The frequently cited casualty figures for the Battle of Gettysburg often focus on the killed and wounded for those terrible three days.
The 10,000 or so dead were buried on the field, interred elsewhere, or lost among the nooks of the vast battlefield. The about 30,000
wounded received what care they could. Some lived. Others died. But the prisoners of war from that epic battle. What became of them?
A good number of the
Confederates captured during the battle would find that their ordeal had hardly ended. In a informational pamphlet issued by the
Fort Delaware Society, they state, "By June 1863, there were
6,000 prisoners on (Pea Patch) Island, and the prison compound had been expanded to house 10,000 men. Most of the Confederates
captured at Gettysburg, including General James J. Archer, were imprisoned at Fort Delaware after the battle, and by August 1863,
there were 12,500 prisoners on the island." According to Fort Delaware staff, captured officers often stayed in the brick
buildings seen in the image here. They may even have had a union soldier assigned specifically to them to tend to their needs.
Southern enlisted men were not so fortunate. They stayed through the stifling summer heat and the bitter, damp winter cold in wooden
barracks which provided little shelter from the temperature and weather extremes.
The fort itself presented a
strikingly formidable presence on Pea Patch Island amidst the waters of the
ever widening Delaware River. Situated between the
states of Delaware and New Jersey, the fort's granite and brick walls range in thickness from 7 to 30 feet and stand an intimidating
32 feet high. An interpretive marker at the island explains that the fort's builders used granite around the guns'
embrasures because granite, "could absorb the shock of
enemy fire", protecting the men inside. As is obvious from the initial image above, despite having almost a mile of treacherous
water flowing between the island and either of the two shorelines, the fort itself was also enveloped by a 30 foot wide moat,
several feet deep, with a draw bridge providing the only access inside.
Along with
the sturdy structure, the fort, when fully armed, held 135 guns, some of which could fire with accuracy up to three miles. Pictured
here is an original 32 pound Columbiad cannon barrel with a replica carriage. Note the semi-circular tracks on the floor towards the
front of the gun just below the gun port. These allowed those manning the gun to shift its position for better aim. Just out of view
towards the back of the Columbiad is another larger set of tracks to allow the rear of the gun to swivel with the front. (Click on
the image of the cannon to see a replica Columbiad at Fort Delaware which clearly shows these tracks.) Along with the 135 large guns,
the fort also held 20 flanking 24 pound howitzers.
[5]
Given the overwhelming firepower, it likely comes as no surprise that the current caretakers of the fort proudly state that it
was never challenged.
The threats to both the prisoners and their caretakers came not from armed adversaries but lethal diseases of unknown origins. Shortly
after the Battle of Gettysburg, a Confederate Agent of Exchange wrote to his Union counterpart about a concern with the prison camp.
"SIR: I beg leave to call your special attention to the two inclosed communications from our Surgeon-General. Will you be so kind
as to return me a speedy answer to the letter of the 28th ultimo, addressed to me? The other is no less worthy of your notice. Can
nothing be done to stop the fearful mortality at Fort Delaware? Is it intended to fill our land with mourning by such means of
subjugation?"
[5]
Several United States surgeons would conduct inspections of the fort
over the following months. They found death, misery, and disease. Included in one report was a description of both the island and
then men housed there.
"Fort Delaware, which I visited on the 10th instant, stands on an
island in (the) Delaware River. The island has an area of about seventy-five acres. Its surface is flat and below the lever of
high and tide waters. A dike surrounds it and prevents overflow...The soil is humid and the subsoil in a state of saturation, water
standing in excavations eighteen inches below the surface. Drainage is of course out of the question...The island is well exposed to
sun and air, but the winds which come to it in autumn and winter are from passing over the surrounding water apt to be damp and chilly.
The prisoners of war are in barracks outside the fort. The barracks are T-shaped and single storied...Bunks range one above another
round both sides. The floors are in some instances loose, so that the reek of the wet earth beneath may find its way into the barracks.
At the time of my visit 1,505 men were in one of these barracks, so that each man had about
176 cubic feet of space. The barracks were at that time damp and not comfortably warm, and I suspect they have been so a part of the
time during the winter...Some, perhaps a large majority, were comfortably clad. Some had a moderate and still others an insufficient
supply of clothing. The garments of a few were ragged and filthy. Each man had one blanket, but I observed no other bedding nor straw.
Nearly all the men show a marked neglect of personal cleanliness. Some of them seem vigorous and well, many look only moderately well,
while a considerable number have an unhealthy, a
cachectic appearance."
[5]
Included in this report, a thorough discussion of the impact and prevalence of disease stated that, between September and December of
1863, 177 Confederate prisoners admitted to the "Contagious Hospital" died from disease. The following March, a US Army
Medical Inspector issued a summary report of those who contracted a variety of diseases between November 1863 through February 1864.
The report noted:
|
Disease |
No. of cases in 3 months |
No. of Deaths in 3 months |
| Scurvy |
365 |
15 |
| Smallpox |
226 |
112 |
| Varioloid |
136 |
0 |
| Typhoid Fever |
18 |
12 |
| Typho-malarial fever |
185 |
9 |
| Malarial fever |
189 |
0 |
| Diarrhea, acute & chronic |
169 |
60 |
| Dysentery, acute & chronic |
62 |
10 |
| Erysipelas |
91 |
11 |
| Pneumonia |
91 |
45 |
Although the Union troops who garrisoned the fort fared better, 8 also died of smallpox during the 3 month period.
[5]
At war's end, Fort Delaware
began the process of releasing its prisoners for their long journey home. They would of course leave behind those of their fellow
soldiers who died while in captivity. Union soldiers had already buried many of the Confederate deceased on the New Jersey side of
the Delaware River on a parcel of land originally purchased by the US government to secure the river and protect Philadelphia upstream.
When unable to cross the Delaware River, they interred others on Pea Patch Island itself. In 1875, Virginia Governor James Kemper,
the same former Brigadier General who lead one of Major General George Pickett's brigades at Gettysburg, protested the lack of care
given the remains of Confederates who died on Pea Patch Island. In response, Finn's Point, near present day Salem New Jersey, was made
a National Cemetery. Confederates originally buried on Pea Patch Island were reinterred to join their comrades already buried on the
new Cemetery's grounds. Today, of the 2,990 buried at Finn's Point, 2,436 are Confederate soldiers who have this United States National
Cemetery as their final resting place. In 1910, in the continuing spirit of reconciliation, the US Federal Government erected the 85
foot tall monument, pictured here, to honor the southern men who would forever rest on Northern soil. Oddly enough, the Confederate
soldiers are not the only unlikely residents of this National Cemetery. The headstones pictured in the foreground mark eight of the
thirteen graves of German prisoners of war who died while in captivity at Fort Dix New Jersey during World War II.
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