Research Catalog

Title

Johnson's Island : a prison for Confederate officers / Roger Pickenpaugh.

Author

Pickenpaugh, Roger

Publication

Kent, Ohio : The Kent State University Press, [2016]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

ix, 123 pages; 23 cm.

Summary

In 1861, Lt. Col. William Hoffman was appointed to the post of commissary general of prisoners and urged to find a suitable site for the construction of what was expected to be the Union's sole military prison. After inspecting four islands in Lake Erie, Hoffman came upon one in Sandusky Bay known as Johnson's Island. With a large amount of fallen timber, forty acres of cleared land, and its proximity to Sandusky, Ohio, Johnson's Island seemed the ideal location for the Unions purpose. By the following spring, Johnson's Island prison was born. Johnson's Island tells the story of the camp from its planning stages until the end of the war. Because the facility housed only officers, several literate diary keepers were on hand; author Roger Pickenpaugh draws on their accounts, along with prison records, to provide a fascinating depiction of day-to-day life. Hunger, boredom, harsh conditions, and few luxuries were all the prisoners knew until the end of the war, when at last parts of Johnson's Island were auctioned off, the post was ordered abandoned, and the island was mustered out of service. There has not been a book dedicated to Johnson's Island since 1965. Roger Pickenpaugh presents an eloquent and knowledgeable overview of a prison that played a tremendous role in the lives of countless soldiers. It is a book sure to interest Civil War buffs and scholars alike. -- Amazon.com.

Series Statement

Civil War in the North

Uniform Title

• Project Muse UPCC books
• Civil War in the North.

Subject

• Johnson Island Prison
• Johnson Island Prison
• American Civil War (1861-1865)
• 1800 - 1899
• Prisoners of war > Johnson Island > History > 19th century
• Prisoners of war
• Prisons > history
• American Civil War
• Prisoners of War > history
• United States > Prisoners and prisons > Civil War, 1861-1865
• Ohio > Prisoners and prisons. > Civil War, 1861-1865
• Ohio
• Ohio > Johnson Island
• United States

Genre/Form

• History
• History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

"Decidedly the best location": establishing the prison -- "A prison for officers alone": early days of operation -- "Everything in prison is elated": the road to exchange -- "It requires only proper energy and judgment": the second wave of prisoners -- "This horrid life of inactivity": the battle with boredom -- "A matter of necessity": prison economics -- "A guard for unarmed men": guards and commanders -- "Almost a fixed impossibility": escapes and attempts -- "The wrath of hunger": rations and Union retaliation -- "A pitiful scene": climate and health -- "Sad and glad at the same time": the road to release.

ISBN

• 9781606352847
• 1606352849

LCCN

^^2015036106

OCLC

921821853

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library