Camp Douglas: Chicago's Confederate Past

Visit to site of Civil War Union prison Camp Douglas
http://i51illin.startlogic.com/camp_douglas.html
Map of Camp Douglas, Chicago

[Camp Douglas was the training site for the Fifty-First Illinois Infantry.]

This map superimposes the boundaries of old Camp Douglas on Chicago streets that were laid out in years after the Civil War. When the camp was built in 1861, the area was little more than prairie though Cottage Grove Avenue connected Cottage Grove to Chicago. The main entrance to the camp fronted on Cottage Grove Avenue.


The North's Andersonville!
http://www.censusdiggins.com/prison_camp_douglas.html
"Prisoners were deprived of clothing to discourage escapes. Many wore sacks with head and arm holes cut out; few had underwear. Blankets to offset the bitter northern winter were confiscated from the few that had them. The weakest froze to death. The Chicago winter of 1864 was devastating. The loss of 1,091 lives in only four months was heaviest for any like period in the camp's history, and equaled the deaths at the highest rate of Andersonville from February to May, 1864. Yet, it is the name of Andersonville that burns in infamy, while there exists a northern counterpart of little shame."


"Confederate Mound"
http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/oakwoods/confederate.html
Upon the closing of City Cemetery, the bodies interred there were moved to the new cemeteries - Rosehill, Graceland, Oak Woods. The federal government purchased a section of Oak Woods in 1867 to accomodate the 4200 known casualties of Camp Douglas. The coffins were placed in concentric circular trenches. Although the government only had 4200 names, cemetery records indicate that closer to 6000 coffins were buried here. In addition to the unknown number of Southerners, twelve Union soldiers are buried here as well, guards from the camp. Their markers, reading "Unknown U.S. Soldier", stand in a single row behind one cannon.

*** Griffin Family Funeral Home ***
http://civilwartalk.com/forums/campfire-chat-general-discussions/26719-griffi...

The African-American-owned business is also part of another unique chapter in local history. It sits on land that was once Camp Douglas, a Civil War camp used to house Confederate prisoners of war. About 6,000 Confederates died from disease and exposure there -- and they are memorialized on the Heritage Memorial Wall outside the funeral home. It includes a Confederate flag flown at half-staff.

"They were the sons of God before they were the sons of man," O'Neal said.

Ernest Griffin, who died in 1995, was the driving force behind the memorial and the Civil War memorabilia that fill the funeral home. He became fascinated with the war after learning about Camp Douglas, and then learning his own grandfather, Charles H. Griffin, joined the Union Army at Camp Douglas in 1864.

That realization came after the Griffins bought the former Camp Douglas land....


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Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Chicago
• Civil War
• Confederate
• Prisoners
• POW
• Union
• Illinois

[dogstar7]

Just think of Billy T. Sherman as a 19th Century cruise missile headed for Atlanta.

[SOUTHERNANDPROUD1861]

God bless our southron fallen heros.DEO VINDICE.Anywhere but chicago land of obama

[RaymondETV]

@TheFlamingbrownie either way both camps treated thier prisoners like shit and also which ever way you look at it the southern camps would give prisoners heat stroke or die of dehidration and the northern camps would give prisoners frost bite or just freeze to death so either way you all look at it both armies equally where tide at being d-bags to thier prisoners EVERYONE STOP FIGHTING OVER IT ITS FUCKING OVER!!!!!!!! 150+ years ago :P

[TheFlamingbrownie]

u always hear about how terrible Andersonville is but at least it was warm in the South where it was cold in the North

[countessyasmin]

You always hear about Andersonville - Camp Douglas was worse!!!

[darthroden]

@TheSouthron98

So now you resort to name calling....nice.

[TheSouthron98]

darthroden you are worthless Sherman was not above randomly executing innocent civilians as part of his (and Lincoln’s) terror campaign. In October of 1864 he ordered a subordinate, General Louis Watkins, to go to Fairmount, Georgia, "burn ten or twelve houses" and "kill a few at random," and "let them know that it will be repeated every time a train is fired upon."

[TheSouthron98]

"The statement of these gentlemen (Forrest and Gordon) are full and explicit...the evidence fully sustains them."

It also reveals that neither did Forrest people are just too lazy to visit the Library of Congress as their own investigation in 1871 proved his name was used without his permission and that there was no massacre at Fort Pillow. That is if you want to believe the union commanders who were there in the opposition but yet testified on his (Forrest) behalf.

[TheSouthron98]

Congressional records show that Gen. Forrest was absolved of all complicity in the founding or operation of the Ku Klux Klan, and he was certainly never a "Grand Wizard". These committees had the utmost evidence and living witnesses at their disposal. The evidence precluded any Guilt or indictment of Gen. Forrest and the matter was closed before that body of final judgment in 1872.

The following findings in the Final report of this committee of Congress concluded,