I recently came across the above paper published in The Alabama Review, April 2014.
The author, Brett J. Derbes, concludes that “…the inmates of the Alabama State Penitentiary significantly contributed to the war effort and the Alabama Treasury throughout nearly the entire conflict.”
I would be interested to learn of other instances of this and how widespread the practice was across the Confederacy and the Union.
Derbes covers the prison from its opening in 1842 with inmates involved in loss making production of a wide range of goods throughout the antebellum period. When the Civil War started, the workshops turned to manufacturing a variety of military supplies for the Confederacy, including knapsacks, shoes, wagon covers, and a variety of tents. The Civil War saw production become profitable for its private owners. Interestingly prisoners were often released to sign up for the Confederacy. In the spring of 1865 Union forces under General James H. Wilson targeted Confederate manufactories in Central Alabama, overtook the penitentiary, and released all the remaining inmates.
Derbes, Brett J. "The production of military supplies at the Alabama State penitentiary during the Civil War." The Alabama Review, vol. 67, no. 2, 2014, p. 131+.
The author, Brett J. Derbes, concludes that “…the inmates of the Alabama State Penitentiary significantly contributed to the war effort and the Alabama Treasury throughout nearly the entire conflict.”
I would be interested to learn of other instances of this and how widespread the practice was across the Confederacy and the Union.
Derbes covers the prison from its opening in 1842 with inmates involved in loss making production of a wide range of goods throughout the antebellum period. When the Civil War started, the workshops turned to manufacturing a variety of military supplies for the Confederacy, including knapsacks, shoes, wagon covers, and a variety of tents. The Civil War saw production become profitable for its private owners. Interestingly prisoners were often released to sign up for the Confederacy. In the spring of 1865 Union forces under General James H. Wilson targeted Confederate manufactories in Central Alabama, overtook the penitentiary, and released all the remaining inmates.
Derbes, Brett J. "The production of military supplies at the Alabama State penitentiary during the Civil War." The Alabama Review, vol. 67, no. 2, 2014, p. 131+.