4/19/1891; part eleven of
serialized account of life in Libby. Recounts the author's near-exchange,
and subsequent return to Richmond, only to be put in General Hospital #10
8/16/1900;
Part Two of Silas Crocker’s serialized
account of life in captivity in Richmond - relates the story of his stay on
Belle Isle with good details on the prison’s geography. Very fair account,
though bitter, he complains only of the quantity of the food. Says the
mental strain was the hardest. Also relates the method used to trick the
prisoners into thinking they were to be exchanged, and then putting them in
trains and sending them south.
9/27/1900; excellent memoir of a
member of the 10th CT Inf. describing advancing on Richmond from Fort
Burnham on April 3, 1865, and the occupation of Richmond. Gives an
interesting description of seeing a copy of the Richmond Sentinel
meant to be published that day. Notes on number of rail cars captured.
12/31/1864;
prisoner at Libby accidentally killed by
"the accidental explosion of a musket" while the inspector was examining it
in the basement of Libby
8/22/1864; Maryland soldier and free
negro committed to Castle Thunder, the latter on charge of piloting Hunter
in Amherst county, and the former for being a spy
9/15/1864; free negro charged with
stealing linens from Stuart Hospital, released after it was found that the
Steward of the hospital had already administered a "thrashing"
9/17/1864; description of the
arrival of Gen Morgan's remains via the Danville train, their lying in state
in the Capitol building and burial in Hollywood cemetery
5/2/1864; 380 returned Confederate
prisoners arrive at Rocketts. The enlisted men are taken to Chimborazo
Hospital, and the officers are taken either to private quarters or the "Officers’
hospital (formerly the Baptist Institute, on 10th street, west of Marshall
street)"
5/12/1864;
Forty-four Yankee officers and 891 Yankee
soldiers from the V Corps arrive in the city. Some are recognized as having
been on Belle Isle in 1862 by "Lieut. Shihn, Assistant Provost Marshal in
this city, who once had charge of them on Belle Isle."
5/14/1864; description of the
funeral of Gen. J. E. B. Stuart and interment in Hollywood Cemetery; gives
list of pall-bearers, including Pres. Davis, many generals, and members of
Congress
5/26/1864; praise of Chimborazo,
Winder, Jackson and Howard’s Grove Hospitals, and states that there is ample
space in those hospitals to accommodate any contingency; criticizes an
unnamed hospital for lack of attention to patients
6/2/1864; tobacco factories on Main
and Franklin near Church Hill have been re-occupied as prisons, and the
guards are forcing people off the sidewalk. Major Turner puts a stop to this
practice
6/29/1864; negro arrested for having
a stolen shoulder of bacon from Jackson hospital. Says he got it from the
cook there, who was named. Also, other negroes arrested for stealing
supplies from the Medical Purveyor's Department
7/8/1864; Praise that "the military
authorities have determined to give passports to all the old women who may
wish to go to Yankee land" because there is a "superabundance" of them
7/13/1864; "William F. Corkley,
proprietor of the Spotswood Hotel" is arrested for violating the anti-liquor
law by selling brandy in the bar of the hotel
7/19/1864; more on the case of
Lindsay, the man who attempted to buy supplies in the name of Chimborazo
Hospital; McCaw denies that he was working for the hospital, but Lindsay
produces papers that gains him his release
7/26/1864; notes on Dr. Mary Walker
parading the streets, on the way to Gen. Gardner's office seeking a parole.
Also remarks on her lack of good looks and elicit correspondence while here
7/29/1864; Detective Boyd has been
thrown in Castle Thunder for trying to bribe another detective not to
mention that he had seen a prominent member of the treasury department go
into a faro bank [probably R. C. Elmore]
7/29/1864; excellent paragraph on
the severe beating of a negro Arsenal worker by the foreman of the Smith
Shop there for stealing copper. Gives interesting statements regarding the
treatment of negroes
3/8/1864; the body of Col. Ulric
Dahlgren is on display at the York River depot; describes the corpse and
mentions that it was buried in an unknown place
3/23/1864; only 1800 prisoners left
in Richmond, the 12,000 who were here recently have been sent south or
exchanged. Encourages the government not to allow such an accumulation of
prisoners again
4/4/1864; man in the city jail fakes
small pox in order to be taken to Howard's Grove, thinking it would be
easier to escape from there, but is found out and taken back to jail
4/29/1864; Richmond hospitals are
said to send all the patients to Petersburg, and to clean out all the
hospitals in preparation for the spring campaign
1/21/1864; two Yankees who escaped
from Libby Prison tell a Chicago newspaper that they came upon some of the
Richmond fortifications on their way out and the guns were completely
unattended. They lament not being able to spike them. The Whig calls
for more people to man the guns
1/22/1864; the departure of Castle
Thunder prisoners was put off for a day due to a railroad "hitch." Notes
that one of the prisoners got out of his ball and chain
2/22/1864; one of the soldiers from
the batteries below Richmond was accidentally shot while loading muskets
onto a wagon. He was taken to Seabrook's Hospital
2/23/1864; another jailbreak from
the prison opposite Castle Thunder - 22 escape, 16 recaptured. Says several
hundred deserters are held there, and gives a great physical description
2/24/1864; lamentation that the
Confederate Government will not give the Alms House back to the city. Notes
that "Chimborazo, Camp Winder, Howard’s Grove, etc., afford ample room for
all the sick and wounded soldiers brought to this military department" and
if they fill up, there are many other places to put the patients
2/27/1864; list of Castle Thunder
(7) and Libby Prison (8) inmates sent off by special exchange, including a
woman found in men's clothes on Belle Isle, and a correspondent of the New
York Herald
2/29/1864; bell at the first market
has cracked, which had given the fire alarm. Advocates the "bell house" at
Capitol Square do the job in the meantime
4/5/1891; part nine of serialized
account of life in Libby. Describes the plan to break out of Libby upon the
success of Dahlgren's raid. Says that there were 1,200 prisoners in Libby at
the time. Also noted that 20,000 others in Richmond between Belle Isle and
Pemberton. Notes that prison authorities found out about the plot and
brought in extra guards and artillery across the street. Relates hearsay
evidence of Turner's statement that the prison was mined.
4/12/1891; part ten of serialized
account of life in Libby. Basically a refutation of Col. Di Cesnola's
account regarding the action to be taken during Dahlgren's raid. Notes that
Di Cesnola was the acknowledged leader. Continues with his narrative,
describing how he faked being sick in order to be taken to the hospital,
with the intent to be sent away.
11/16/1905; account of a civilian's
stay in Castle Thunder in 1862. Gives a good physical description of the
prison, and describes meeting Timothy Webster while there
3/3/1865; attendant at the Libby
Prison hospital is caught at the theater with one of the POWs from the
prison hospital. He is sent to Castle Thunder and the POW is sent back to
Libby.
11/1/1864; deserter taken
from Castle Thunder and shot in the presence of Fields' Division. He was
from the 4th Alabama and had been recaptured in Yankee uniform
11/21/1864; Three people
(one of whom was a Tredegar worker) arrested on Williamsburg road for
attempting to go to the enemy. They said they were going to visit
friends at Chaffin's Bluff
12/12/1864; a conductor
on the Fredericksburg railroad is shot by a criminal and dies at the
"officers’ hospital (City Alms House)." Gives a list of the doctors who
treated him
12/21/1864; details on
two new Castle Thunder inmates; one a "Yankee deserter" who is really a
soldier from the 21st Miss., and the other a patient at Jackson Hospital
who is charged with larceny
12/24/1864; man brought
to trial for stealing nitre from the laboratory; four boys sentenced for
stealing iron from the Old Dominion Iron Works on Belle Isle
10/3/1864; Mr. Harvie, President of
the Richmond and Danville Railroad, collides with an oncoming train while
operating a handcar in Manchester and is injured
10/31/1864; two females who had been
serving for two years under Gen. Early were found out and put in Castle
Thunder; details on two other prisoners: one male slave and one white female
8/5/1864; items from the Mayor's
docket: two negro girls are thrashed for calling a white man "poor white
trash;" a boy escapee from the Alms House is sent back there after stoning a
man at the Petersburg depot
8/10/1864; 90 wounded prisoners,
including a dozen negro soldiers, arrive at Libby. Gives negative commentary
on the negro troops' appearance and smell.
8/17/1864; a duel was fought
yesterday between John M. Daniel of the Richmond Examiner, and R. C.
Elmore, of the Treasury department. Daniel was wounded in the right leg
8/18/1864; details of the trail of
R. C. Elmore, for duelling with J. M. Daniel. Dr. Peticolas, the physician
at the duel, refuses to testify on the grounds that he might incriminate
himself. Counsel gets a change of venue because the duel was fought in
Henrico, not in the city.
9/15/1864; Gen. Morgan's remains
will arrive in the city soon and be taken to the State Capitol to lie in
state, and then be buried at Hollywood until Kentucky can take him home
9/19/1864; an employee of the
Arsenal named Taylor, along with two others, are captured while going to the
enemy. Taylor is placed in Castle Thunder, the others released
6/24/1864; boys are throwing stones
at the Washington and Clay monuments and each other. The mayor clamps down
and orders all offenders arrested. Brief description of a rock battle
between boys on Gamble's and Penitentiary hills
7/1/1864; house of "ill fame" is
broken up by police. Women there "exposed their persons in the windows, and
halloed at, threw at and spit upon all passers by."
7/18/1864; man arrested for trying
to make purchases in the name of Chimborazo hospital. McCaw testifies that
he was not associated with the hospital. Worker at the Spotswood hotel
arrested for selling whiskey at the bar, but released.
3/29/1891; part eight of serialized
account of life in Libby. Describes recapture, waiting in Cold Harbor
tavern, response by Confederates to the tunnel escape, and re-confinement in
Libby. Gives description of being in cells beneath Libby Prison.
