All seriously wounded Confederates were sent to Union Army hospitals at Point Lookout in Maryland, Fort Monroe Prison in Virginia, and Fort Delaware in Delaware.
The journey of the Fort Fisher prisoners to Elmira began with boarding them on steamers bound for New York Harbor at the port of Jersey City, New Jersey, across from New York City. Sadly for the Confederates, when they were captured, they were without their winter clothing and blankets due to the fact that they had not fought wearing those clothes and due to the fact that their barracks had been burned during the naval bombardment. And, it did not get warmer as they went north.
After arriving at Jersey City, they were put on Erie Rail Road prison trains for a 273 mile trip to Elmira, New York. There were two arrivals of Fort Fisher prisoners. The first arrival came on January 30, 1865, 15 days after the fort fell and consisted of 501 men.
The second arrival was on February 1, 1865, and had 653 men. A total of 1,154 Fort Fisher prisoners went to Elmira Prison.
--Old B-Runner
No comments:
Post a Comment