Fort Donaldson POW's Question

Drawing confed. prisoners FT Donelson.jpeg

"A Group of Confederate Prisoners at Fort Donelson, on the Morning After the Surrender, Clothed in Bed Blankets, Pieces of Carpeting, Etc." Frank Leslie's Illustrated History of the Civil War. The soldiers were a very colorful sight, oddly enough. They wore quilts & carpet ponchos with typically elaborate Victorian patterns on them.

Yes, privates were held at Camp Chase. In the early months of 1862, Confederate soldiers captured at Forts Henry & Donelson began to arrive at Camp Chase & Camp Douglas. On February 24, 1862, 104 officers & their body servants arrived at Camp Chase in Columbus OH. An additional 720 prisoners arrived soon after.

The officers with their body servants were housed separately from the private soldiers. Put on parole, the officers were able to go to Columbus in full uniform with sidearms (pistol & sword). They even had new uniforms made up by local tailors. There was considerable Southern sentiment in that area of Ohio, so the officers attended dinners & balls at the best hotel in town as guests of local citizens. Needless to say, that irritated the heck out of loyal citizens & officials in Columbus.

What really got out their noses was that the slaves & a few freedmen body servants were locked up as prisoners. On April 21, 1862, the remaining forty some odd body servants were released. They were given the option of returning South or finding employment as free men. None of them chose to return to slavery. They were given medical checkups. It is interesting to see that the slaves were almost all between 4'6" & 5'6" tall. The free "waiters" were, with one exception, 5'8" to 6'2" tall. The difference in height was, in all likelihood, due to the amount of protein in their childhood diet. Even what are perceived as privileged slaves had very poor diets.

Not much is known about the post Camp Chase lives of the slaves & freedmen other than several of them joining the USCT.
 
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