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CAMP
FORD:
UNION PRISONERS OF WAR
IN EAST TEXAS
by Archie P.
McDonald, PhD |
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Camp Ford is
the subject of an informative monograph written by Dr. Robert
Glover and published by the East Texas Historical Association.
The Confederacy located Camp Ford near Tyler
in 1862 as a training camp for conscripts and named it in honor of
Colonel John S. (Rip) Ford. It is much better known as the largest
prisoner of war facility located west of the Mississippi River.
Union prisoners were detained at Camp Ford in an open area until late
in 1863, when local citizens, fearing escapes, erected a stockade
that enclosed two or three acres. Prisoners had to erect their own
shelters, called "shebangs," that mostly were constructed of brush
and other available materials scrounged from with the stockade. When
this was depleted, guarded work parties were allowed out of the stockade
to scavenge for more brush and logs.
At first the prisoners fared about as well as could be expected. Their
rations equaled those allotted their guards and they sold or bartered
goods such as brooms, clay dishes, and other articles they made from
available resources for food and clothing.
One enterprising prisoner "published" a newspaper titled The Old Flag.
Actually, it was hand copied, then sold again and again until returned
to the publisher, who ended up with the money from the original sale
and the newspaper itself, which eventually was smuggled out of the
camp.
Conditions in the camp deteriorated after the spring of 1864 when
too many prisoners from battles at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill in
Louisiana joined others who already had pretty well filled up the
stockade. Because of dwindling supplies, the Confederacy was not able
to increase rations, so all suffered.
About 6,000 Union military personnel were held in Camp Ford over a
two-year period. Their numbers were down to just over 1,200 when the
war ended in 1865.
The story of prisoners of war during the Civil War is not one of success
for either the Union or the Confederacy. Most historians conclude
that for the most part the Confederacy did about as well as it could
with its more limited supplies.
In recent years a group of Smith County historians led by Glover have
attempted to recreate portions of Camp Ford so visitors can learn
more about this portion of the Civil War in Texas.
All
Things Historical
October 14-20, 2001
A syndicated column in over 40 East Texas newspapers
(Archie P. McDonald is Director of the East Texas Historical Association
and author or editor of more than 20 books on Texas) |
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