton and overpower the guards, and there was ample 
 evidence that he expected the prisoners to co-operate in 
 the general uprising. 30 
 
 Although these plans came to nothing, they kept the offi- 
 cials at Camp Morton uneasy and doubly watchful. Additional 
 guards were brought in, the Sixtieth Massachusetts Volunteer 
 Infantry, and the Thirty-seventh Iowa Volunteers both assist- 
 ing the Fifth and Seventeenth Regiments of Veteran Reserves. 
 The prisoners immediately recognized inexperienced guards 
 and tried to make capital of the situation. On August 17 
 eight of them who had been sent outside the camp on fatigue 
 duty overpowered their guard. Six escaped, one was recap- 
 tured, and one came back to camp of his own accord. A month 
 later a prisoner tried to get away from a similar fatigue party 
 and was killed. 31 Informants within the camp gave warning 
 meanwhile that some of the prisoners were perfecting plans 
 for an attack on the enclosure, and were determined to fight 
 their way to the arsenals no matter what the cost of life. 32 
 
 Dozens of tunnels were discovered ; some progressed for 
 weeks before betrayal or mischance called them to the guards' 
 attention. One of these was begun two hundred feet from the 
 prison wall. A ten-foot shaft was sunk, and two feet from the 
 bottom of the shaft a cross trench was run parallel to the 
 surface until it dipped underneath the ditch that Stevens had 
 hoped would make tunneling impracticable. 
 
 ^Carrington to Lieutenant Colonel S. H. Lathrop, August 24, 1864, 
 photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, from War Department, 
 Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 69, pp. 88-89 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, 
 September 5, 1864, p. 2, c. 4; September 28, p. 2, c. 4; October 26, p. 3, c. 2 ; 
 Official Records, 2 series, VII, 947-48. 
 
 31 Indianapolis Sentinel, August 11, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; August 18, p. 3, c. 1 ; 
 August 19, p. 3, c. 1 ; August 24, p. 3, c. 1 ; September 19, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indian- 
 apolis Journal, August 19, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; Official Records, 2 series, VII, 
 911-12. 
 
 32 Carrington to Lieutenant Colonel S. H. Lathrop, August 23, 1864, 
 photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, from War Department, 
 Northern Department, Letter Books, Vol. 69, p. 87. 
 
364 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Elaborate precautions were taken to keep the work secret. 
 Some of the plotters were always at hand to blanket the shaft 
 when a patrol appeared, and help disguise the opening by 
 starting a card game on the covering. One man at a time 
 worked inside the tunnel, digging with a case knife, and push- 
 ing the earth into a bag which was tied at the middle of a 
 long cord and could be hauled back and forth in response to 
 a signal from either end. 
 
 Before the prisoners went to their barracks at sundown the 
 fresh earth was carefully disposed of. Each man tucked his 
 trousers into his socks, filled them with "as much loose earth 
 as he could waddle with," and made for the "Potomac." 
 Reaching the middle of the plank bridge across the little 
 stream, he gave his trousers a sudden pull, disengaging them 
 from his stockings and allowing the dirt to slide into the 
 stream, where the rapid current soon carried off all evidence 
 of his burrowing. 
 
 On a September morning the plotters hugged the knowledge 
 that the tunnel was ready to cut through ; as the day wore on, 
 fifteen of them realized with sick foreboding that the sixteenth 
 man of the party had disappeared. A surreptitious search dis- 
 covered their Judas — safe behind the guardlines at head- 
 quarters, where he remained until the end of the war. 33 
 
 On the night of September 27 a more spectacular attempt 
 at escape doubled the tension in the camp. Some time before, 
 the fifteen or twenty prisoners involved had spliced together 
 half a dozen ladders out of tent poles and the short ladders 
 from their bunks ; they had been waiting since for just such 
 a night of rain and pitch darkness as closed over the camp on 
 the twenty-seventh. It was in their favor, too, that part of 
 the troops on guard that night were armed only with musket 
 and bayonet, and could fire only once without reloading. 
 
 Letting fly a barrage of rocks and stones to draw the 
 sentries' fire, the prisoners rushed the wall. "By God, I'm 
 all right," shouted one as he reached the top, and was shot as 
 he spoke. Another was fatally wounded. A few got over the 
 fence and away; though little trails of blood indicated that 
 
 33 Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 850. 
 
 
CAMP MORTON 365 
 
 some of them had suffered gunshot or bayonet wounds, none 
 of them were recaptured, and it was supposed that they had 
 found shelter with Confederate sympathizers. 34 
 
 There were brought to Camp Morton on October 2 two of 
 the young Confederate officers who had been trying to prod 
 northern Sons of Liberty into aiding their plans. One was 
 Lieutenant William E. Munford; the other was Captain 
 John Breckenridge Castleman, of Louisville, Kentucky, who 
 had been working with Captain Thomas H. Hines, already 
 well known for his dashing foray into Indiana the preceding 
 summer and his spectacular escape with General Morgan from 
 the Ohio State Penitentiary at Columbus. Because they were 
 traveling in civilian clothes and under assumed names when 
 arrested, they were charged with spying, and were placed in 
 close confinement in the Camp Morton prison. 
 
 Within a few days Castleman had induced a guard to bring 
 him a saw, and had cut an opening in the floor of his cell 
 large enough to allow him to slip out. A short inspection 
 disclosed a close-set ring of sentinels around the prison and 
 beyond them the high wall surrounding the enclosure. There 
 was nothing to do but climb back into Cell 3 and replace 
 the floorboards. 
 
 Castleman was treated with consideration. The officer in 
 charge of the prison, Colonel A. J. Warner, of the Seventeenth 
 Regiment Veteran Reserves, visited him frequently, and per- 
 mitted him to have a private interview with his mother and to 
 receive the Bible which she brought. The Bible had been sup- 
 plied by Captain Hines and contained $3,000 in one side of 
 the binding and a fine saw in the other, but Castleman was 
 never able to engineer an escape. His Unionist brother-in-law, 
 Judge Samuel Breckenridge, of St. Louis, saw President 
 Lincoln secretly on his behalf in November, and received from 
 him a note to be used only in case of emergency. 
 
 " Whenever John B. Castleman shall be tried, if convicted 
 and sentenced, suspend execution until further order from 
 me, and send me the record. 
 
 A. Lincoln" 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 915-16. 
 
366 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Castleman knew nothing of this, and during the next few 
 months must have spent many hours contemplating the 
 probable consequences if he were tried as a spy. 35 
 
 Doubtless the Camp Morton grapevine carried through the 
 enclosure the story of Castleman's errand in the North; the 
 prisoners may have had secret knowledge, too, that Hines was 
 still working to release the prisoners at Camp Douglas, 
 knowledge that gave them courage for the last and most suc- 
 cessful prison break of the season. On the night of November 
 14, just as the bugle was calling prisoners to their barracks, 
 and before the night patrol had reached the prison yard, a mob 
 of fifty or sixty men rushed toward the fence. Stones and 
 bottles filled with water hurtled through the air at the guards, 
 taking them so completely by surprise that only a few shots 
 were fired. The prisoners bridged the ditch with an overturned 
 shed and went over the fence like cats. Tumbling down the 
 bank, they fled into the woods before reinforcements reached 
 the disorganized guards. An all-night search party corralled 
 a part of them, but thirty-one concealed themselves successfully 
 and were seen no more at Camp Morton. 36 
 
 There was wrath at the camp. Stevens and other officials 
 had been asking for weeks for an efficient guard regiment to 
 support the Fifth Veteran Reserves. The break justified their 
 requests, but not in a manner pleasing to officialdom. It did 
 result, however, in the replacement of the Sixtieth Massachu- 
 setts Volunteer Infantry by the Forty-third Indiana, and from 
 that time on, but four men escaped from Camp Morton. 37 
 
 One group of prisoners had been trying for many months 
 to secure their release by amicable means. They were mostly 
 Louisianans who had been captured in the Vicksburg campaign 
 
 35 Castleman, Active Service, 147-48, 172-79; Official Records, 2 series, 
 VIII, 704-5. 
 
 36 Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 
 849; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLII, 
 768; Alvin P. Hovey to Captain C. H. Potter, November 15, 1864, photostat, 
 Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, from War Department, Northern 
 Department Letter Books, Vol. 70, p. 100; Official Records, 2 series, VII, 
 1 146. 
 
 37 District Special Orders 175, November 16, 1864, Mereness Calendar, 
 War Department, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 84, p. 39. 
 

 i" s 
 
 e ° 
 
CAMP MORTON 367 
 
 in July, 1863. Many of them had been conscripted into service 
 and were not sorry to be taken prisoners. When offered 
 parole on the field, they refused it, having got the impression 
 from some source that they would be allowed to take the oath 
 of allegiance to the Union and return home. 
 
 Instead of being sent to St. Louis or Memphis, given the 
 oath and released, as they expected, they were sent to Camp 
 Morton, and there they had remained. They kept themselves 
 aloof from the other prisoners, and presently, under the 
 leadership of Louis Lefebvre, began an agitation to secure 
 their liberty. Stevens was impressed by their story and by 
 their good behavior. He gave them what help he could, and 
 allowed them to communicate with their New Orleans friends. 
 In May, 1864, Governor Hahn of Louisiana petitioned for 
 their discharge, and in July, Adjutant General Noble, of In- 
 diana, wrote to Hoffman on their behalf. It was decided 
 at Washington, however, that no exception to the rules could 
 be made in their case : the amnesty proclamation did not apply 
 to prisoners of war, and the Louisianans were in no way dis- 
 tinguished from other prisoners who wished to take the oath 
 of allegiance. 
 
 Noble next applied to the generals who had been in charge 
 of operations at Vicksburg. Had any promises been made to 
 the Louisianans? Major General John A. Logan had made 
 none ; General Sherman said that Grant must know about the 
 matter if anyone did; Grant replied that he had made no 
 pledges, but recommended on September 22 that all prisoners 
 sent north from Vicksburg after its capture be allowed to take 
 the oath of allegiance and be set at liberty. 
 
 An order for their release was given on November 25. As 
 soon as the prisoners' rolls were forwarded, the oath of allegi- 
 ance was administered to over four hundred and fifty men 
 and they were released on January 2 and 3, 1865. After 
 eighteen months of confinement they were a worn, ragged, 
 sorry crew, most of them without funds; the Sentinel, indig- 
 nant at their long, undeserved imprisonment, demanded that 
 they be given care and assistance in making their way home. 
 The prisoners themselves showed a generous spirit, acknowledg- 
 
368 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 ing with gratitude the efforts that had been made on their 
 behalf by camp and state officials. 38 
 
 February, 1865, was a month the prisoners had several 
 reasons to remember. On the first of the month the rations 
 of nonworking prisoners were cut again. The issue of hard 
 bread was reduced from 14 to 10 ounces, but this reduction did 
 not cause much additional discomfort at Camp Morton where 
 prisoners received fresh bread from the post baker. The 
 soap ration was reduced one half, the salt issue almost that 
 much, and the vinegar ration was cut one third. The new 
 regulations provided that these three items, if insufficient, 
 might be increased by the commanding officer of the post 
 not to exceed the ration allowed soldiers of the Union Army. 
 Antiscorbutics were to be purchased from the prison fund if 
 post surgeon and commandant certified that they were neces- 
 sary. It is possible that Stevens and Surgeon Kipp, influenced 
 by the heavy fatalities during the winter months, took advantage 
 of these provisos to keep the rations of salt, vinegar, and vege- 
 tables at an adequate figure. About the middle of the month, 
 after a complaint from the Confederate agent of exchange, 
 camp sutlers were again permitted to sell vegetables ; other 
 foods and necessary clothing were allowed by a later order. 39 
 
 The cut in the soap ration was less distressing at the 
 moment. In December Lieutenant Davidson had found the 
 men throwing their soap around the barracks. It was a sorry 
 spectacle to be witnessed by the man who had expended much 
 energy in improving the sanitary condition of barracks and 
 prisoners, but common humanity forbade his compelling them 
 to continue their outdoor bathing and laundry in icy weather. 40 
 
 In the middle of the month Governor Morton adjourned 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 466-67, 520, 608-10, 1158, 1179, 1232; 
 Indianapolis Sentinel, January 4, 1865, p. 3, c. 2. Lefebvre and a companion 
 made a table and box for Mrs. Stevens, as a token of their appreciation of 
 Colonel Stevens' kindness. Carnahan, Camp Morton, 17. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 62-63, 113, 144, 187-88, 209-10, 215, 
 310, 358, 412, 506. A district special order of August 2, 1864, required that 
 bread for all the camps in and around Indianapolis be furnished from the post 
 bakehouse. Mereness Calendar, War Department, Northern Department 
 Orders, Vol. 80, p. 82. 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, VII, 1273. 
 
CAMP MORTON 369 
 
 the legislature for a morning- and led the members out to Camp 
 Morton to see how the rebels fared. The prisoners behaved 
 much better than on the inauspicious occasion when the 
 Governor had introduced Parson Brownlow, standing quietly 
 in line with uncovered heads while the procession passed by. 
 Their uniforms were a faded motley of Confederate gray and 
 Union blue, with blankets serving as coats in many cases, but 
 according to the Journal most of the men appeared to be 
 comfortably clothed and sufficiently fed. The new hospital 
 quarters made a good impression. 41 
 
 Far more momentous than legislative inspections and ration 
 cuts was the knowledge that exchange of prisoners had recom- 
 menced and that Stevens had been ordered to make preparations 
 for it. Increasing clamor among the citizens and a flood of peti- 
 tions from the wretched Union men in the Andersonville, 
 Macon, Charleston, and Savannah prison camps had forced 
 the hands of Stanton and Grant, who believed that one 
 way to shorten the war was to hang on to all Con- 
 federate prisoners. Grant put the matter realistically in 
 a letter of August 18, 1864 : 42 
 
 4 Tt is hard on our men held in Southern prisons not to 
 exchange them, but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to 
 fight our battles. Every man we hold, when released on 
 parole or otherwise, becomes an active soldier against us at 
 once either directly or indirectly. If we commence a system of 
 exchange which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have to 
 fight on until the whole South is exterminated." 
 
 Butler, then in charge of exchange, had the happy idea of 
 exchanging invalids who would not be ready for the field in 
 less than sixty days. This would fit in with Grant's ideas and 
 at the same time quiet the public anger to some degree. 
 Hoffman informed camp commandants of this plan on 
 October 1, and directed them to be ready for the order to send 
 sick prisoners forward. Some exchanges of this sort took 
 place in the East during the autumn, but no men were sent 
 from Camp Morton. 43 
 
 "Indiana House Journal, 1865, p. 415; Senate Journal, 1865, p. 341; 
 Indianapolis Journal, February 16, 1865, p. 1, c. 1. 
 i2 Official Records, 2 series, VII, 606-7. 
 iZ Ibid., VII, 71)3, 907. 
 
370 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 On the fifteenth of October Grant took over the business 
 of exchange. Pressed by insistent citizens and a harrassed 
 Congress, he began negotiations for the exchange of all 
 prisoners, and on February 2, 1865, ordered his agent, Colonel 
 John E. Mulford, to arrange for the delivery of three thousand 
 a week. To delay the reinforcement of the Confederate armies 
 by returning prisoners, he asked that disabled troops from the 
 states of Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, and 
 Louisiana — all now under Federal control — be sent first. 44 This 
 part of the order immediately produced a new problem : a 
 large proportion of the prisoners from the conquered states 
 did not want to be exchanged. 
 
 At Camp Morton, for example, Stevens discovered that out 
 of the 1,882 prisoners from Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
 Arkansas, and Louisiana — about 45 per cent of the whole 
 number of prisoners in camp — only 366 wanted to be ex- 
 changed. "The remaining 1,516," reported Stevens, "express 
 freely their desire to remain in prison until such time as they 
 can be released by taking the oath as prescribed in the Presi- 
 dent's proclamation, December 8, 1863." They were heartily 
 sick of war; their states were out of the struggle; and most of 
 them wanted nothing but a chance to rejoin their families and 
 begin life over. Grant would have sent them on, but the 
 Secretary of War directed that they be held at the camp 
 until further orders. 45 
 
 The two thousand prisoners who left Camp Morton for 
 exchange in February and March, were, then, men who were 
 eager to be back in the Confederate lines, though a large 
 number of them were unfit for immediate service. In one 
 installment of five hundred, two hundred were convalescents — 
 the Sentinel predicted gloomily that many of them would never 
 reach their destination. The first lot started off on February 
 19, in charge of a lieutenant and a hundred men. Cooked 
 rations were supplied for four days. They were taken by 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 97-98, 170. 
 
 45 Indianapolis Journal, February 8, 1865, p. 4, c. 1 ; February 11, p. 4, c. I ; 
 Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 203. On February 24, Hoffman notified 
 all camp commandants that no prisoners were to be sent for exchange who 
 did not wish to go. Ibid., VIII, 301. 
 

 CAMP MORTON 371 
 
 rail to Baltimore, then by boat to Point Lookout, and from 
 there to Aiken's Landing on the James River, where they were 
 turned over to the Confederate agents about the first of 
 March. 46 Five hundred more left for City Point, Virginia, 
 about February 25, and in March another thousand were sent 
 forward in two divisions. Among them were a few citizen 
 prisoners whose homes were within the rebel lines. Citizens 
 held on grave charges, or undergoing sentence were detained at 
 the camp. 47 
 
 Captain Castleman and Lieutenant Munford were sent 
 forward at this time on special exchange. They reached Point 
 Lookout, only to be detained on the strength of a letter from 
 General Hovey, who considered Castleman too dangerous to 
 be released and recommended that he be tried or banished. 
 After several weeks of uncertainty and a sojourn in the Old 
 Capital Prison at Washington they were returned to Indian- 
 apolis. On June 28, Castleman gave his parole to leave the 
 country forever; he was put across the river into Canada at 
 Detroit a few days later and lived abroad until pardoned by 
 President Johnson. Munford was finally allowed to take the 
 oath of allegiance and released. 48 
 
 During February and March six hundred Confederates 
 were released in addition to the number who were sent for 
 exchange. Some of them belonged to the large number of 
 prisoners who had refused parole at Vicksburg in 1863, and 
 whose release on taking the oath of allegiance had been ordered 
 some months before. 49 The rest — enough to make up two 
 
 46 Mereness Calendar, Post Special Orders 12, 14, 16, and 19, Camp 
 Morton, Indiana, February 17 and 25, March 4 and 14, 1865, War Depart- 
 ment, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 126, pp. 54, 55, 56, 59; Wyeth, 
 "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 852 ; Carnahan, 
 Camp Morton, 59; Indianapolis Sentinel, February 23, 1865, p. 3, c. 1; 
 February 27, p. 3, c. 1 ; March 16, p. 3, c. I. 
 
 "Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 329- 
 
 48 Castleman, Active Service, 180-88; Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 
 368-69, 477, 519, 704-5; Stevens to Hoffman, March 23, 1865, Hoffman to 
 Stevens, March 24, 1865, Mereness Calendar, War Department, Letters Re- 
 ceived, Secretary of War ; Hovey to S. C. Skinner, June 28, 1865, ibid., War 
 Department, Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 70, p. 105. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 11 58. 
 
372 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 companies — enlisted in the Union Army and were transferred 
 to duty at Camp Douglas, Chicago. 50 
 
 On the first of April, 1865, there remained at Camp Morton 
 1,408 prisoners. Lee's surrender on the ninth, removing the 
 last possibility of a victory for the Confederacy, wiped out 
 Grant's objections to releasing them. There remained the 
 problem of getting them back to their homes in as orderly a 
 fashion as possible. Preference was given those who had 
 refused exchange and signified their willingness to take the 
 oath of allegiance before the capture of Richmond. Camp 
 commandants administered the oath and the discharged 
 prisoners were furnished transportation home. 51 
 
 Camp Morton was almost depopulated by the end of May. 
 Day after day Stevens discharged groups of from forty to 
 three or four hundred Confederates, until by June 1 there were 
 only 308 prisoners left in camp. Many of the ragged and 
 penniless Southerners made applications for work as soon as 
 they were released. 52 
 
 A General Order of June 6 provided for the release of 
 prisoners who had not been included in any former order. 
 Commanders were instructed to begin discharges with the men 
 who had been longest in prison and those who were furthest 
 from their homes. The oath of allegiance was required 
 of all; those who wished to, were permitted to take the 
 oath of amnesty. 53 
 
 The last group departed from Indianapolis as several 
 Indiana regiments returned to the jubilant and lavish welcome 
 
 50 General Hovey had recommended the enlistment of prisoners of war 
 at Camp Morton in September, 1864. Mereness Calendar, War Department, 
 Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 69, pp. 138-39. An order for the 
 enlistment of two companies was given on March 14, 1865. Ibid., War 
 Department, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 84, pp. 22, 24-25 ; Vol. 126, 
 p. 61. 
 
 51 General Orders No. 85, May 8, 1865, Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 
 538. This order excepted all officers above the rank of colonel. 
 
 "Mereness Calendar, Post Special Orders, May 10, 1865 and following, 
 War Department, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 126, pp. 67 ff. ; Indian- 
 apolis Sentinel, May 12, 1865, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 22, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 23, p. 3, c. 1. 
 
 ^Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 641. Officers above the rank of cap- 
 tain and graduates of the United States Naval or Military academies were 
 excepted. 
 

 CAMP MORTON 373 
 
 of a happy state. No one could look upon the two groups of 
 men and remain untouched by the contrast between them. 
 "Yesterday . . . the last remnant of the rebel prisoners con- 
 fined in Camp Morton were released, " said the Journal of June 
 14. "In tattered gray and butternut the poor fellows straggled 
 down our streets in search of transportation to their homes. 
 The departure of many of these has been delayed because they 
 were in the hospital. As we saw them, haggard and pale, 
 tottering along with their little poverty-stricken bundles, we 
 felt sincerely sorry for them. In our heart there was no bitter- 
 ness of feeling against them ; and we were glad, without 
 qualification, that they were free once more. 
 
 "... They go back to a conquered country — to overgrown 
 fields — to ruined villages — to homes, the chimneys of which 
 only are left. This could not be helped. War is a hard thing, 
 and it leaves a black and damning trail." 54 
 
 In the military prison at Camp Morton there remained 
 seven unhappy men who should have been sharing the welcome 
 given the Union troops. They had deserted from the Union 
 Army, and while prisoners in the hands of the enemy had taken 
 the oath of allegiance to the Confederate Government and 
 joined the rebel forces. When chance made them prisoners of 
 their former comrades they were conveyed to the Camp Morton 
 jail. 
 
 Now that the war was over, officials were eager to get 
 them off their hands as quietly as possible. No one wanted an 
 expensive and embarrassing trial, and the men could do no 
 harm if released. Like the other prisoners they were given the 
 oath of allegiance and set free. Forty members of the Veteran 
 Reserve Corps who had been consigned to the guardhouse for 
 mutiny were disposed of with the same regard for peace 
 and economy : they were given a dishonorable discharge 
 without pay. 55 
 
 Left in Greenlawn Cemetery were the bodies of the Con- 
 federates who had died at Camp Morton since February, 1862. 
 Some of the bodies were later exhumed and returned to 
 relatives in the South ; most of them remained in the little 
 
 "Indianapolis Journal, June 14, 1865, p. 2, c. r. 
 '""Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 691-92, 704-5. 
 
374 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 cemetery, the long ranges of graves slowly disappearing under 
 a growth of high grass, the painted identification numbers on 
 the wooden headboards fading into undecipherable blurs. In 
 the sixties, the old City Cemetery and Greenlawn ceased to be 
 used as public burial places, and industrial developments began 
 to encroach upon the site. Occasional inquiries were made by 
 officers of Confederate associations as to the condition of 
 the prisoners' graves, but nothing was done about renumbering 
 them or improving their condition. 
 
 In the 1870' s the Vandalia Railroad, needing part of the 
 ground for an engine house and additional tracks, exchanged 
 some property on the west side of the cemetery for ground on 
 the north line in which there were two rows of graves. The 
 bodies from these two rows were removed and reburied in two 
 parallel trenches, but the new graves were not marked. In 
 1906 Colonel William Elliott, detailed by the War Department 
 to locate the burial place of the Confederate dead, examined the 
 area, and decided that a plot about forty-five feet wide by two 
 hundred feet long near the present site of the Diamond Chain 
 plant, was the place where the reinterments had been made in 
 1870. This space was enclosed by an iron fence, and in 1912, 
 the Federal Government erected a monument there in honor of 
 the Confederate prisoners buried at Greenlawn. 
 
 As growing industries of the section continued to press 
 hard upon the memorial, the Southern Club of Indianapolis 
 asked the Board of Park Commissioners for permission to 
 remove the monument to Garfield Park. In 1928 it was re- 
 moved to its present position in the southern section of the 
 park. The names and organizations of the dead are listed on 
 bronze tablets ; the shaft bears the following inscription : 
 

 CAMP MORTON 375 
 
 PAX 
 
 Erected 
 by THE 
 
 United States 
 
 to MARK 
 
 The Burial Place 
 
 of 1616 Confederate 
 
 Soldiers and Sailors 
 
 Who died Here 
 
 While Prisoners 
 
 of War 
 
 And Whose Graves 
 
 Cannot Now be 
 
 Identified 
 
 The plot enclosed after Colonel Elliott's investigation is 
 now overgrown with weeds and grass, earth has been filled in 
 and the fence removed. An old resident who said he had 
 witnessed the reinterment of bodies made in 1870, believed that 
 it was made at least a hundred yards southwest of the plot 
 designated by Colonel Elliott, but it has been proved that there 
 were some burials in the enclosed area, and in 1931 the War 
 Department had them removed to Crown Hill Cemetery. 
 They are buried along the north side of Section 32 and the 
 place is marked by a dignified stone monument. 56 
 
 At Camp Morton, disposal of camp property began as soon 
 as the prisoners were gone. Property that had been purchased 
 from the prisoners' fund was appraised and sold at public auc- 
 tion in July, 1865, and on August 2 the buildings were declared 
 vacant. Claims of the State Board of Agriculture for damages 
 
 66 Indianapolis Sentinel, January 31, 1865, p. 3, c. 1; Indianapolis News, 
 February 24, 1897, p. 6, c. 3 ; November 29, 1906, p. 5, c. 2 ; p. 6, c. 3 ; Report 
 of Fifth Corps Area Inspector to the Inspector General, February 17, 1931 ; 
 interview with the late David I. McCormick ; Crown Hill Cemetery Records ; 
 Transcript of the Grave Stones Remaining in Greenlawn Cemetery, Indian- 
 apolis, 1920, compiled under the supervision of Joseph R. H. Moore, and 
 presented to the Indiana State Library. 
 
376 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 to the fairgrounds were eventually settled by the United 
 States for $9,8i6.56. 57 
 
 There was little about the Camp Morton of midsummer, 
 1865, to recall Henderson's Grove or the fairgrounds of 186 1. 
 Hundreds of trees had been cut for lumber or firewood, and 
 the earth was pitted and scarred. Three thousand dollars was 
 voted by the city for its rehabilitation. Later an "exposition 
 building" was erected, and the grounds were used by the fair 
 association until the nineties. Under the pressure of a growing 
 population, the property was sold, the state ditch was supplanted 
 by a part of the city's drainage system, streets were built, and 
 the area was platted as a residence district which is still known 
 as Morton Place. 58 
 
 Between 19 13 and 191 5 two or three different groups and 
 organizations made tentative plans to mark the site of Camp 
 Morton, but for some reason none of these was carried out. In 
 19 16 the teachers and pupils of School Forty-five (at Park 
 Avenue and Twenty-third Street) marked the camp site by a 
 boulder placed at Alabama and Nineteenth streets where the 
 main entrance to the enclosure probably lay. 59 Cut into the 
 stone is the following inscription : 
 
 CAMP MORTON 
 1861-1865 
 
 ERECTED BY SCHOOL FORTY-FIVE 
 I916 
 
 57 Mereness Calendar, Post Orders 6 and 10, Camp Morton, June 28 and 
 July 15, 1865, War Department, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 126, 
 pp. in, 114; Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 714; State Board of Agricul- 
 ture, Report, 1868, p. 29. 
 
 58 Brown, "History of Indianapolis," in Logan's Indianapolis Direc- 
 tory . . . 1868, p. 64 ; deed of December 22, 1891, Deed Book 25, p. 243, Marion 
 County Courthouse 
 
 59 Indianapolis News, August 15, 1913 ; January 16, 1915 ; May 31, 1916; 
 Indianapolis Star, August 29, 1914. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX 
 I. ABSTRACT OF MONTHLY RETURNS FROM CAMP MORTON 1 
 
 
 G 
 
 a 
 
 c 
 O 
 
 m 
 O 
 
 eg 
 
 
 
 Transferred 
 
 s 
 
 a 
 
 y 
 
 K 
 
 H 
 
 0) 
 0) 
 
 'Z 
 
 
 
 
 
 5a 
 
 
 Q 
 
 03 
 
 c 
 
 II 
 
 w 
 
 •d 
 
 <v 
 to 
 
 c 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 W 
 
 c 
 
 5 
 
 1862 July 
 
 4,Ol8 
 
 198 
 
 4,2l6 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 5 
 
 
 26 
 
 120 
 
 
 Aug. 
 
 4,I90 
 
 64 
 
 4,254 
 
 4,122 
 
 
 26 
 
 
 ...(4,148 
 
 I03 
 
 ... 
 
 Sept. 
 
 103 
 
 
 103 
 
 
 08 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 103 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1863 July 
 
 in 
 
 I,l65 
 
 1,2/6 
 
 6 
 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 
 24 
 
 39 
 
 3 
 
 Aug. 
 
 1,252 
 
 1,808 
 
 3,060 
 
 1,142 
 
 
 26 
 
 6 
 
 336 
 
 1,510 
 
 98 
 
 13 
 
 Sept. 
 
 1,550 
 
 51 
 
 1,601 
 
 2 
 
 
 23 
 
 19 
 
 70 
 
 114 
 
 in 
 
 24 
 
 Oct. 
 
 1,487 
 
 1,035 
 
 2,522 
 
 21 
 
 
 36 
 
 10 
 
 7 
 
 74 
 
 261 
 
 37 
 
 Nov. 
 
 2,448 
 
 706 
 
 3,154 
 
 
 
 68 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 79 
 
 328 
 
 29 
 
 Dec. 
 
 3,075 
 
 297 
 
 3,372 
 
 
 5 
 
 9i 
 
 
 3 
 
 99 
 
 244 
 
 33 
 
 1864 Jan. 
 
 3,273 
 
 6 
 
 3,279 
 
 13 
 
 
 104 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 121 
 
 251 
 
 33 
 
 Feb. 
 
 3,158 
 
 57 
 
 3,215 
 
 ... 
 
 
 69 
 
 18 
 
 7 
 
 94 
 
 326 
 
 32 
 
 Mar. 
 
 3,121 
 
 1 
 
 3,122 
 
 500 
 
 
 49 
 
 
 3 
 
 552 
 
 271 
 
 29 
 
 Apr. 
 
 2,570 
 
 93 
 
 2,663 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 43 
 
 63 
 
 235 
 
 26 
 
 May 
 
 2,600 
 
 609 
 
 3,209 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 23 
 
 1 
 
 248 
 
 40 
 
 June 
 
 3,186 
 
 1,350 
 
 4,536 
 
 55 
 
 
 34 
 
 . 
 
 • 16 
 
 105 
 
 324 
 
 38 
 
 July 
 
 4,431 
 
 568 
 
 4,999 
 
 
 4 
 
 81 
 
 
 8 
 
 93 
 
 350 
 
 35 
 
 Aug. 
 
 4,906 
 
 43 
 
 4,949 
 
 4 
 
 
 9i 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 no 
 
 34i 
 
 33 
 
 Sept. 
 
 4,839 
 
 
 4,839 
 
 8 
 
 
 33 
 
 6 
 
 14 
 
 61 
 
 293 
 
 32 
 
 Oct. 
 
 4,778 
 
 3 
 
 4,78i 
 
 . . . 
 
 
 21 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 34 
 
 217 
 
 3i 
 
 Nov. 
 
 4,747 
 
 5 
 
 4,752 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 3i 
 
 24 
 
 74 
 
 205 
 
 29 
 
 Dec. 
 
 4,678 
 
 167 
 
 4,845 
 
 16 
 
 
 53 
 
 
 39 
 
 108 
 
 354 
 
 26 
 
 1865 Jan. 
 
 4,737 
 
 5i 
 
 4,788 
 
 
 
 117 
 
 
 4/2 
 
 589 
 
 355 
 
 24 
 
 Feb. 
 
 4,199 
 
 16 
 
 4,215 
 
 
 1,000 
 
 133 
 
 2 
 
 214 
 
 1,349 
 
 272 
 
 19 
 
 Mar. 
 
 2,866 
 
 2 
 
 2,868 
 
 2 
 
 1,000 
 
 70 
 
 
 388 
 
 1,460 
 
 218 
 
 6 
 
 Apr. 
 
 1,408 
 
 
 1,408 
 
 9 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 45 
 
 64 
 
 190 
 
 2 
 
 May 
 
 1,343 
 
 23 
 
 1,366 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 1,037 
 
 1,047 
 
 46 
 
 16 
 
 June 
 
 319 
 
 
 319 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 308 
 
 312 
 
 
 13 
 
 July 
 
 7 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 Adapted 
 2 series, VIII, 
 
 from tables covering eleven 
 987-1003. 
 
 (379) 
 
 prison camps, Official Records, 
 
380 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 II. DEATHS FROM CERTAIN DISEASES AND CLASSES OF 
 
 DISEASES AT CAMP MORTON, JUNE, 1863-JUNE, 1865.1 
 
 Number of months recorded 25 
 
 Mean strength present 2,865 
 
 Cases Deaths 
 
 All diseases and injuries 9,122 1,187 
 
 Wounds, injuries and unspecified diseases 259 12 
 
 Specified diseases 8,863 M75 
 
 Continued Fevers 55 42 
 
 Malarial Fevers 1 ,954 1 19 
 
 Eruptive Fevers 548 85 
 
 Diarrhea and Dysentery 2,241 315 
 
 Anemia 68 4 
 
 Consumption 34 26 
 
 Rheumatism 190 5 
 
 Scurvy 778 6 
 
 Bronchitis 178 1 
 
 Pneumonia and Pleurisy 1,351 495 
 
 Other diseases 1 ,466 yy 
 
 Total specified diseases 8,863 1,175 
 
 x Adapted from Table XVIII, covering nine prison depots, in Medical 
 and Surgical History of the War, Medical Volume, pt. Ill, 46. 
 
CAMP MORTON 
 
 381 
 
 L M N N5 
 
 S o o o 
 
 ?l XX O M ir. O 
 
 I I « I 
 
 «« *g :: 
 
 •* 5 ^? 
 
 .a 2 c 
 
 t/i ? O 
 
 = £ £ £ ^ o ~ 
 
 
 £ « 
 
 f,- 
 
 OOO -J" O ^ 00 ^1 t^ t, O 
 
 s 
 
 00000 
 
 
 > ^XOO^O^l'tOMKiOVO-t 
 
 00 
 
 O J Zl w 
 
 N N N N N 
 
 c# •§ 
 
 •P - *° 
 
 3 £l 
 
 O " u 
 
 I I 
 
 ^O vO -+■ O 
 
 00 <N K »0\0 "t 
 
 1 ri 
 
 ifl ifl in 
 
 X5 .O -O -O 
 
 o o o cr a S3 « s ^ S3 3= ^ 5a 
 
 •tOO 00 -fOOOO f K 10°° -TO 10 M 11 
 
 o be o 
 
 *s o 'g 
 
 - 5 o 
 
 £ a -a 
 
 t> tf V 
 
 O o rt 
 
 'S •§ .2 
 
 u »- u, 
 y « <u 
 
 
 <! 
 
 o* 
 
 0, n3 $ 
 
 u, U l» 
 
 *p ^ = 
 
 «5 S b£ 
 
 o 3? 
 
 ^USQWMh-H^U 
 
 
 ri re — ^ ■ — o 
 u o « rt « m 
 
 :— x u r -^ <^ 
 
 <-5 CO 
 
 S3 ? -> £ u . JS 
 
 So L" 5 
 
 > Oh ft S 
 

 382 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 
 
 
 IV. ABSTRACT OF SUBSISTENCE STORES ISSUED TO REBEL, 
 
 
 
 
 
 CAPTAIN L. L. MOORE ANE' 
 
 
 
 Rations of 
 
 Average 
 number of 
 prisoners 
 
 ^1- 
 
 00 
 
 u 
 
 
 Ph 
 
 c 
 
 
 pq 
 
 pq 
 
 <V 
 
 pq 
 
 u 
 
 S-." 
 
 
 
 V 
 U 
 
 pq 
 
 *0j 
 
 G 
 J-. 
 
 O 
 
 u 
 
 c 
 pq 
 
 2,918 
 
 Jan. 
 
 2,148 
 
 35,o66 
 
 
 51,056 
 
 88,180 
 
 26,332 
 
 
 7,86 ! 
 
 2,861 
 
 Feb. 
 
 
 28,971 
 
 
 51,850 
 
 (310 bbls., 
 1 86 lbs. 
 
 35,856 
 
 
 12,01 
 
 2,552 
 
 Mar. 
 
 f 5 bbls., 
 1 20 lbs. 
 
 30,829 
 
 
 47,825 
 
 S 466 bbls., 
 1 38 lbs. 
 
 14,239 
 
 
 11,88 
 
 2,252 
 
 Apr. 
 
 ( 16 bbls., 
 1 138 lbs. 
 
 21,991 
 
 
 42,237 
 
 S 473 bbls., 
 \ 188 lbs. 
 
 
 
 10,13 
 
 2,550 
 
 May 
 
 
 32,299 
 
 
 24,369 
 
 f 414 bbls., 
 1 46 lbs. 
 
 6,439 
 
 
 3,09 
 
 3,201 
 
 June 
 
 
 29,629 
 
 
 42,560 
 
 (411 bbls., 
 1 3 lbs. 
 
 13,557 
 
 
 3,99 
 
 4,455 
 
 July 
 
 
 38,823 
 
 
 66,516 
 
 S 498 bbls., 
 1 163 lbs. 
 
 34,978 
 
 384 
 
 6,10 
 
 4,432 
 
 Aug. 
 
 ( 12 bbls., 
 1 102 lbs. 
 
 16,918 
 
 
 93,030 
 
 C 578 bbls., 
 
 1 43 lbs. 
 
 8,319 
 
 14,554 
 
 5,53 
 
 4,356 
 
 Sep. 
 
 
 12,195 
 
 
 97,276 
 
 (624 bbls., 
 \ 26 lbs. 
 
 7,312 
 
 35,273 
 
 5,44 
 
 4,383 
 
 Oct. 
 
 
 12,833 
 
 
 100,944 
 
 \ 448 bbls., 
 \ 24 lbs. 
 
 11,192 
 
 
 8,7/ 
 
 4,368 
 
 Nov. 
 
 149 lbs. 
 
 2,318 
 
 
 111,221 
 
 (579 bbls., 
 1 67 lbs. 
 
 15,317 
 
 
 8,32 
 
 4,315 
 
 Dec. 
 
 24 lbs. 
 
 927 
 
 n,473 
 
 97,763 
 
 S 595 bbls., 
 1 15 lbs. 
 
 14,998 
 
 
 8,62 
 
 Total 
 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 13,957 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 262,799 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 n,473 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 826,447 
 
 1,146,540 
 
 Lbs. | Lbs. 
 188,533 50,216 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 91,81 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 CAMP MORTON 
 
 
 
 
 3& 
 
 1 
 
 RISONERS AT CAMP MORTON DURING THE YEAR 1864, BY 
 
 APTAIN NAT. SHURTLEFF, A. C. S. 1 
 
 
 
 
 Rations of 
 
 co 
 
 <v 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 CD CO 
 
 «-M O 
 OfV 
 
 
 en 
 
 u 
 
 as 
 bjo 
 
 <v 
 
 > 
 
 1 
 
 - C 
 
 CO • .-; 
 
 a 
 
 w 
 
 "c3 
 
 t/3 
 
 <v rn 
 
 CO 
 
 <u 
 
 CO 
 
 to 
 
 *o 
 
 2 
 
 5,238 
 
 2,926 
 
 875 
 
 4,437 
 
 526 
 
 13,569 
 
 904 
 
 1,131 
 
 3,619 
 
 3,392 
 
 226 
 
 226 
 
 I3,HO 
 
 5,524 
 
 2,487 
 
 4,873 
 
 288 
 
 12,016 
 
 801 
 
 I,OOI 
 
 3,204 
 
 3,004 
 
 200 
 
 201 
 
 23,768 
 
 4,870 
 
 3,052 
 
 5,840 
 
 116 
 
 12,109 
 
 792 
 
 990 
 
 3,169 
 
 2,971 
 
 178 
 
 198 
 
 20,268 
 
 4,058 
 
 2,698 
 
 5,405 
 
 
 10,134 
 
 675 
 
 844 
 
 2,702 
 
 2,534 
 
 169 
 
 168 
 
 23,858 
 
 2,077 
 
 2,083 
 
 5,037 
 
 79 
 
 n,i34 
 
 795 
 
 662 
 
 3,181 
 
 2,783 
 
 199 
 
 I98 
 
 14,407 
 
 2,565 
 3,572 
 3,962 
 
 2,561 
 8,570 
 3,544 
 
 584 
 
 
 1,635 
 
 720 
 
 136 
 
 1,230 
 
 97 
 
 3,842 
 5,525 
 5,496 
 
 3,602 
 5,180 
 
 5J52 
 
 
 29 
 
 
 3,484 
 
 3,485 
 
 
 
 
 980 
 
 
 5,228 
 
 4,901 
 
 
 
 1,047 
 
 4,208 
 
 
 
 
 1,019 
 
 
 5,436 
 
 5,096 
 
 
 
 
 
 5,157 
 5,i8i 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 983 
 1,003 
 
 
 5,242 
 5,35i 
 
 4,915 
 517 
 
 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 ! 
 
 I Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Gals. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Gals. 
 
 100,649 
 
 1 34,8o5 
 
 38,901 
 
 26,176 
 
 1,009 
 
 6o,597 
 
 io,738 
 
 4,725 
 
 57,996 
 
 48,547 
 
 972 
 
 1,020 
 
 1 Adapted from a table printed in Carnahan, Camp Morton, pp. 54-55- 
 
 
INDEX 
 
INDEX 
 
 Adams, Lt. J. W., 297. 
 
 Aiken's Landing (Va.), 371. 
 
 Alexander, Charles T., medical in- 
 spector, recommendations for 
 Camp Morton, 354, 355. 
 
 Allegheny and Portage Railway, 
 107. 
 
 Amboy (Ind.), Friends' Academy, 
 account of, 196-97 ; mentioned, 
 176. 
 
 A.nderson (Ind.), Indianapolis and 
 Bellefontaine Railroad reaches, 
 62-64. 
 
 Annapolis (Md.), camp for paroled 
 prisoners at, 301. 
 
 Antislavery Friends, 194. 
 
 Arkansas Post, 315. 
 
 Arba (Ind.), Friends' school, 166. 
 
 Arcemont, Goacin, 345. 
 
 Armstrong, Thomas, 198. 
 
 Babb, Clement E., 86-87. 
 
 Bakehouse, Camp Morton, 267, 368. 
 
 Baldwin Locomotive Works, 107, 
 108. 
 
 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, see 
 Junction Railroad; Ohio and 
 Mississippi Railroad Company. 
 
 Beall, Gen. William N. R., 361. 
 
 Beech Grove Monthly Meeting, 
 elementary school, 168. 
 
 Beech Grove Seminary (Union 
 Co.), 195-96. 
 
 Benezet, Anthony, 123. 
 
 Bethel Friends' school (Morgan 
 Co.), 167-68. 
 
 Bethel Friends' school (Wayne 
 Co.), account of, 160; curricu- 
 lum, 142. 
 
 Biddlc, Col. James, commandant at 
 Camp Morton, 316, 322. 
 
 Bin ford, John H., 194. 
 
 Bin ford, Mattie, 194. 
 
 Blankets, see Camp Morton, prison 
 camp, clothing and blankets. 
 
 Bloomingdale Academy, account of, 
 197-98; closes, 214; courses of 
 study, 185-87 ; items from cata- 
 logue, 181-83; spiritual instruc- 
 tion, 180; mentioned, 177. 
 
 Bloomington (Ind.), failure of 
 project for railroad from Co- 
 lumbus to, 74-76. 
 
 Blue River Academy (Washington 
 Co.), 200-1. 
 
 Blue River Quarter, Western 
 Yearly Meeting, 167. 
 
 Bobbs, Dr. John S., medical inspec- 
 tor, Camp Morton training 
 camp, 240; surgeon, Camp 
 Morton prison camp, 305, 325, 
 326. 
 
 Bond, Pleasant, 168. 
 
 Boone, Richard G., on Beech Grove 
 Seminary, 196; principal, Sand 
 Creek Friends' Seminary, 204; 
 mentioned, 150. 
 
 Bradley, J. H., director, Columbus 
 and Bloomington Railroad, 75. 
 
 Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 284. 
 
 Brattain, Robert, 127-28. 
 
 Breckenridge, Samuel, 365. 
 
 Bridgeport Monthly Meeting, ele- 
 mentary school, 138, 169-70. 
 
 Bright, Michael G., 70, 71. 
 
 British Corn Laws, effect of re- 
 peal on Madison and Indianap- 
 olis Railroad, 30-31. 
 
 (387) 
 
388 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 B rough, John, on American and 
 English -[- rails, 105 ; president, 
 Madison and Indianapolis Rail- 
 road, 82, 83 ; president, Union 
 Board, ioin ; urges Madison to 
 finance railroad, 71-72. 
 
 Brown, Austin H., editor, Indiana 
 State Sentinel, 7 ; on rivalry 
 between Indianapolis and Mad- 
 ison, 95-98. 
 
 Brown, Oliver, 150. 
 
 Brown, William J., editor, Indiana 
 State Sentinel, 7. 
 
 Brown County, railroad through, 
 predicted, 74. 
 
 Browning, Edmund, 58n. 
 
 Brownlow, Rev. William G., 278- 
 79, 369. 
 
 Brushwood Friends' school (Mar- 
 ion Co.), 168-69. 
 
 Buckner, Gen. Simon B., impris- 
 oned in Indianapolis, 259 ; men- 
 tioned, 284. 
 
 Bullard, Dr. Talbot, 307. 
 
 Bullard, Dr. Will, 307. 
 
 Butler, Gen. Benjamin F., 369. 
 
 Cadiz Friends' school, 162. 
 
 Cambridge City (Ind.), railroad to 
 Columbus from, 86. 
 
 Cameron, Simon, Secretary of 
 War, 251. 
 
 Camp Burnside (Indianapolis), 280. 
 
 Camp Butler (Springfield, 111.), 
 Civil War prison camp, 253. 
 
 Camp Carrington (Indianapolis), 
 316. 
 
 Camp Chase (Columbus, Ohio), 
 Civil War prison camp, criti- 
 cism of laxness at, 270; used 
 for paroled prisoners, 301, 302; 
 mentioned, 253, 259, 260, 335, 
 348. 
 
 Camp Douglas (Chicago, 111.), 253, 
 255, 324, 350, 366, 372. 
 
 Camp Morton (Indianapolis), fair 
 grounds appropriated for, 250, 
 253; 
 
 military prison, erection of, 
 343, 365; 
 
 parolee camp, 301-4; 
 prison camp, arrivals, 256-58, 
 315, 318-19, 324, 336; captives 
 from Morgan's raid, 322, 323- 
 24; care of dead, 312-13, 374, 
 375 ; clearing and closing of, 
 372-73, 376; clothing and 
 blankets, 260, 268-69, 290, 329, 
 33^-37, 338, 339-40, 342, 360- 
 61 ; commandants : James Bid- 
 die, 316-22; Albert J. Guth- 
 ridge, 322, 327-28 ; David W. 
 Hamilton, 323-27 ; Richard 
 Owen, 262-85; David Gar- 
 land Rose, 286-304; Ambrose 
 A. Stevens, 333 ff. ; differ- 
 ences in administration 
 among, 283-84, 288, 322-23, 
 333, 343 ; duties, 265-66, 268, 
 289, 290; 
 considered undesirable place 
 for prisoners, 317-18, 319, 320; 
 deaths, 311 -12, 324, 329, 336, 
 341, 342-43, 358, 379, (table) 
 380; deplorable condition, 314, 
 325, 327-31, 334, 343, 353; dis- 
 arming of prisoners, 274, 289; 
 division of prisoners into com- 
 panies, 263, 264, 289; emer- 
 gency aid for first arrivals, 
 260-61, 305-8; escapes and 
 
 tunnelins 
 
 276-79, 292-93, 
 
 327, 343-48, 363-65 ; exchanges : 
 T862, pp. 293-300; 1863, pp. 
 317, 370-72: chart of, 379; 
 
 Federal control, 314; food: 
 bakehouse, 267, 368; bone 
 butter, 359-60 ; bartering for, 
 359-60 ; preparation, 330, 338- 
 39, 353; rat and dog eating, 
 
INDEX 
 
 389 
 
 360; rations, 266-67, 328-29, 
 337-38, 350-51, 352-53, 354- 
 55, 360, 368, (charts) 381, 
 382-83 ; see also sutlers ; 
 fuel, 339, guards : arms for, 
 276, 278; brutality of a few, 
 346-47 ; demoralization of, 
 327; efficiency of, 342; in- 
 structions to, 264; lack of, 
 352, 366 ; paroled troops used 
 as, 316, 327; partially with- 
 drawn during Morgan's raid, 
 322 ; quarters for, 279-80 ; 
 regiments composing, 261-62, 
 278, 283, 286-87, 316, 320, 
 327, 333, 334, 363; suffer- 
 ings endured by, 274, 275, 
 279-80, 340, 346; three- 
 months men, 283, 296; men- 
 tioned, 334, 352; 
 health and diseases, 305, 306, 
 311-12, 315, 316, 324, 325, 329, 
 334, 336, 34i, 353-54, 380; hos- 
 pitals : additions and expan- 
 sions, 310-n, 331-32, 334, 
 342, 356-58; Col. Clark on, 
 329-30; condition of, 316-17, 
 326-27, 353-54, 354-55 ; emer- 
 gency, 305-9; Dr. Funk- 
 houser on, 331 ; fund for, 
 289-90, 308, 331, 329; Hum- 
 phreys on, 325 ; inadequate, 
 
 305, 316-17, 324-26, 334, 353- 
 54, 358; number of patients, 
 3ii, 329, 334, 354, 358; per- 
 sonnel of staffs, 289, 305, 
 
 306, 307, 309, 310, 316, 329, 
 33i, 342, 354; rent and sal- 
 aries for, 307, 329; 
 
 inspections : Surgeon Alexan- 
 der, 354, 355; Col. Clark, 
 328-31 ; Lt. Davidson 355, 
 368; Col. Hoffman, 256; In- 
 spector Humphreys, 327 ; 
 
 intoxicants, 274, 349 ; issues of 
 
 straw to prisoners, 268, 339; 
 Louisianans seek release from, 
 366-67 ; mail and gifts for pris- 
 oners, regulation of, 263-64, 
 268, 270, 291, 292, 348; marker, 
 374-76; money belonging to 
 prisoners, 271-72, 291 ; number 
 of prisoners, 258, 275, 324, 325, 
 
 353, 372; petitions from pris- 
 oners, 280-82; prisoners' fund, 
 264, 267-68, 290-91, 292, 298, 
 308, 350, 354; prisoners take 
 oath of allegiance, 282, 294-95, 
 296, 370; punishments and 
 shooting of prisoners, 274-75, 
 293, 346-48, 35i ; quarters, 255- 
 56, 301, 3i5-i6, 328, 334, 353, 
 
 354, 355-56; recreation, 263, 
 264, 272-74, 317, 360; regula- 
 tions for cleanliness, 264, 268, 
 276, 342, 343, 354, 355, 368; re- 
 lease of prisoners at close of 
 war, 2>7 2 ', retaliation for treat- 
 ment of Union prisoners at, 
 326, 2> 2 7 ; rolls of prisoners, 
 265-66, 289, 323 ; rules govern- 
 ing : issued by Owen, 262-65 ; 
 
 by Hoffman, 289-92; 
 soap, 355, 368 ; status of color- 
 ed prisoners, 259; story of cele- 
 bration of Confederate victory 
 near Richmond, 288 ; suffering 
 from extreme weather, 336, 
 341-42, 353; sutlers, 263, 272, 
 291, 338, 348, 349-50, 358-59,' 
 unrest among prisoners, 274-75, 
 278, 279, 323, 346, 348, 351-52; 
 visited by Indiana legislature, 
 291-92, 368-69; visitors' regula- 
 tions, 269-70, 323 ; weakened 
 condition of prisoners upon ar- 
 rival, 260, 305, 3ii, 336; see 
 also Civil War, prisoners; 
 training camp, care of dead, 
 247 ; clothing, 245-46, 250 ; con- 
 
390 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 fusion, 241, 242, 243-44, 249- 
 50 ; drills, 242-43 ; medical serv- 
 ice and health, 240, 246-47; 
 opening of, 240; order for the 
 day, 244; post office, 244; 
 quarters, 240-41, 242; rations, 
 247-49 ; recreation, 245 ; regi- 
 ments, 242 ; turnover among 
 officers, 249-50; visitors, 243- 
 
 44. 
 
 Campbell, William B., 295. 
 
 Canals, see Transportation; Wa- 
 bash and Erie Canal. 
 
 Cann Bill, 218-19. 
 
 Carmel (Ind.), see Richland Acad- 
 emy. 
 
 Carnahan, James R., defense of 
 Camp Morton, 347n. 
 
 Carrington, Gen. Henry B., re- 
 ports : on conditions at Camp 
 Morton, 341 ; on secret order 
 in Indiana, 317-T8, 351, 362- 
 
 63; 
 mentioned, 322, 352. 
 
 Carter, Elva Taylor, 169. 
 
 Carthage (Ind.), Friends' Acad- 
 emy, account of, 196; men- 
 tioned, 176. 
 
 Castleman, Capt. John Brecken- 
 ridge, 365-66, 371. 
 
 Cathcart, Andrew, railroad engi- 
 neer, 55, 61, 107. 
 
 Cedar Grove Seminary (Union 
 Co.), 164. 
 
 Center Friends' school, Fairfield 
 Quarter, 169. 
 
 Center Friends' school, Thorntown 
 Quarter, 171. 
 
 Central Academy (Plainfield), ac- 
 count of, 201-2; closes, 214; 
 courses of study, 189; student 
 life at, 189-90. 
 
 Century Magazine, articles on 
 Camp Morton in, mentioned, 
 347n. 
 
 Chaplains, not held as prisoners in 
 Civil War, 260. 
 
 Chapman, George A., 7. 
 
 Chapman, Jacob Page, editor, In- 
 diana State Sentinel, criti- 
 cism of Madison and Indian- 
 apolis Railroad, 46; on effect 
 of Madison and Indianapolis 
 Railroad on Indianapolis, $$- 
 35, 41 ; on effect of repeal of 
 British Corn Laws on Indiana 
 agriculture, 30-31 ; on Madison 
 and Indianapolis Railroad acci- 
 dent, 32-33 ; on Michigan Road, 
 44n-45n ; on National Road, 
 15; on northern and eastern 
 railroad routes out of Indian- 
 apolis, 45, 46; on W. H. H. 
 Terrell, 40; opposes taxes for 
 completion of Madison and In- 
 dianapolis Railroad, 25 ; plays 
 on rivalry between Indianap- 
 olis and Madison, 49; reply to 
 Cambridge Reveille, 49n-50n ; 
 urges agitation for Madison 
 and Indianapolis Railroad, 21- 
 22 ; mentioned, 7-8. 
 
 Charles, Thomas, 206. 
 
 Chenoweth, J. W., on Jericho 
 Friends' school, 166. 
 
 Chester Monthly Meeting, school, 
 167. 
 
 Chicago (111.), rivals Indianapolis 
 for railroad business, 58-59. 
 
 Cincinnati (Ohio), agricultural 
 fair, 82-83 ; bids for trade from 
 central and western Indiana, 
 66-69 ; rivals Indianapolis for 
 railroad business, 58-59 ; travel- 
 ing time between Indianapolis 
 and, 1825, p. 5; and 1844, p. 
 25. See also Indianapolis and 
 Cincinnati Railroad. 
 
 Cincinnati Commercial, 83. 
 
 Cincinnati Gazette, 66-69, 78. 
 
INDEX 
 
 391 
 
 City Hospital, see Indianapolis 
 
 (Ind.), City Hospital. 
 City Point (Va.), exchange depot, 
 
 315,3/1. 
 Civil War, army rations, 248; de- 
 serters, 343 ; effect of blockade 
 on South, 268-69 ; importance 
 of railroads in, 85n-86n, I03n ; 
 opening, effect on Indianap- 
 olis, 239-40; prisoners: anti- 
 liquor rule, 349; camps for 
 paroled, 301-4; clothing and 
 provisions for, 269, 336-37, 
 361 ; cost of subsisting, 
 267; efforts to free, 351-52, 
 361-62 ; exchanges, 296-300, 
 317, 335, 369-72; paroled, 
 292; rations, 266, 350-51, 368, 
 381 ; release of chaplains and 
 surgeons, 260 ; retaliation, 
 326, 335-36, 348; rules gov- 
 erning, 262, 289-92, 335-36; 
 separation of officers from 
 their troops, 253, 258-59; 
 status of colored among, 
 259, 317; status of guerilla 
 and political, 297, 298; sys- 
 tems of caring for, 251-53 ; 
 three types, 251-52; see also 
 Camp Morton and names of 
 other prison camps ; 
 raids into Indiana, 282, 320-22 ; 
 sutlers, 338, 348, 349-50, 358. 
 Clark, Augustus M., medical in- 
 spector, reports on Camp Mor- 
 ton, 328-31, 342. 
 Clay, Henry, 14, 15. 
 Clear Spring Friends' school 
 
 (Henry Co.), 161-62. 
 Clinton, De Witt, 66. 
 Clothing, see Camp Morton, prison 
 camp, clothing and blankets ; 
 training camp, clothing. 
 Coffin, Charles F., Quaker edu- 
 cator, 150. 
 
 Columbus (Ind.), advertisement of 
 hotel in, 25-26; failure of 
 project for railroad from 
 Bloomington to, 74-76. 
 
 Columbus and Cambridge City 
 Railroad, 86. 
 
 Columbus and Shelbyville Railroad, 
 71-72, 72n-/3n. 
 
 Columbus Gazette, 38-40. 
 
 Comly, John, quotations from Eng- 
 lish Grammar , 146. 
 
 Concord Quarter, see Thorntown 
 Quarter. 
 
 Cook, , teacher, Plainfield 
 
 Friends' school, 169. 
 
 Copeland, Albert L., on Lick Creek 
 Friends' school, 167. 
 
 Cotton, Fasset, on Barnabas C. 
 Hobbs, 149-50 ; on education in 
 early Indiana, 211. 
 
 Cows, cause of railroad accidents, 
 
 IIO-II. 
 
 Crawford, Nathan, sutler at Camp 
 
 Morton, 272. 
 Cumberland Road, see National 
 
 Road. 
 Cunningham, S. A., 284-85. 
 
 Davidson, Lt. J. W., inspector at 
 
 Camp Morton, 355, 368. 
 Davis, Clarkson, 150, 191. 
 Davis, Hannah, 150, 191. 
 Defrees, John D., editor, Indiana 
 
 State Journal, 7, 83, 84-85. 
 Dennis, David W., principal, 
 
 Bloomingdale Academy, 182, 
 
 198; mentioned, 150. 
 Diseases, see Camp Morton, prison 
 
 camp, health and diseases; 
 
 training camp, medical service 
 
 and health. 
 Dix, Gen. John A., 299. 
 Doan, Amos, on purposes of 
 
 Friends' education, 139-41. 
 Doan, Enos, T50. 
 
392 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Dodd, H. H., Indiana grand com- 
 mander, Sons of Liberty, 362- 
 
 63- 
 Donohue, Dillard C, postmaster, 
 
 Camp Morton, 244. 
 Dougherty, J. F., 244. 
 Douglas, Stephen A., 244. 
 Dover Monthly Meeting school 
 
 (Wayne Co.), account of, 195; 
 
 curriculum, 142-43. 
 Draper, Luther O., 218-19. 
 Driftwood Monthly Meeting, 127. 
 Duck Creek Monthly Meeting, 162. 
 Duke, Gen. Basil W., 362. 
 Dunlap, Dr. Livingston, 309. 
 
 Earlham College (formerly 
 Friends' Boarding School), ac- 
 count of, 207-9 I mentioned, 161, 
 202, 220. 
 
 Easton (West Newton, Ind.), 
 Friends' school, 168. 
 
 Education, in early Indiana, 211; 
 legislation on, 211, 215, 217, 
 218-19 5 see also Society of 
 Friends : education, elementary 
 schools, seminaries and acad- 
 emies ; names of Friends' 
 schools. 
 
 Edwards, Josiah P., principal, 
 Bloomingdale Academy, 198. 
 
 Ekin, Capt. James A., quartermas- 
 ter, Indianapolis, converts 
 Camp Morton into prison 
 camp, 255-56, 261 ; mentioned, 
 267, 268, 269, 292, 305, 309, 
 3i6, 325, 337- 
 
 Elliott, Col. William, 374, 375. 
 
 Elm Grove Friends' school (Henry 
 Co.), 63. 
 
 Evansville (lnd.), 102. 
 
 Exchange of prisoners, see Camp 
 Morton, prison camp, ex- 
 changes ; Civil War, prisoners : 
 exchanges. 
 
 Fairfield Monthly Meeting, ac- 
 count of school, 206; commit- 
 tee on education, 137, 138, 168. 
 
 Fairfield Quarter, Western Yearly 
 Meeting, 168-69. 
 
 Fairgrounds, see Indiana State 
 Fairgrounds. 
 
 Fairmount Academy (Grant Co.), 
 account of, 192-93 ; courses of 
 study, 189; decline and closing 
 of, 214-15, 216, 219; men- 
 tioned, 178. 
 
 Fairmount Quarterly Meeting (for- 
 merly Northern), 192. 
 
 Farmers' Institute (Tippecanoe 
 Co.), account of, 202-3. 
 
 Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad, 
 46. 
 
 Fite, Emerson D., on railroads in 
 Civil War, 85n-86n, I03n. 
 
 Flat Rock Friends' school (Henry 
 Co.), 163. 
 
 Fletcher, Calvin, 238n. 
 
 Fletcher, Elma, 169. 
 
 Fletcher, Dr. William B., 244, 306, 
 
 309. 
 
 Fort Delaware (Del.), Civil War 
 prison camp, 318, 319. 
 
 Fort Donelson (Tenn.), captured, 
 2 53 I prisoners from, 305. 
 
 Fort Henry (Tenn.), captured, 
 253 ; prisoners from, 305. 
 
 Fort Sumter (S. C), 239. 
 
 Fort Warren (Mass.), Civil War 
 prison, 253, 254. 
 
 Foster, Capt. Thomas, Jr., commis- 
 sary of subsistence at Indian- 
 apolis and Camp Morton, 301, 
 3i6. 
 
 Fountain City (Ind.), see Newport. 
 
 Fox, George, Quaker leader, 123. 
 
 Foxworthy, Theodore, 218. 
 
 Freedley, Capt. H. W., 297, 298, 
 301. 
 
 Friends, see Society of Friends. 
 
INDEX 
 
 393 
 
 Friends' Academy, later Hadley's 
 Academy (Wayne Co.), 161. 
 
 Friends' Boarding School, see Earl- 
 ham College. 
 
 Friese, Priscilla, 165. 
 
 Funkhouser, Dr. David, physician 
 at Camp Morton, 316, 326, 329- 
 30, 33 1- 
 
 Garber, Michael C, editor, Madi- 
 son Courier, 7 ; answers Cin- 
 cinnati Commercial on news- 
 paper transportation, 83-84 ; de- 
 clares Madison's prosperity 
 unimpaired, 94-95 ; ridicules J. 
 D. Def rees, 83 ; urges cessation 
 of spirit of rivalry among In- 
 diana towns, 91. 
 
 General Assembly of Indiana, see 
 Indiana General Assembly. 
 
 Geography, teaching of, in Quaker 
 schools, 142. 
 
 Gettysburg, Battle of, 321. 
 
 Gibson, William, 272. 
 
 Gilbert, Elihu, 164. 
 
 Grant, Ulysses S., on exchange of 
 prisoners, 369, 370; mentioned, 
 318, 367. 
 
 Gravelly Run school (Montgomery 
 Co.), 171. 
 
 Greenfield Monthly Meeting, 
 Farmers' Institute, 202-3. 
 
 Greenlawn Cemetery (Indianap- 
 olis), section for Confederate 
 prisoners, 312, 373-74- 
 
 Green Mount Boarding School 
 (Wayne Co.), 161. 
 
 Greensboro (Ind.), Friends' Semi- 
 nary, 162. 
 
 Gresham, Col. Walter Q., regiment 
 guards Camp Morton, 262. 
 
 Guards, see Camp Morton, prison 
 camp, guards. 
 
 Gummere, Francis B., "The Yearly 
 Meeting School," 207. 
 
 Guthridge, Capt. Albert H., com- 
 mandant at Camp Morton, 322, 
 327, 328. 
 
 Hadley, Hiram, teacher, Carthage 
 Friends' Academy, 150, 196. 
 
 Hadley's Academy, see Friend's 
 Academy. 
 
 Hager, John, 5. 
 
 Hahn, George M. D., governor of 
 Louisiana, 367. 
 
 Hall, Henry R., superintendent, 
 Madison and Indianapolis Rail- 
 road, 4811. 
 
 Halleck, Gen. Henry W., seeks 
 camps for prisoners, 253 ; de- 
 plores retaliation, 335 ; men- 
 tioned, 283, 307, 361. 
 
 Hamilton, David W., commandant 
 of Camp Morton, 323, 326. 
 
 Hanover Academy, 205. 
 
 Hardy's Fork Friends' school 
 (Hancock Co.), 165. 
 
 Harris, Addison C, on discipline 
 in Friends' schools, 147-48. 
 
 Hastings, Seth, 198. 
 
 Haughton, William, principal, 
 Whitewater Monthly Meeting- 
 school, 128 ; mentioned, 147, 
 150. 
 
 Hayworth, John D., 168. 
 
 Henderson, Samuel, 237. 
 
 Henderson's Grove, 237, 238, 240, 
 376. 
 
 Hiatt, Isaac, 128. 
 
 Hicksite Quakers, schools in 
 Whitewater Monthly Meeting, 
 161. 
 
 Hill, Gen. Daniel H., 299. 
 
 Hill, William, 165. 
 
 Hines, Capt. Thomas H., invades 
 Indiana, 320; mentioned, 365. 
 
 Hinkle's Creek Friends' school 
 (Hamilton Co.), 172-73. 
 
 Hitchcock, Gen. Ethan A., 335. 
 
394 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Hittle, Anna R., 153-54- 
 Hobbs, Barnabas C, on discipline 
 in Quaker schools, 147 ; on 
 teaching of geography, 142 ; 
 principal, Bloomingdale Acad- 
 emy, 185, 197-98; principal, 
 Whitewater Monthly Meeting 
 school, 128; quotation from 
 preface of reader by, 144-45 ; 
 superintendent, Earlham Col- 
 lege, 208 ; tribute to, by Fasset 
 Cotton, 149-50; mentioned, 151. 
 Hockett, Jesse, 170. 
 Hodson, Isaac, 191. 
 Hoffman, Lt. Col. William H., 
 commissary general of prison- 
 ers, appointment, 251 ; arranges 
 for prisoners to take oath of 
 allegiance, 296 ; demands ac- 
 count of shooting prisoners, 
 345 ; dismisses Dr. Funk- 
 houser, 331 ; dispute with Gen. 
 Butler, 348; efforts toward 
 economy, 255, 309, 354, 355- 
 56 ; failure to co-operate with 
 Stevens, 355-58 ; insists Camp 
 Morton be used as prison camp, 
 319-20; inspects Camp Morton, 
 256; installs "Farmers boilers," 
 338; issues instructions on ex- 
 change of prisoners, 297-98 ; on 
 administration of prisoners' 
 fund, 268 ; proposes erection 
 of bakehouse at Camp Mor- 
 ton, 267 ; reprimands Stevens 
 for neglect, 337 ; requests 
 clothes for prisoners, 336-37 ; 
 resigns for short period, 358; 
 rules for prison camps, 288-92 ; 
 seeks reduction in rations, 350- 
 51 ; suggestions to prevent 
 escapes, 344 ; urges retaliation, 
 350-51 ; mentioned, 262, 283, 
 301, 307, 323, 354, 355, 367. 
 Hogs, transportation of, 53, 54, 55. 
 
 Hole, Dr. Allen D., on Plainfield 
 Central Academy, 189-90 ; men- 
 tioned, 150, 209. 
 
 Hollingsworth, Isaac, 194. 
 
 Holloway, W r . R., on Madison and 
 Indianapolis Railroad, 38. 
 
 Holloway, W. W., answers Wyeth's 
 account of Camp Morton, 347n. 
 
 Honey Creek Monthly Meeting, 
 126, 203, 204. 
 
 Honey Creek Quarter, see New 
 London Quarter. 
 
 Hopewell (Jennings Co., Ind.), 
 Friends' secondary school, 206. 
 
 Hopewell Friends' school (Henry 
 Co.), 159-60. 
 
 Hopewell Friends' school (Vigo 
 Co.), 172. 
 
 Horton, Cyrus, 138, 168. 
 
 Hospitals, see Camp Morton, prison 
 camp, hospitals ; training camp, 
 medical service and health ; In- 
 dianapolis (Ind.), City Hos- 
 pital. 
 
 Hubbard, John R., principal, Union 
 High School, 184, 199. 
 
 Humphreys, Lewis, medical inspec- 
 tor, report on Camp Morton 
 hospital, 325. 
 
 Hunter, John B., proprieter, Co- 
 lumbus hotel, 26. 
 
 Hutton, Sarah A. E., Friends' 
 school, 161. 
 
 Indiana, educational conditions in 
 early, 211; effect of panic of 
 1837 on, 13 ; internal improve- 
 ment system, 17-18; popula- 
 tion (1842), 13m 
 
 Indiana Central Railroad, char- 
 tered, 78; completed, 85. See 
 also Terre Haute and Rich- 
 mond Railroad. 
 
 Indiana General Assembly, amends 
 charter of Madison and Indian- 
 
INDEX 
 
 395 
 
 apolis Railroad, 26 ; incorpor- 
 ates companies for Indianap- 
 olis and Cincinnati Railroad, 
 jy ; legislation on schools, 21 1, 
 215, 217, 218-19; visits Camp 
 Morton, 368-69 ; mentioned, 
 218-19. 
 
 Indiana State Fairgrounds, in 1859- 
 61, pp. 238-39; appropriated 
 for army camp, 240; restored, 
 3/6. 
 
 Indiana State Journal, on effect of 
 Madison and Indianapolis Rail- 
 road on Indianapolis, 40, 41-44; 
 on Union Station, 101. See 
 also Brown, Austin H. 
 
 Indiana State Sentinel, account of 
 accident on Madison and In- 
 dianapolis Railroad, 11 1; ac- 
 count of railroad party to 
 Madison, 50-51 ; Cincinnatian's 
 description of Indianapolis, 88- 
 89 ; letters for and against tax 
 levy to complete Madison and 
 Indianapolis Railroad, 22-24 ; 
 on celebration of completion of 
 Peru and Indianapolis Railroad 
 to Noblesville, 80-81 ; on effect 
 of Madison and Indianapolis 
 Railroad on business, 40; on 
 mail service, 15-16; on Na- 
 tional Road, 13-14; on Union 
 Station, 100-1 ; on rivalry be- 
 tween Indianapolis and Madi- 
 son, 49 ; on Terre Haute and 
 Richmond Railroad, 78-79, 79- 
 80; urges support of Madison 
 and Indianapolis Railroad, 19- 
 20. See also Chapman, Jacob 
 Page. 
 
 Indiana Statesman (Indianapolis), 
 89-90. 
 
 Indiana Yearly Meeting, accounts 
 of elementary schools in, 159- 
 67 ; accounts of secondary 
 
 schools and colleges in, 191-97; 
 Minutes, show effort to keep 
 standard of public schools high, 
 212; organized, 128; reports: 
 on curriculum in schools, 
 142; on education, 129-32; 
 on secondary schools, 175-76; 
 stresses need for Friends' sec- 
 ondary schools, 216-17; urges 
 Friends to support public 
 school system, 213-14. 
 Indianapolis (Ind.), celebrates com- 
 pletion of Madison and Indian- 
 apolis Railroad, 36-40; City 
 Hospital: addition to, 309-10; 
 appropriated for army, 246- 
 47 ; used for Confederate 
 prisoners, 309-10, 324, 326, 
 332; 
 Confederate prisoners in : atti- 
 tude of citizens toward, 254, 
 256-58, 261, 306, 308-9, 3^5, 
 317; lack of care of first, 
 253 ; quarters for officers 
 among, 258-59: 
 described by Cincinnatian, 88- 
 89; effect of railroads on, 33- 
 35, 40-41, 88-89; Friends' semi- 
 nary, 206-7 ; in the 1850's, p. 
 23J ; railroad time card, 84 ; 
 "Railroad City," 81, 87, 103-4; 
 rapid growth, 6511 ; rivalry 
 with Madison, 19-20, 49, 89-90, 
 92-93, 95-99 ; Union Station, 
 99-103 ; Union Track Railway, 
 99-100, 102-3, 105-6 ; "village 
 at the end of the road," 92, 95 ; 
 wealth of, in 1851, pp. 93n-94n ; 
 Washington Hall hotel, 58n. 
 See also Madison and Indian- 
 apolis Railroad. 
 Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Rail- 
 road, completed, 85 ; descrip- 
 tion of opening to Anderson, 
 62-64; description of opening 
 
396 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 to Pendleton, 61-62; joins in 
 forming union track and Union 
 Station, 99; financing of, 57- 
 58, 59-60; praised by Clement 
 E. Babb, 86-87; schedule, 6on- 
 6in, 81. 
 
 Indianapolis and Cincinnati Rail- 
 road, 76-77, 102. 
 
 Indianapolis and Peru Railroad, 81. 
 
 Indianapolis Morning Journal, 
 ioin. 
 
 Invalid Corps, see Veteran Reserve 
 Corps. 
 
 Jackson, William N., general ticket 
 agent at Union Station, ioin; 
 secretary, Madison and Indian- 
 apolis Railroad Company, 28. 
 
 Jameson, Dr. Patrick H., physician 
 at Camp Morton, 246, 305, 312, 
 316. 
 
 Jay, Allen, activities in Quaker 
 education, 150; on Earlham 
 College, 209 ; raises funds for 
 Fairmount Academy, 193 ; 
 teacher, Mississinewa Friends' 
 school, 167. 
 
 Jay, Eli, on Friends' school, 128; 
 mentioned, 150. 
 
 Jef fersonville, Madison and Indian- 
 apolis Railroad, 86. See also 
 Jef fersonville Railroad; Madi- 
 son and Indianapolis Railroad. 
 
 Jeffersonville Railroad, competes 
 with Madison and Indianapolis 
 Railroad, 73, 90; completed, 84, 
 85 ; consolidates with Madison 
 and Indianapolis Railroad, 86; 
 financing of, 69 ; in Civil War, 
 85n-86n; purchases Shelbyville 
 Lateral Railroad and leases 
 Shelbyville and Knightstown 
 Railroad, 70, 71, 72. 
 
 Jericho Friends' school (Randolph 
 Co.), 166. 
 
 Johnson, Andrew, military gover- 
 nor of Tennessee, 295. 
 
 Johnson, John, 23-24. 
 
 Johnson, Thomas, 238n. 
 
 Johnson, Dr. W. A., heads medical 
 corps at Camp Morton, 331, 
 342. 
 
 Johnson's Island (Ohio.), Civil 
 War prison camp, 253, 254-55. 
 
 Jones, Casey, 112. 
 
 Jones, Edward, 150. 
 
 Jones, Isaac, 184. 
 
 Jones, Rufus, on hardships of 
 Quaker pioneers, 133 ; on mid- 
 week meeting, 152; on pioneer 
 Quaker schools, 159; on 
 Quaker education, 221, 222. 
 
 Joseph Moore Museum, Earlham 
 College, 208-9. 
 
 Junction Railroad, 77-78. 
 
 Keatting, 
 
 272. 
 
 Kentuckians, seek to visit prisoners 
 in Camp Morton, 269. 
 
 Kidd, Capt. Meredith H., regiment 
 guards Camp Morton, 261-62, 
 280; mentioned, 276. 
 
 Kimmel Law, 192, 214-15. 
 
 Kinney, Belle, designs bust of Col. 
 Owen, 285. 
 
 Kipp, Surgeon Charles J., heads 
 medical corps at Camp Morton, 
 342, 354, 356, 358, 368. 
 
 Kitchen, Dr. John M., in charge of 
 City Hospital, Indianapolis, 
 307, 310; physician at Camp 
 Morton training camp, 246. 
 
 Knights of the Golden Circle, 317- 
 18. See also Sons of Liberty. 
 
 Knightstown and Shelbyville Rail- 
 road, 52-53- 
 
 Knott, William, 167. 
 
 Knox, L. Gilbert, 286. 
 
 Ladies Patriotic Association, In- 
 dianapolis, 245-46, 269. 
 
INDEX 
 
 397 
 
 Lafayette and Indianapolis Rail- 
 road, construction, 8o, io_> : 
 enters union track and Union 
 Station, 103. 
 
 Lamong, see Union Grove. 
 
 Lanier, James F. D., agent, Madi- 
 son and Indianapolis Railroad, 
 30. 
 
 Lawrenceburgh and Upper Missis- 
 sippi Railroad, 7711. 
 
 Lazelle, Capt., H. M., 297. 
 
 "The Lazy Boy," 145. 
 
 Lee, Gen. Robert E., 372. 
 
 Lefevbre, Louis, 367. 
 
 Letcher, John, governor of Vir- 
 ginia, 293. 
 
 Lewisville (Ind.), high school com- 
 bined with Richsquare Acad- 
 emy, 193. 
 
 Lick Creek Monthly Meeting, 
 school, 167; set up, 126. 
 
 Lickbranch Friends' school (Mar- 
 ion Co.), 169. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, President of 
 United States, call for volun- 
 teers, 239 ; note in behalf of 
 Capt. Castleman, 365 ; men- 
 tioned, 286. 
 
 Locomotive, for Madison and In- 
 dianapolis Railroad, descrip- 
 tion, 107-8. 
 
 Lodge, John, conductor on Madison 
 and Indianapolis Railroad, 31- 
 32. 
 
 Logan, Gen. John A., 367. 
 
 Logansport (Ind.), 44m 
 
 Louisiana, prisoners at Camp Mor- 
 ton from, seek release, 366-68. 
 
 Louisville (Ky.), rivalry with Cin- 
 cinnati and Madison for trade, 
 65, 66, 68, 70, 74. 
 
 Louisville Courier, 70. 
 
 Louisville Democrat, 74. 
 
 Louisville Journal, 269. 
 
 Love, Gen. John, 286. 
 
 Lupton, William C, post quarter- 
 master, Camp Morton, 286, 
 292. 
 
 Lynn Friends' school (Howard 
 Co.), 171. 
 
 Lynn Friends' school (Randolph 
 Co.), 167. 
 
 McCarty, Nicholas, 26, 27n, 35-36. 
 
 McCray, Warren T., governor of 
 Indiana, 218, 219. 
 
 Mail, service to Indianapolis, criti- 
 cized, 15-16. 
 
 Madison (Ind.), builds Columbus 
 and Shelbyville Railroad, 71- 
 72 ; described by D. R. B. Ne- 
 vin, 98-99 ; interest in Colum- 
 bus and Bloomington Railroad, 
 74-76 ; opposes railroad connec- 
 tion between Indianapolis and 
 Cincinnati, 76-77 ; railroad 
 boom, 82; rivalry with Indian- 
 apolis, 19-20, 49, 89-90, 92-93, 
 95-98; rivals Cincinnati and 
 Louisville for Indiana trade, 
 65, 66, 67, 69-70. 
 
 Madison and Indianapolis Rail- 
 road, accidents, 31-33, 46, 47- 
 48 ; barbecue, 28n-29n ; busi- 
 ness increased by repeal of 
 British Corn Laws, 30-31 ; 
 carries exhibits to Cincinnati 
 Agricultural Fair, 82-83 ; cele- 
 bration of completion, 36-40; 
 completed almost to Columbus, 
 16, 18, 25 ; consolidated with 
 Jeffersonville line, 86; cost of 
 fencing, non-un; cost of 
 operation, 47-48 ; criticisms 
 and defenses of, 46-49, 54-56; 
 effect on Indianapolis, 17, 33- 
 36, 40-44; feeder lines, 51-53, 
 53-54, 72, 73, 82 ; financing of, 
 17-18, 18-19, 22-25, 26, 28, 29, 
 30; improvements and addi- 
 
398 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 tions, 107-9 ; Indianapolis de- 
 pot, 26-27, 34, 35-36, 46, 48-49. 
 81 ; joins in forming union 
 tracks and Union Station, 99 ; 
 list showing passengers and 
 freight carried by, 28; ma- 
 terials used in construction, 
 104-5 ; monopoly, 56-57, 69, 73, 
 82, 84-85 ; political aspects, 24- 
 25, 49n-5on; profits, 56; rates, 
 37, 40; schedule, 48n, 81, 92; 
 Sentinel urges completion of, 
 19-22; speed, 17, 28-29; wages 
 paid by, 19. 
 
 Madison Banner, 49. 
 
 Madison Courier, on criticism and 
 defense of Madison and In- 
 dianapolis Railroad, 54-56; on 
 transportation of railroad parts 
 from Philadelphia to Madison, 
 5in-52n; pleads that Madison 
 not buy Shelbyville Lateral 
 Railroad, 71 ; urges cessation 
 of spirit of rivalry among In- 
 diana towns, 90-91. See also 
 Garber, Michael. 
 
 Mahan, Col. John R., 302. 
 
 Mansfield, Col. John L., 286. 
 
 Mansur, Isaiah, commissary gen- 
 eral at Camp Morton, 247-49. 
 
 Map showing railroads in Indiana, 
 
 63. 
 
 Marion County Jail, 267-68. 
 
 Meigs, Montgomery C, quarter- 
 master general, 251, 255, 261, 
 325, 336. 
 
 Mendenhall, William, 206-7. 
 
 Merrill, Samuel, president, Madi- 
 son and Indianapolis Railroad, 
 37, 46-49. 
 
 Miami Monthly Meeting, set up, 
 124-25. 
 
 Michigan Road, 13, 44n-45n. 
 
 Midweek meeting, Society of 
 Friends, 151 -54- 
 
 Mil ford Monthly Meeting, 160. 
 
 Mill Creek Friends' school (Hend- 
 ricks Co.), 170. 
 
 Mills, Joseph John, on importance 
 of Friends maintaining own 
 schools, 212; principal, Sand 
 Creek Friends' Seminary, 204 ; 
 mentioned, 150. 
 
 Mississinewa Academy, 176. 
 
 Mississinewa Friends' school (Ran- 
 dolph Co.), 167. 
 
 Mitchell, Andrew F., 198. 
 
 Moffitt, William, 179-80. 
 
 Montgomery, Major Alexander, 
 250. 
 
 Monthly Meeting Committee on 
 Education, Society of Friends, 
 
 135. 
 
 Moon, Joseph, 150. 
 
 Moore, Joseph, Museum, 208-9. 
 
 Moore, Capt. L. L., commissary at 
 Camp Morton, 316. 
 
 Mooresville (Ind.), High School, 
 205. 
 
 Moreau, Capt. Will C, 245. 
 
 Morgan, Brig. Gen. G. W., 282. 
 
 Morgan, Gen. John, raids into In- 
 diana, 282, 321-22. 
 
 Morgan, William B., 150. 
 
 Morris, Austin W., 35n. 
 
 Morris, Col. Thomas A., engineer 
 for construction of Union Sta- 
 tion, 100; on cost of union 
 track, 105-6; on method of 
 railroad construction, 106-7. 
 
 Morton, Oliver Perry, governor of 
 Indiana, appoints Rose com- 
 mandant at Camp Morton, 
 286; efforts to keep Indiana's 
 paroled prisoners in state, 301- 
 2; efforts to prevent prisoners 
 being sent to Camp Morton, 
 287-88; orders for Camp Mor- 
 ton, 262, 269, 312; promise to 
 send 10,000 volunteers, 239; 
 
INDEX 
 
 399 
 
 promise to care for 3000 pris- 
 oners, 253 ; takes Indiana 
 legislature on tour of Camp 
 Morton, 368-69 ; threatened 
 with assassination, 362 ; men- 
 tioned, 272, 278, 281, 317, 318, 
 
 323- 
 
 Morton, Mrs. Oliver Perry, presi- 
 dent, Ladies Patriotic Associa- 
 tion, 245 ; mentioned, 254. 
 
 Morton Place, 376. 
 
 Mulford, Col. John E., 370. 
 
 Mullen, Col. Bernard F., 262m 
 
 Munford, Lt. William E., 365, 371. 
 
 Murfreesboro (Tenn.), 315. 
 
 Murray, Lindley, quotation from 
 Introduction to Sequel to The 
 English Reader, 145-46. 
 
 Myers Battery, 321. 
 
 National Road, 13-15. 
 
 Nettle Creek Friends' school 
 
 (Wayne Co.), 161. 
 Nevin, D. R. B., editor, New 
 
 Castle Democratic Banner, 98- 
 
 99- 
 
 New Albany (Ind.), 90. 
 
 New Castle Democratic Banner, 
 98-99. 
 
 New Garden Monthly Meeting, set 
 up, 126; school, 194. 
 
 New Garden Quarter, Indiana 
 Yearly Meeting, 194, 195. 
 
 New London Quarter (formerly 
 Honey Creek Quarter), West- 
 ern Yearly Meeting, 171, 203- 
 4- 
 
 New Salem Monthly Meeting, 171. 
 
 New York (N. Y.), routes to, 
 from Indiana towns, 67-68. 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad, 45. 
 
 New York Globe, 29. 
 
 Newlin, Thomas, principal. Spice- 
 land Academy, 183-84; men- 
 tioned, 150. 
 
 Newport (now Fountain City, 
 Ind.), Friends' schools, 194. 
 
 Newspapers, free transportation on 
 railroads, 83-84 ; in Indiana, 
 1845-55, PP- 7-8. See also 
 names of newspapers and edi- 
 tors. 
 
 Nicholson, Timothy, 150. 
 
 Nicklen, Col. Ben. S., 262. 
 
 Noble, Lazarus, adjutant general 
 of Indiana, 261, 262, 269-70, 
 271, 281, 305, 306, 312, 367. 
 
 Northern Quarterly Meeting (now 
 Fairmount), 192. 
 
 Nunemacher, J. R., 111-12. 
 
 Ohio and Indianapolis Railroad, 
 see Jeffersonville Railroad. 
 
 Ohio and Mississippi Railroad 
 Company (Baltimore and 
 Ohio), 82. 
 
 Ottenger, J., letter on stagecoach 
 service between St. Louis and 
 Wheeling, 14-15. 
 
 Overman, Eli, 166. 
 
 Owen, Col. Richard, commandant 
 at Camp Morton, appointment, 
 262 ; treatment of prisoners, 
 262, 263, 265, 272, 274 ; rules 
 for Camp Morton, 263-65 ; use 
 of prisoners' fund, 267-68 ; ad- 
 ministration criticized and de- 
 fended, 274-75 ; examines peti- 
 tions from prisoners, 280-82 ; 
 on desire of some prisoners to 
 take oath of allegiance, 294 ; 
 orders record of prisoners dy- 
 ing at Camp Morton, 312 ; 
 prisoners' petition for, 283-84 ; 
 ordered South with regiment, 
 283-84 ; memorial to, 284-85 ; 
 mentioned, 306. 
 
 Packing business, effect of Madi- 
 son and Indianapolis Railroad 
 
 on, 53, 54, 55- 
 
400 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Palmer, Lt. John J., post quarter- 
 master, Camp Morton, 268. 
 
 Palmer, John J., trustee, Madison 
 and Indianapolis Railroad, 30. 
 
 Palmer, Nathan B., president, 
 Madison and Indianapolis 
 Railroad, 21. 
 
 Parker, Benjamin S., on Quaker 
 schools, 221. 
 
 Parker, Thomas, 166. 
 
 Paroled prisoners, see Civil War, 
 prisoners ; Camp Morton, par- 
 olee camp. 
 
 Peddle, Charles, engineer, 52. 
 
 Pendleton (Ind.), Indianapolis and 
 Bellefontaine Railroad reaches, 
 60-62. 
 
 Peru and Indianapolis Railroad, 
 reaches Noblesville, 80-81 ; 
 joins union track and Union 
 Station, 99, 103. 
 
 Pinkham, Gilbert, 168. 
 
 Pinkham, William, principal, New- 
 London Quarterly Meeting 
 school, 204 
 
 Plainfield (Ind.), Friends' school, 
 169. 
 
 Plainfield Quarter, Western Year- 
 ly Meeting, account of elemen- 
 tary schools in, 169. See also 
 Central Academy. 
 
 Pleasant Hill Monthly Meeting, 
 school, 171. 
 
 Pleasant View Friends' school 
 (Rush Co.), 164-65. 
 
 Pogue's Run, center of railroad 
 activity, 103-4 > improvement 
 of, 26, 33-34, 35, 142; men- 
 tioned, 237. 
 
 Poole, Joseph, 168. 
 
 Pope, Gen. John, 293. 
 
 Poplar Ridge Seminary (Hamil- 
 ton Co.), 184, 203. 
 
 Post office, set up at Camp Mor- 
 ton, 244. 
 
 ''Potomac" (State Ditch), 238, 
 325, 330, 342. 
 
 Prices, effect of railroad on, 40- 
 41 ; of railroad equipment, 104- 
 6 ; railroad rates, 37, 84 ; rail- 
 road stocks and bonds, 87-88 ; 
 rations during Civil War, 260- 
 61. 
 
 Prisoners of war, see names of 
 prison camps ; Civil War, pris- 
 oners. 
 
 Puckett, Benjamin, 168. 
 
 Quakers, see Society of Friends. 
 Quarterly Meeting Committee on 
 
 Education, Society of Friends, 
 
 138-39. 
 
 Railroads, accidents, 31-33, 46, 47- 
 48, 110-11; construction and 
 equipment : Col. T. A. Morris 
 on, 106-7 ; new types of, 
 107-10; increased weight of, 
 iio-ii ; 
 fuel for, 1 10 ; Indiana : aban- 
 doned, 86; completed or 
 under construction, Nov. 12, 
 j 850, pp. 64-65 ; map show- 
 ing, 63 ; rapid extension of, 
 37, 84; rivalry among towns 
 caused by, 58-59, 65 f f . ; 
 Indianapolis : northern and 
 eastern routes out of, urged, 
 45 ; schedule for, 81 ; union 
 track and Union Station, 99- 
 103: 
 organization and financing of : 
 methods, 157; stocks and 
 bonds, prices, 87-88; 
 speed, 52n, 62n, 84, 87, no, 
 111-12; tribute to engineers, 
 io7n; warning against over- 
 building of, 65. See also 
 names of individual roads. 
 Randle, Robert, on midweek meet- 
 ing, 152-53- 
 
INDEX 
 
 401 
 
 Rations, see Camp Morton, prison 
 camp, food; training camp, 
 rations. 
 
 Ratliff, Amos, 169. 
 
 Ray, James Brown, governor of 
 Indiana, advocates railroads, 
 I02n. 
 
 Raysville (Ind.), Friends' school, 
 162-63. 
 
 Readers, used in Quaker schools, 
 144-46. 
 
 Reagan, Chester L., 218. 
 
 Reagan, Rev. John, on Spicewood 
 High School, 205-6. 
 
 Reagan, Thomas, 162. 
 
 Reame, Dr. , 310. 
 
 Reserve Monthly Meeting. 171. 
 
 Reynolds, Col. Joseph J., com- 
 mandant, Camp Morton train- 
 ing camp, 240. 
 
 Richland Academy (Carmel, Ind.), 
 200. 
 
 Richmond (Ind.), see Terre Haute 
 and Richmond Railroad. 
 
 Richsquare Academy (Henry Co.), 
 176, 193. 
 
 Riverside Friends' school (Han- 
 cock Co.), 165. 
 
 Roads, see Michigan Road, Na- 
 tional Road, Railroads, Trans- 
 portation. 
 
 Roberts, Dwight, sutler at Camp 
 Morton, 358. 
 
 Robinson, Edward J., 323. 
 
 Rose, Chauncey, president, Terre 
 Haute and Richmond Rail- 
 road, 82. 
 
 Rose, Col. David Garland, com- 
 mandant at Camp Morton, ap- 
 pointment, 286 ; contrast of ad- 
 ministration with Owen's, 288; 
 precaution against prisoner up- 
 rising, 295. 
 
 Rush, Louisa, donates land for 
 Fairmount Academy, 193. 
 
 Rush, Nixon, donates land for 
 Fairmount Academy, 193. 
 
 Rush Creek School (Parke Co.), 
 204. 
 
 Rushville (Ind.), linked with 
 Madison and Indianapolis Rail- 
 road, 52. 
 
 Rushville and Lawrenceburgh Rail- 
 road, 77n. 
 
 Rushville Whig, 52. 
 
 Sackett, Robert L., 150. 
 
 Salem and Indianapolis Railroad, 
 
 74- 
 
 Salem Friends' school (Union 
 Co.), 164. 
 
 Sand Creek Friends' school (Bar- 
 tholomew Co.), 167. 
 
 Sand Creek Friends' Seminary 
 (Bartholomew Co.), 204. 
 
 Sanders, James, principal, Rich- 
 land Academy, 200. 
 
 Sanitary Commission, 254, 269. 
 
 Schools, see Society of Friends : 
 education, elementary schools, 
 seminaries and academies ; 
 names of Friends' schools. 
 
 Shelby ville (Ind.), connected by 
 rail with Columbus, 71-72, 7211- 
 73n. 
 
 Shelbyville and Knightstown Rail- 
 road, abandoned, 86 ; leased by 
 Jeffersonville Railroad, 70. 
 
 Shelbyville Lateral Railroad, con- 
 struction, 51 ; Madison Courier 
 argues against purchase of, by 
 Madison, 71 ; purchased by 
 Jeffersonville Railroad Com- 
 pany, 70, 71, 72; abandoned. 
 86. 
 
 Sherburne, , engineer, Madi- 
 son and Indianapolis Railroad, 
 
 53- 
 Sherman, William Tecumseh, 85n- 
 86n, 255, 367. 
 
402 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 Silver Creek Monthly Meeting, 
 
 126. 
 Smith, Mary Emily, 165-66. 
 Smith, Oliver H., president, In- 
 dianapolis and Bellefontaine 
 Railroad, 6on-6in, 62; urges 
 Indianapolis to become rail- 
 road center, 58-60 ; mentioned, 
 15. 
 Smith, William M., leases Union 
 
 High School property, 200. 
 Society of Friends, education : em- 
 phasis on, 123-24; "guard- 
 ed," 124, 221 ; influence on 
 and contributions to public 
 schools, 210, 212-14, 220, 221- 
 23 ; Monthly and Quarterly 
 Meeting committees on, 136- 
 37; policy outlined, 29-31; 
 public funds for, 211 -12; 
 elementary schools : accounts 
 of, 159-/3; beginnings in In- 
 diana, 127-29, 134-35 ; 
 changes in, 151 ; curriculum, 
 141-42; discipline, 147-48; 
 enrollment, 151 ; faculty, 
 141, 143, 146-47, 148, 149- 
 51 ; financing of, 135, 137-38, 
 211-12; length of term, 136; 
 "loud," 143 ; moral and re- 
 ligious instruction, 133-34, 
 151-55; recreation, 155-56; 
 rules governing typical, 156- 
 58 ; success, 210 ; textbooks, 
 143-46 ; three types in In- 
 diana, 135-36; translation 
 into public schools, 212; see 
 also names of individual 
 schools ; 
 founding, 123 ; movement into 
 Indiana, 124-27 ; scruples 
 against bearing arms, i3on; 
 seminaries and academies : ac- 
 counts of, in Indiana, 191- 
 209; beginnings, 174-75, *77 ", 
 
 boardinghouses, 179; build- 
 ings, stages of transition, 
 178-79; curriculum, 185-89; 
 decline, 213-20; extracurric- 
 ular activities, 189-90; facul- 
 ties and salaries, 183, 184; 
 normal courses, 189 ; number 
 of, 177-78; peak of educa- 
 tional program, 190, 213 ; re- 
 ligious instruction, 180-81 ; 
 report of Indiana Yearly 
 Meeting Committee on, 175- 
 76; student body, 179; typi- 
 cal rules and discipline, 181- 
 84; see also names of indi- 
 vidual seminaries and acad- 
 emies. 
 See also names of monthly 
 meetings ; Indiana Yearly 
 Meeting ; Western Yearly 
 Meeting. 
 Sons of Liberty, 351-52, 361-63. 
 See also Knights of the Gold- 
 en Circle. 
 South Wabash Academy (Wabash, 
 Ind.), account of, 194-95 ; men- 
 tioned, 179-80. 
 Spiceland Academy, account of, 
 191-92; closes, 218-19; courses 
 of study, 187-88; efforts to 
 maintain, 215-16, 217-18; nor- 
 mal course, 189; strictness, 
 183; mentioned, 176, 178. 
 Spiceland Quarter, Indiana Yearly 
 Meeting, accounts of elemen- 
 tary schools in, 161-63. 
 Spicewood High School (Hamil- 
 ton Co.), 178, 205-6. 
 Sprague, , engineer, Colum- 
 bus and Bloomington Railroad, 
 
 75- 
 Spring Friends' school (Marion 
 
 Co.), 170. 
 Springfield Monthly Meeting, set 
 
 up, 126; school, 160. 
 
INDEX 
 
 403 
 
 Stagecoach transportation, 13, 14, 
 I4n-i5n. 
 
 Stanley, Irwin, 150. 
 
 Stanton, Edwin M., Secretary of 
 War, threatens retaliation, 
 335; mentioned, 269, 282, 292, 
 
 319, 348. 
 
 State Ditch, 238. See also "Po- 
 tomac." 
 
 Stephens, , superintendent. 
 
 Union Board, ioin. 
 
 Stevens, Col. Ambrose A., com- 
 mandant at Camp Morton, 
 efforts: to expand quarters 
 and hospitals at Camp Mor- 
 ton, 355-58; to prevent 
 escapes, 344, 348; to prevent 
 suffering from cold weather, 
 339-40 ; 
 explanation of shooting of 
 prisoner, 345 ; fears uprising 
 at camp, 351-52; first report 
 to Hoffman, 334; improve- 
 ments at Camp Morton, 342; 
 weakness of administration, 
 333-34, 343; mentioned, 328, 
 333, 349, 363, 368, 370. 
 
 Stevens, Moses C, principal, Farm- 
 ers' Institute, 202-3 ; men- 
 tioned, 150. 
 
 Stone, Asahel, commissary at 
 Camp Morton, 249, 260, 261. 
 
 Streight, Col. A. D., 242. 
 
 Stringfellow, Rev. Horace, rector, 
 Christ Church, 306. 
 
 Sugar Grove Friends' schools 
 (Hendricks Co.), 170. 
 
 Sugar Plain Academy (Boone 
 Co.), 206. 
 
 Sugar Plain Monthly Meeting, 
 172, 206. 
 
 Sugar River Friends' school 
 (Boone Co.), 171. 
 
 Sugar River Monthly Meeting, 
 schools, 171-72. 
 
 Sulphur Spring Friends' school 
 (Morgan Co.), 167. 
 
 Surgeons, not held as prisoners 
 during Civil War, 260. 
 
 Sutlers, see Camp Morton, prison 
 camp, sutlers ; Civil War, sut- 
 lers. 
 
 Tallack, William, 208. 
 Tennessee, prisoners from, desire 
 to take oath of allegiance, 294- 
 95, 296, 319. 
 Terre Haute (Tnd.), 79. 
 Terre Haute and Richmond Rail- 
 road, chartered, 78 ; joins in 
 union tracks and Union Sta- 
 tion, 99 ; schedule and rates, 
 84. 
 
 Terre Haute Express, 93-94. 
 
 Terrell, W. H. H., editor, Colum- 
 bus Gazette, on celebration of 
 completion of Madison and In- 
 dianapolis Railroad, 38-40. 
 
 Test, Erastus, 150. 
 
 Test, Ralph, 218. 
 
 Test, Zaccheus, 150. 
 
 Textbooks, used in Quaker schools, 
 143-46. 
 
 Thomas, Harvey, teacher, Center 
 Friends' school, 171 ; principal, 
 Western Agricultural School, 
 197 ; principal, Sugar Plain 
 Academy, 206. 
 
 Thomas, Lorenzo, United States 
 Adjutant General, 296. 
 
 Thompson, William, 168. 
 
 Thorntown Friends' school (Boone 
 Co.), 172. 
 
 Thorntown Quarter (formerly 
 Concord), Western Yearly 
 Meeting, schools in, 171-72. 
 
 Tilford, Dr. J. H, 309. 
 
 Transportation, canals, 16, 66, 79, 
 102 ; changes in, 84-85, 85n ; 
 failure to win appropriations 
 
404 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 for, 14, 15; of mails, 15-16; 
 of merchandise and agricul- 
 tural products, 16-17; of rail- 
 road parts from Philadelphia 
 to Madison, 5in-52n; roads: 
 poor condition, 13-15, 18; vs. 
 railroads, 44n-45n ; 
 stagecoach, 13, 14, I4n-I5n. 
 See also Railroads. 
 
 Treakle, Horatio, 167. 
 
 Tripler, Surgeon Charles J., 354. 
 
 Trueblood, Banjamin F., on educa- 
 tion, 222 ; teacher, New Gar- 
 den School, 194; mentioned, 
 150. 
 
 Tuke, Henry, 123. 
 
 Twiggs, Gen. David E., 251. 
 
 Union Grove (later Lamong) 
 Friends' school (Hamilton 
 Co.), 172. 
 
 Union High School (Hamilton 
 Co.), 184, 198-200. 
 
 Union Quarter, Western Yearly 
 Meeting, 172, 198-200. 
 
 Union Schoolhouse, Fairfield 
 Quarter Friends' school, 169. 
 
 Union Station, see Indianapolis 
 (Ind.), Union Station. 
 
 Union Track Railway, sec Indian- 
 apolis (Ind.), Union Track 
 Railway. 
 
 Vajen, Charles D., 273. 
 
 Vallandigham, Clement Laird, 255. 
 
 Valley Mills, see Beech Grove. 
 
 Van Buren, Martin, 14. 
 
 Vance, , engineer, Indian- 
 apolis and Bellefontaine Rail- 
 road, 62. 
 
 Vanhorn, , conductor, In- 
 dianapolis and Bellefontaine 
 Railroad, 64. 
 
 Vermillion Academy, Vermillion 
 Quarter, 172. 
 
 Veteran Reserve Corps, guards 
 
 Camp Morton, 333, 334, 373. 
 Vicksburg (Miss.), 315, 321. 
 
 Wabash (Ind.), see South Wabash 
 Academy. 
 
 Wabash and Erie Canal, effect on 
 business, 16; reaches Evans- 
 ville, 102 ; mentioned, 66. 
 
 Wabash Quarterly Meeting, 197; 
 school, 163. 
 
 Wages, employees of Madison and 
 Indianapolis Railroad, 19; fac- 
 ulty of Friends' schools, 149, 
 184; medical staff, prisoners' 
 hospitals, 307, 329. 
 
 Wallace, Lew, 239-40, 242. 
 
 Walnut Grove school (Boone Co.), 
 172. 
 
 Walnut Ridge Friends' school 
 (Rush Co.), 164. 
 
 Walnut Ridge Quarter, Indiana 
 Yearly Meeting, accounts of 
 schools in, 164-65. 
 
 Warner, Col. A. J., 365. 
 
 Washington Hall, Indianapolis 
 hotel, 58n. 
 
 Weather, at Camp Morton, 336, 
 338-42, 353- 
 
 Weaver and Williams, Indianap- 
 olis undertakers, 312. 
 
 Webster Monthly Meeting (for- 
 merly Dover), schools, 142-43, 
 
 195. 
 Weir, A. N., assistant surgeon, 316. 
 Wessells, Gen. Henry W., 358. 
 West Branch Friends' school, later 
 
 Cadiz (Henry Co.), 162. 
 West Grove Monthly Meeting, set 
 
 up, 126; school, 172-73. 
 West Newton (Ind.), see Easton. 
 West Union School (Morgan Co.), 
 
 205. 
 Western Agricultural School (later 
 
 Bloomingdale Academy), 197. 
 
INDEX 
 
 405 
 
 Western Grove Friends' school 
 (Hancock Co.), 165. 
 
 Western Manual Labor School 
 (later Bloomingdale Acad- 
 emy), 198. 
 
 Western Yearly Meeting, accounts 
 of elementary schools in, 167- 
 73 ; of secondary schools and 
 colleges in, 197-207 ; reports : 
 on curriculum in schools, 
 142; on secondary education, 
 176-77 ; on Scripture read- 
 ing in schools, 155 ; 
 set up, 132. 
 
 Westfield (Ind.), see Union High 
 School ; Union Quarter. 
 
 W r estfield Quarter, Indiana Yearly 
 Meeting, schools, 164. 
 
 Westland Friends' school (Han- 
 cock Co.), 165. 
 
 Whitcomb, James, governor of In- 
 diana, 37-38, 40. 
 
 White, Josiah, 165. 
 
 White Lick Monthly Meeting, 126. 
 See also Mooresville (Ind.), 
 High School. 
 
 White Lick Quarter, Western 
 Yearly Meeting, schools: ac- 
 counts of elementary, 167-68; 
 rules for governing, 156-58. 
 
 White's Manual Labor Institute 
 (Wabash Co.), 165-66, 207. 
 
 Whitehead, , 349. 
 
 Whitewater Monthly Meeting, set 
 up, T25-26 ; schools : accounts 
 of, 127-28, 161 ; described by 
 Eli Jay, 128. 
 
 Whitewater Quarter, Indiana 
 Yearly Meeting, accounts of 
 elementary schools in, 159-61. 
 
 Wickersham, William, principal, 
 Sand Creek Friends' Semi- 
 nary, 204. 
 
 Wilkes, Dr. , 310. 
 
 Willcox, Gen. Orlando B., com- 
 mander, Indiana and Michigan 
 military district, 318, 319, 320, 
 323, 326. 
 
 Williams, see Weaver and Wil- 
 liams. 
 
 Williams, Edward P., recollections 
 of Camp Morton parolee camp, 
 302-3. 
 
 Williams, Lt. Col. John S., 262n. 
 
 Wilson, Drusilla, 203. 
 
 Wilson, James, assistant adjutant 
 general, 270. 
 
 Wilson, Jonathan, 203. 
 
 Wilson, Timothy, 150. 
 
 Winslow and Perkins, New York 
 brokers, 30. 
 
 Woodburn, John, 70, 71. 
 
 Woolman, John, 123. 
 
 Wright House, Indianapolis hotel, 
 92. 
 
 Wyeth, John A., report on Camp 
 Morton prison camp, 347n. 
 
CAMP MORTON 1861-1865 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS PRISON CAMP 
 
 By 
 HATTIE LOU WINSLOW 
 
 and 
 
 JOSEPH R. H. MOORE 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS 
 
 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 1940 
 
The price of this Publication is seventy-five cents. 
 
 Members of the Indiana Historical Society are entitled to 
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 The Publications may be ordered from the Bobbs-Merrill 
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