Civil War Day on Alcatraz Island (Oct. 4, 2008)

[gary]

Friends of Civil War Alcatraz

On Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008, the Friends of Civil War Alcatraz hosted its second Civil War Day on Alcatraz Island. Unknown to most visitors (and San Franciscans), Alcatraz was a military fort for most of its existence and was only a civilian prison for twenty-nine years. As a fort, along with Fort Point at the entrance to the Golden Gate, protected San Francisco Bay and the gold ships that carried gold from California to the East. We didn't have a band this time but we did have a cooking demonstration by women reenactors. Yours truly helped haul the wood aboard ship and off loaded the same. I tried to pass a general a stick of firewood by calling it his marshal's baton. He would have helped, but his hands were full already. He did correct me by calling it a riding crop.

We also had some prisoners and one yankee soldier had a small ball & chain which was worn all day (even at lunch in a private break area used by the staff). We had two corn-fed PoWs (but they ate sandwiches like the rest of us). A small hospital was set up but no one brought the yellow flag. Then again, unless someone knows their Civil War history, would they have known it was a yellow flag and not a white cross on a white field?

Every now and then, the prisoners were marched up to the hospital under guard for examination by the surgeon. I watched from overhead and was talking with one person who did a lot of Civil War research. He had a relative in Andersonville who survived and he said he was one of the California Hundred. I told him that I read a book about them but it wasn't useful for purposes of my research. Well, turns out that he and the surgeon (his son) are the authors of Their Horses Climbed Trees. They spent years researching it and dug out every newspaper article, letter, journal and official report they could find. It's a good history, but not a great seller. That's not surprising since it would be read mostly by (1) Folks interested in the cavalry raised by Massachusetts; (2) relatives whose ancestors fought or served in that unit; (3) Californians; (4) researchers who are interested in collecting information about particular battles that the unit fought in.

Other soldiers patrolled the island, looking out for the dreaded Confederate raider that loomed in the horizon and threatened our gold ships.

While successful, we plan to do better and will include private lectures for the soldiers at mess time. They also got a tour of the citadel, the original Civil War period fort that the present day prison sits atop of. The only two things visible of the old citadel from the exterior are the granite entrances.