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Immortal 600: Prisoners Under Fire at Charleston Harbor During the American Civil WarAmerica's Civil War | 7 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post
When Jones arrived in Charleston, the battered city had already endured eight months of bombardment. Though deaths from the shelling were few, the Federal artillery had caused irreparable destruction throughout the city, and very few buildings within Union cannon-shot range had escaped damage from shellfire. The streets were pockmarked with craters and littered with the bodies of unburied animals. Only weeds grew in the yards of what had once been lovely homes, and the jewel of Southern antebellum culture had been reduced to the apocalyptic landscape of a scarred battlefield. In a grim attempt at humor, remaining residents called the area most damaged by the Federal guns the ‘Gillmore District.’ Subscribe Today
Shortly after the Southern change of command, the Union also assigned a new man to Charleston. On May 26, 1864, Maj. Gen. John Gray Foster replaced Gillmore as the head of the Department of the South. Foster was also a West Point graduate, class of 1846. He had seen considerable combat in the Mexican War and was wounded while in command of sappers, miners and pontoniers.
Foster had been stationed at Fort Sumter as a captain when it fell in 1861. After the fort surrendered he returned to Washington, where he was placed in command of a New England brigade that he led to victories at Roanoke Island and New Bern, N.C. In 1863 he was transferred to Tennessee, where he fought at the siege of Knoxville and briefly commanded the Army of the Ohio. Following a fall from an unruly horse, Foster was transferred to the Department of the South to replace Gillmore. The relocation was a homecoming of sorts for the general. But no matter how badly he wanted to avenge Fort Sumter and seize Charleston, Foster realized that he lacked the means to successfully assault or outflank the massive defenses of the harbor town, and settled into continuing the siege by bombardment.
Lacking the manpower and resources to drive Foster’s Yankees away, General Jones looked for immediate ways to alleviate the bombardment. He turned to drastic measures to do so. On June 1, 1864, he requested from Jefferson Davis’ military adviser, General Braxton Bragg, that 50 Federal prisoners be sent to him to be ‘confined in parts of the city still occupied by civilians, but under the enemy’s fire.’ Davis approved his request, and orders were issued to move the unfortunate prisoners from Camp Ogelthorpe in Macon, Ga., to Charleston. On Sunday, June 12, trains arrived from Georgia bearing their unhappy cargo of Union captives.
The event was smugly reported in the local newspaper, the Charleston Mercury, which expressed pleasure at the plight of the endangered Federal officers. ‘For some time it has been known that a batch of Yankee prisoners, comprising the highest in rank now in our hands, were soon to be brought hither to share in the pleasures of the bombardment. These prisoners we understand will be furnished with comfortable quarters in that portion of the city most exposed to enemy fire. The commanding officer on Morris Island will be duly notified of the fact of their presence in the shelled district and if his batteries still continue at their wanton and barbarous work, it will be at the peril of the captive officers.’
The unlucky 50 Yankees, all officers–five of them brigadier generals–were placed in a home converted into a prison in the south end of Charleston. Jones sent a note to Foster the day after their arrival to tell the Federal general of the captives’ arrival and that they had been placed in ‘commodious quarters in a part of the city occupied by non-combatants….I should inform you that it is a part of the city…for many months exposed to the fire of your guns.’ With that action, the Confederate commander set in motion a chain of events that would endanger the lives of helpless prisoners of war and outrage the highest officials of both governments.
Foster was furious and immediately requested that 50 Confederate officer prisoners be sent from the prison at Fort Delaware, located on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River, and placed in front of the Union forts on Morris Island in retaliation. He sent a letter to Jones under flag of truce in which he argued that Charleston had munitions factories and wharves for receiving goods run past the blockade. He stated in angry terms that to ‘destroy these means of continuing the war is therefore our object and duty. You seek to defeat this effort, not by honorable means, but by placing unarmed and helpless prisoners under our fire.’ Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: 19th Century, America's Civil War, American Civil War, Historical Conflicts
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7 Comments to “Immortal 600: Prisoners Under Fire at Charleston Harbor During the American Civil War”
I wonder why this particular incident is not taught in public shcools? By the way, it’s not hard for me to see who was at fault. The North was knowingly shelling non-combatants – period. The South graciously let Union prisoners into the homes of NON-combatants, who, by the law of land warfare at that time, should have been allowed to leave BEFORE the bombardment. When a force has no respect for rules and regulations, anarchy generally arises to take its place.
By Robert Strickland on Aug 22, 2008 at 4:01 pm
An interesting and well-written argument, that makes an effort to be even-handed. A few points that are perhaps worthy of mention.
First, a major reason that the Union ceased prisoner exchanges was because the Confederacy had announced that it would not regard black troops — the United States Colored Troops (USCT) — as lawful combatants and would not treat them as prisoners of war. In response, the North ceased all prisoner exchanges. It is true that later in the war, an attrition analysis was relevant the issue of exchanging Southern prisoners (generally better fed due to more resources in the North) for Union prisoners who were often gravely malnourished and would almost always muster out. There is nothing unlawful or wrong about not exchanging prisoners–I would argue that this just shows that Grant was a modern general with a strong grasp of logistics and the clear vision to realize the necessary conditions for victory.
Second, any analysis of treatment of prisoners is arguable incomplete without mention of the truly horrific conditions at the main prison for Union prisoners of war, Andersonville. Photos of some of the surviving Union prisoners after the war resemble the concentration camp photos that we have all seen in connection with World War II. This is not meant to suggest that the Confederacy deliberately meant to starve and kill the victims, but their treatment not surprisingly engendered tremendous anger in the Northern public and Union forces.
By H. Woods on Feb 11, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Fort Delaware rivaled andersonville for horrible conditions. Look it up . My great great grandpa was a prisoner there and had to walk home barefooted looking like a rack of skin and bones. Home was Pike County in southern Alabama . He had no means of obtaining foo or anything else . He was just tough enough to live through the inhumane treatment . The north wrote the history books therefore inhumane treatment at the camps and using prisoners as human shields is always omitted from the history books. His name was James Lorenzo Manning private 22nd Alabama Infantry Company I . He is buried in Westville Fl .
Wally Dees
Amite , La
By WALLY DEES on Mar 7, 2009 at 7:23 am
Ft. Delware was not the only northern prison that was as bad or worse than Andersonville, look at Chicago. You also must know that the pictures you see are no of prisoners from Andersonville.
By Jerry Young on Mar 25, 2009 at 3:37 pm
im using some of this for a history school project, thanks!
By Bri on Apr 17, 2009 at 12:39 pm
For the most in-depth examination of the story of these men and their treatment, read “Immortal Captives” by Mauriel Phillips Joslyn. It is taken from the diaries, letters and recollections of the captives, guards and others associated with their situation. It comprises a fully documented indictment of Lincoln, Stanton and Grant for their policies concerning prisoners of war.
Gary W. Poole
By Gary W. Poole on Aug 10, 2009 at 6:56 pm