The Story of Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Forgotten Civil War Prison by David L. Keller

I have read a number of good books on the prisoner of war experience during the Civil War. The others are all academic studies. This is a History Press book aimed at a broad audience of Civil War enthusiasts. Readers will find it very accessible and filled with the sorts of details that appeal to many Civil War history readers.

Before Camp Douglas was a prison camp for Confederates, it was a training ground for Union recruits. In fact, it was a prison camp precisely because it had been a Union barracks. The poorly situated prison camps of 1863 were very often repurposed 1861 troop depots. The desire to save money in commissioning prison camps overcame common sense. Places that were barely adequate to house recruits for a few weeks were turned into grossly inadequate living quarters for Confederates to suffer in for months at a stretch.

The first hints of the problems to come were apparent when, in 1862, Camp Douglas was used as a parole camp for Union soldiers paroled by the Confederates but not yet exchanged. The Sanitary Commission reported that the conditions in the camp were deplorable. When the prisoner exchange cartel broke down in the Spring of 1863 because of Confederate declarations that black soldiers and their white officers would be subject to the most severe measures if captured, this ended the parole camping for Union soldiers and swelled the ranks of the captured Confederates.

Curtis Burke, a Confederate diarist, confided that he would rather be held in prison than be exchanged for a black man:

Friday January 8th 1864. We have had rumors for several days that all prisoners of war were ordered to Point Lookout, under Gen. Butler’s jurisdiction to be kept till the Confederate Government will consent to recognize Butler and exchange negro soldiers captured. As far as I can learn most of the prisoners would rather remain prisoners a year longer than be exchanged through Beast Butler (as we call him) for negro troops. (p. 101)

As early as the summer of 1862, the alarm was being sounded of problems at Camp Douglas. A sanitary commission report said; “The place is as desperately circumstanced as any camp ever was, and nothing but a special providence or some peculiar efficacy of the lake winds can prevent it from becoming a source of pestilence before another month has gone over our heads.” Subsequent reports showed that few improvements had been made a year later.

Apart from the physical facility, a problem that Camp Douglas shared with other camps was an absence of leadership. No one accepted an officer’s commission hoping to command Elmira, Andersonville, or Camp Douglas. Most tried to get out of the job as soon as they were assigned to it. Even for those who tried to do the job well, their rank was often so inferior that they could not get the resources needed to keep it safe and secure while providing for the prisoners there.

Author David Keller offers a chapter on daily life for prisoners at the camp. From abusive searches by guards to plays put on by the inmates for their own entertainment, Keller gives a good account of the ordinary. Food at the camp was monotonous, but rich in calories if not nutrition. Clothing was inadequate for the men held here. Many arrived in camp from the Deep South without any overcoats or heavy clothing. While some blankets and coats were distributed by the jailers, it was never enough.

Although 6,000 Confederates perished at Camp Douglas, the prison was largely forgotten. By the 20th Century the old camp had been obscured by modern development. It was only in the 21st Century that knowledge of the prison was enhanced by archeological digs and outreach by the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation. Still, even within Chicago, how many people have even heard of the camp?

This book contains a lot of materials on Camp Douglas. It will satisfy the local history devotee, although the long block quotes from letters, memoirs, and reports can get tedious. I typically read academic works on the Civil War and this volume lacks some of the polish of those works. I still think that many readers with a passing interest in prisons will find this book very useful.

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