Libby Prison Inmates

Virginia Dave

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I was just curious if others in this forum had ancestors that spent time in Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia.

My GGG Manoah Shockley was released from Libby after the war. At one time he had been accused of murder killing two deserters, or so it was said.

I have tried to find a list of prisoners held there during that time frame, but not having much luck. If you have any sources that might help I would appreciate it.

Libby Prison release Manoah.png
 
Record Groups 249 (Records of the Commissary General of Prisoners) and 393 (Records of United States Army Continental Commands, 1821-1920) at NARA have some records of prisoners at Libby.

If he was an officer, then there's also a list that covers 1863-1864 in RG 15 (Dept. of the VA).

Have you checked his service record and pension file, either of which may have info about his term at Libby?
 
My GG grandfather Jerome Black was a private in the 8th OVC. Captured about a week after the Battle of Fisher's Hill, he spent a short time at Libby Prison in early October 1864 before being transferred to Salisbury Prison. He spent another few months in Salisbury where "by reason of starvation and sickness, at times being almost without food whatever, he became very much emaciated, wasted, and weak". On December 1 1864, he was granted parole for agreeing to join Tucker's Confederate Regiment (Company I).

Most of this information I found in his sworn affidavit from his pension file, as well as the service records for Tucker's Regiment.

The following google map shows what information I have been able to find of his time as a POW and in Confederate service before his escape and return to the 8th OVC.

 
I know a bit about a group of a little over 100 sailors and marines who were captured on September 8/9, 1963 at the Second Battle of Fort Sumter and stayed on the campus of Libby (officer's in the Libby Building; enlisted men in the Pemberton and Crews building catty corner to it). Fifteen of the enlisted guys were sent to Salisbury at the end of December and the rest to Andersonville starting in March, 1864. The officers stayed at Libby until they were exchanged. Most of the group was exchanged in the fall of 1864, and the officers mostly ended up at Fort Fisher in January, 1865. But I don't have a comprehensive list of prisoners held there.
 
My GG grandfather Jerome Black was a private in the 8th OVC. Captured about a week after the Battle of Fisher's Hill, he spent a short time at Libby Prison in early October 1864 before being transferred to Salisbury Prison. He spent another few months in Salisbury where "by reason of starvation and sickness, at times being almost without food whatever, he became very much emaciated, wasted, and weak". On December 1 1864, he was granted parole for agreeing to join Tucker's Confederate Regiment (Company I).

I know a bit about Salisbury and belong to a die hard group of descendants and researchers known as the Salisbury Confederate Prison Association.

Salisbury started off as a political prison and wasn't so bad, but as the war dragged on, it became a prisoner of war camp and conditions went down hill really fast as the prison population exploded. There was some housing, but not enough, and the prisoners dug what have been described as "inverted light bulb shaped" holes in the dirt for shelter from the elements. At the end of November, there was an attempted uprising, but not all of the prisoners were aware of it, and it failed with many prisoners, and a few guards, killed. Your ancestor would have become a "galvanized Yankee" within a couple of days of the uprising. Dr. Louis Brown's book on Salisbury is the definitive work on the prison, with multiple appendices that attempt to recreate the lists of prisoners. About 4,000 Yankees are buried in unmarked trench graves at the Salisbury National Cemetery.
 
My gg granduncle Daniel Dalious Private Co. K 67 PVI spent a short time at Libby. Captured at Winchester, he was sent to Libby then on to Belle Island. He was a cigarmaker from Hamburg, PA. 35 yrs. old at time of capture. He survived the war.

DANIEL DALIOUS PRISONER OF WAR RECORD.jpeg
 
My gg granduncle Daniel Dalious Private Co. K 67 PVI spent a short time at Libby. Captured at Winchester, he was sent to Libby then on to Belle Island. He was a cigarmaker from Hamburg, PA. 35 yrs. old at time of capture. He survived the war.
He was extremely lucky in his timing. The prisoner exchanges broke down in July, 1863. If he'd been captured a month or two later, he probably would have been held until the fall of 1864 and would very possibly have ended up at Andersonville. He might not have survived if that had happened!
 
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