JPK Huson 1863
Brev. Brig. Gen'l
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2012
- Location
- Central Pennsylvania
Fairly famous image of Rockett's, ( and a cow... ) section of Richmond, Virginia. Naval yard across the river, wharf where the Gettysburg Dead arrived in 1871, houses and businesses this side. That's a tobacco warehouse, the 4 story brick, 4 chimney's? I'm not sure how extensive was Rocketts. Liggons tobacco warehouse prison was in Rocketts- is this Liggons or one of the others we've never heard of?
Just posted this in another thread, need the comparison here. Guessing most tobacco warehouse were very similar, still, same 4 story, 4 chimney structure- Harpers ( also NYPL ), depicting the day prisoners were freed.
We do this noticeable ' thing ' in relation to quite a bit of Civil War history. ONE or maybe a few famous names, be it person, place or event tends to represent numerous. It's especially noticeable discussing say, nurses- Dix, Barton, Pemberton, the Woolsey sisters, Bickerdyke, or civilians whose names mark history. You know, John Burns and Jenny Wade of Gettysburg, spies like Greenhow and maybe Van Lew. In fact we have no clue how many women served as Civil War nurses, nameless spies make appearances through a gazillion era newspaper articles and just in Gettysburg civilian stories are incredibly numerous. Anyone know the name of the black civilian who, like Burns, hefted a musket in defense of the town? ( Yes, I do )
Libby and Sons, Carey Street, Richmond seems a terrific example of this. Possibly because Libby has famous stories like that of Captain Rose's tunnel attached, maybe because it was dismantled, transported elsewhere and turned into a museum so enjoyed a second ' life ', perhaps because there are quite a few surviving images, who knows? Here's the thing- tobacco warehouse prisons were scattered through Richmond. We've also heard of Castle Thunder, where Dr. Mary Walker spent some time but anyone hear of Castle Lightening? I hadn't either until reading an address printed in a Gettysburg newspaper. Civilians taken prisoner during the battle were apparently housed there- finally found it. @lelliott19 mentioned ' Bailey's ', Liggons was apparently at Rockett's- yet another.
This is Libby after Union troops took over, now housing Confederate stragglers and a few vocal civilians.
It's a ' sincere question ' thread. What was where and do we have images? So here's one from LoC, from a stereo view cropped and blown up. Titled " Libby Prison " I just do not think it is. Sequence of windows is wrong- side facing the river would have the same number. This one has 5-3-5, no windows at all on the short side. It's not Castle Thunder or Liggons, if Harper's depiction is accurate- so which prison? I'm not sure the house next to it right for Libby, either.
You can get a lot from an image. What I'd like to know is where were the others AND do we have images of them and do not know it?
There are actually a few ' Libby ' images I find puzzling hence questionable. If not Libby, which? If there's any interest, will post more comparisons. What if we have photos of other, less well known prisons, which are they?
View from ' Libby Hill ' although I don't know what that means. Long building is another- someone said a hospital and prison? Anyone know which, please?
Purpose of thread is ascertain how many images of Richmond prisons we may have- and which they would be. I'm seriously not pretending to discover anything new- I just want to KNOW.
Another case in point. Both images are labeled " Castle Thunder ". Pretty sure these are not of the same building. So what other prison has been documented? *disclaimer* SCOFFING DISALLOWED. Disagree sure, play nice.