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The following article appeared in the September, 1891 Century Magazine, and has been reproduced below.  
This article was written in response to an article titled "Cold Cheer in Camp Morton," 
by Dr. John A Wyeth, which appeared in the April 1891 Century Monthly Magazine 

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TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON

I. A REPLY TO "COLD CHEER AT CAMP MORTON"

HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF INDIANA, GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, INDIANAPOLIS, June 13, 1891.

WE, the undersigned committee, appointed by a resolution passed by the Department Encampment of the
Grand Army of the Republic, at its last session at Indianapolis, April 10, 1891, to investigate the statements
contained in an article entitled " Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," written by John A. Wyeth, and printed
in the April number of THE CENTURY MAGAZINE, have examined the evidence contained in a reply to said
article, written by W. R. Holloway, entitled "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton." Most of the wit-
nesses quoted by Mr. Holloway are personally known to us, and the remainder are men of high character,
who enjoy the confidence of the communities in which they reside. We therefore indorse and approve the
article written by W. R. Holloway, entitled " Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton."
JAMES R. CARNAHAN,
JOHN COBURN,
CHARLES L. HOLSTEIN,
M. D. MANSON,
E. H. WILLIAMS.
LEW. WALLACE,
JAMES L. MITCHELL,
HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF INDIANA, GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC,
OFFICE OF DEPARTMENT COMMANDER, INDIANAPOLIS, June 10, 1891.

THE committee appointed by order of the Twelfth Annual Encampment of the Department of Indiana,
Grand Army of the Republic, to investigate the charges made against the official management at Camp Morton
in the treatment of prisoners of war confined therein during the years 1862 to 1865 carefully examined, in
my presence, the paper prepared by Col. W. R. Holloway in relation thereto, and verified all documents and
data referred to in said paper, and found them to be correct.

I. N. WALKER, Department Commander.
 
Camp Morton Response to Cold Cheer Save 1-1.jpg
 HE April Centruy con-
tamed an article entitled
" Cold Cheer at Camp
Morton," written by John
A. Wyeth, which charged
that the rebel prisoners
confined in Camp Morton,
at Jacksonville, Illinois, one of whom visited
him at Camp Morton. Wyeth's uncle, Cap-
tain J. M. Alien. Provost Marshal of the Fifth
District of Illinois, requested the Commissary-
General of Prisoners that the boy "be removed
to his care, or to the prison at Rock Island,
which was near his home." But he adds : "If
at Indianapolis, during the
war were starved and subjected to other in-
human treatment or neglect. It has long been
a matter of pride to the people of Indiana that
they gave freely of their time and goods to
relieve the distresses of the half-clad and half-
famished prisoners who were sent to India-
napolis for safe keeping during the Rebellion.
They have asked no thanks for their humani-
tarian efforts, but they have the right, I think,
to claim exemption from such acts of ingrati-
tude as take a publicly defamatory form.

Mr. Wyeth's paper begins with a misstate-
ment, viz., that the writer had been guarded
after capture by a company under the com-
mand of his cousin Thomas W. Smith, of Jack-
sonville, Illinois (an officer who by the way had
resigned sixteen months before that time), and
ends with the libelous assertion that the 1763
deaths which occurred in Camp Morton were
due largely to starvation and other inhuman
treatment. If we may accept a statement made
by an uncle of Mr. Wyeth, and now preserved
in the files of the War Department, Wyeth, when
confined in Camp Morton, was "not quite
eighteen years old" and "rather delicate nat-
urally." Young Wyeth had three aunts residing
he cannot be removed as I suggest, I would
be glad to have him kept and not exchanged.
The dangers of the field service are much more
than those of the camp." If prisoners were be-
ing starved, frozen, or cruelly maltreated at
Camp Morton, it is not likely that this last re-
quest would have been made, particularly as
young Wyeth would have disclosed such treat-
ment to his aunt.

Young Wyeth seemed to forget that he was
a prisoner of war, and was apparently much
surprised to find that Camp Morton was not a
hotel upholstered in modern style. With his
long catalogue of inconveniences — floorless
barracks, hard beds, lack of complete bathing
appliances with hot and cold water attach-
ments — I have nothing to do. These are the
implied incidents of war, whether in the field
or in the prison, and are not feared by those
who think they are fighting for a principle, and
should be kept in view in reading Mr. Wyeth's
article. But against his charges of starvation
and cruelty I set an explicit denial.

Mr. Wyeth's statements are purely ex parte,
and abound in general assertions which are
fortified neither by names nor dates. He has
a case to plead. "The Southern side of prison

757
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON.
758
life has not yet been written. The reputation
of the South has suffered, not only because the
terrible trials of N orthern prisoners in the South-
ern prisons have been so fully exploited, but
because the truth of the Confederate prisons
has not yet been given to the world." At last
he consents to tell his "tale of woe," evi-
dently thinking that he has only to speak to
convince. If it were true, as he charges, that
rebel prisoners confined in Camp Morton were
deliberately starved to death, or otherwise in-
humanly treated, the facts could not have been
secreted during a quarter of a century; like
the horrors of Andersonville, they would have
obtained scandalous notoriety at the beginning.
During the year 1862 the prison was a State
institution, and was under the supervision of
Governor Morton, its immediate superinten-
dents being Colonel Richard Owen and Colonel
D. G. Rose. I need not vindicate the reputa-
tion of the war governor of Indiana—a man
who has been sanctified in memory as "the
soldiers' friend." His nature was brave and
generous, and his heart was as tender as that
of a woman. The Union soldier was his pecu-
liar care whether in the field, in the barracks,
or in the hospital; and his solicitude extended
to his captured foes as well, as many letters
written to him by grateful ex-prisoners attested.
Colonel Owen, who was a brother of the late
Robert Dale Owen, the distinguished philan-
thropist, was the first commander of the camp,
and was uniformly beloved by the Confed-
erates under his charge. On June 10, 1862,
his regiment was ordered to the front, and he
was succeeded by Colonel D. G. Rose, who
discharged his responsible duties with entire
satisfaction. In August, 1862, a general ex-
change was effected, and soon after the camp
was closed as a prison. In the following year
it was reopened under the auspices of the
general Government, but in the interim it was
occupied by our troops as a barracks. The first
commander of the prison in 1863 was Cap-
tain D. W. Hamilton, of the 7th Regiment,
Indiana Volunteers, a well-known resident of
Indianapolis. He served until November, 1863,
when he was relieved at his own request and
to the regret of many of the prisoners, by whom
he was well liked. His successor was General
A. A. Stevens, of the 5th Regiment, Veteran Re-
serve Corps. General Stevens was a man of
high character and a brave soldier. As lieu-
tenant-colonel of the 3d Michigan he was in all
of the battles of the Potomac in 1861-2, was se-
verely wounded, and was promoted for bravery
to the colonelcy of the 2ist Michigan Volun-
teers, when he was transferred to the Army of
the Ohio. He was wounded at Perryville and
at Murfreesboro, and was afterwards assigned
to the Veteran Reserve Corps. The comman-
ders of the military district for Indiana were
General H. B. Carrington, General O. B. Will-
cox, and General A. P. Hovey. The five
gentlemen just named are still living, and
will speak through me in the succeeding
pages.

As private secretary of Governor Morton
until June, 1864, and residing in Indianapolis
during the war, it was a part of my duty to
visit all of the camps and to learn something
of their management. I talked with the pris-
oners in Camp Morton almost daily, visited
their barracks, and ate of their food. I saw the
bread baked in the bakery. Save the new ar-
rivals at Camp Morton, most of whom were ill
and ragged, the prisoners were in good health
and comfortably clothed. If they were hungry,
cold, or maltreated, they made no complaint
to me, nor to any one of whom I ever heard.
Any prison-house, no matter how well condi-
tioned, will become irksome to those confined
in it, although be it said the prisoners at Camp
Morton were made as comfortable as circum-
stances would permit. They fared as well as
the Union soldiers who guarded them, if not
better, and surely this is all that could have been
expected. Homesickness, as superinducing
other ailments, and lack of occupation were
leading causes of mortality in Northern prisons.
Whenever opportunity offered work was given
to the prisoners. They assisted in building the
new barracks and hospitals, and in digging a
ditch to prevent themselves from escaping—a
labor which Mr. Wyeth seemed to regard in the
light of a hardship. But as a rule the prisoners
were indisposed to labor. In many cases they
refused even to nurse their own sick, for which
they were disciplined by being compelled to
take wheel-barrows and assist in the sanitation
of the camp.

The most efficient causes of death in Camp
Morton were the insufficient food and the expos-
ure from which the rebel soldiers had suffered
before they arrived at the prison. Mr. Wyeth
says he slept on the ground during his first
night in the camp, that he was seized with a
chill which resulted in pneumonia, and that he
was sent to the hospital on the following day.
Just why Mr. Wyeth was not assigned to quar-
ters upon his arrival is not clear. With the
incoming of himself and his associates, there
were only 1819 prisoners in camp, although
there were accommodations for 3945, and
General Stevens says that he does not remem-
ber that prisoners were ever compelled to re-
main without shelter or cover over night,
faring much better in this respect than soldiers
in the field. But, accepting Mr. Wyeth's story
as true, the statement of his illness should be
read in connection with the fact that when he
was captured, ten days or two weeks before,
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON.
759
THE GATE, CAMP MORTON, FROM A WAR-TIME PHOTOGRAPH.  
                   CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE
his wardrobe was "slim and ragged"; and
that rather than sleep in a stable he asked
his captors to permit him to sleep in the
open air even "without blankets." He says,
also, that while confined in the State peni-
tentiary at Nashville, Tenn., he was placed
in a "narrow stone cell, which was damp and
chilly, and being without blankets, bed, or heat
was uncomfortable enough." In other words,
he came to Camp Morton with the seeds of dis-
ease in him. No physician of Mr. Wyeth's ac-
quaintance will say that pneumonia is likely to
come on immediately after one night's exposure.
What was true of Mr. Wyeth was true of hun-
dreds of other prisoners. Of those who came
from Fort Henry and Fort Donelson five hun-
dred were immediately put into the hands of the
surgeons, and the sick-list for some time in-
creased rapidly. Says the report of the Adjutant-
General of the State of Indiana :

Ample hospital arrangements were made.
Everything that kindness or humanity could sug-
gest was done to alleviate the distressed condition
of the prisoners. The citizens of Indianapolis, as
well as of Terre Haute and Lafayette, responded
to the calls of the authorities, and did all that was
possible to be done in furnishing suitable nourish-
ment, delicacies, and attention. Many estimable
ladies and gentlemen volunteered their services
as nurses and attendants, and prominent mem-
bers of the medical profession were particularly
kind and attentive. Buildings were rented outside
the camp and converted into infirmaries, with
every convenience and comfort required by the
sick. Despite all these efforts, the mortality was
frightful during the first month or two. . . .

The prisoners themselves, very generally, were
profuse in commendations of their treatment, and
when the time came for their exchange, many of
them preferred to take the oath of allegiance,
remaining North, than to be sent back to fight
against the government that had manifested such
kindness and magnanimity towards them.

A report from the War Department shows
that 2684 prisoners of war were released upon
taking the oath of allegiance at Camp Morton,
and that of this number 620 enlisted in the
United States service.

CAMP MORTON.

CAMP MORTON was a splendid grove adjoin-
ing the city of Indianapolis on the north, con-
taining thirty-five acres, instead of twenty as
stated by Mr. Wyeth. It was fitted up for the
Indiana State Fair in 1860, but was used for
that purpose during only one week of that year.
It was occupied by the Union troops from the
breaking out of the war until the 16th of Feb-
ruary, 1862, when General Halleck, command-
ing the Department of the West, telegraphed to
Governor Morton, asking how many prisoners
he could provide for. The answer was 3000.
The only place in the State well suited for the
accommodation of the captives was this camp.
It was located on high ground with good drain-
age and a light and porous soil. There was an
abundance of pure water, supplied by a rapidly
running stream which flowed through the camp
and by a number of good wells. The camp was
excellently shaded with walnut, maple, elm, and
oak trees of the original forest, and it had for-
merly been a favorite locality for Methodist
camp-meetings. There were a number of good
and commodious buildings on the ground which
had been erected for the exhibition of machin-
ery, farm and garden products, and such articles
as are usually under shelter at agricultural fairs.
Captain James A. Ekin, U. S. Quartermaster,
converted the existing buildings, which were
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON.
760
80x30 feet, into pleasant quarters. Bunks were
arranged on the sides for sleeping, and long
tables were placed in the center for the serving
of rations. Stoves were set every twenty feet,
and straw and blankets were furnished to make
every man as comfortable as possible. The
halls being insufficient to accommodate more
than 2000 persons, other barracks were con-
structed out of the stock stalls adjoining the
northern fence of the camp, and all were white-
washed inside and out. Mr. Wyeth leaves the
reader to infer that he was quartered in one of
these stock stalls. Such was not the case. The
barracks which he describes were the halls;
but, in any event, be it said that the stalls had
been occupied by our own troops and were con-
sidered comfortable. They were re-modeled
for the prisoners so as to give six apartments
for sleeping and one for eating purposes, the
latter being made by throwing two stalls into
one with the table in the center. The usual garri-
son equipage and cooking utensils, with regu-
lation rations, and plenty of dry fuel—precisely
identical with what was issued to our own troops
— were furnished and were so disposed as to
be convenient for messing. The barracks were
closed at the sides with planks and the cracks
were covered with strips. If any of the strips
fell off or were pulled off by prisoners to make
ladders by which to escape, no complaint was
made to the authorities, and there was no rea-
son why the prisoners should not have nailed
others on. There were plenty of nails, tools, and
materials at headquarters, and a number of
prisoners were frequently employed in assist-
ing to build and repair barracks, being paid for
the same by the Government. In spite of in-
considerate or wilful mischief done by the
prisoners there never was a time when the
buildings occupied by them were not equal to
any occupied by our troops who were guarding
prisoners or who were quartered in the various
camps near by.

HOSPITALS.

MR. WYTH spent several months in the hos-
pitals in Camp Morton, and bears witness to
the conscientious attention and kindly treat-
ment accorded himself and comrades by the
physicians and hospital authorities; but he says
that "up to the fall of 1864 the facilities for
treating the sick were wholly inadequate, and
many deaths were doubtless due to the failure
to provide the necessary quarters." He was
taken with a chill during the morning after his
arrival, and was admitted to the hospital at 2
o'clock P.M. He surely had no just cause for
complaint. No deaths from disease are re-
ported to have occurred in the barracks. He
does not mention the city hospital, where the
worst cases were sent from Camp Morton, when
there was room. The city hospital [see page
762] was an unoccupied building when the
war broke out, and was taken possession of
by order of Governor Morton, and continued
during the war with Dr. John M. Kitchen,
a leading physician, who still resides at India-
napolis, as surgeon-in-chief. Doctor Kitchen
says:

Governor Morton ordered that there should be
no distinction made between the Union soldiers
and prisoners of war. All were treated alike; they
had the same beds and bedding, clean under-
wear, nursing, and medical aid, food, etc., etc.
No complaint was ever made of bad treatment of
prisoners in the city hospital so far as I know,
and I have letters from ex-prisoners, written since
the war, expressing their gratitude for kindness
and attention shown them while under my care.
I removed the guard from the hospital, and only
two prisoners embraced the opportunity to es-
cape. The wooden addition to the building was
built for the purpose of accommodating the pris-
oners. I also remember that when the prisoners
were exchanged, their condition was better than
that of the men who had guarded them.

The hospitals within the inclosure at Camp
Morton were in charge of Dr. P. H. Jameson
and Dr. Funkhouser (the latter is dead), from
the time they opened until 1864. Colonel
Charles J. Kipp, who now resides at 534 Broad
Street, Newark, N. J., took charge of the hos-
pitals inside of the camp January, 1864, and
remained until June, 1865. He says:

During 1864 new hospitals were built after
my own plans, with room for five hundred pa-
tients. The hospitals were furnished in the same
style as the hospitals for our own men, and were
provided with everything necessary for the proper
care of the sick. The diet was the same as that
given in the military hospital to our own men,
and delicacies were given to all whose condition
required them. The patients were under the care
of skilful physicians, and were nursed by men
selected from among their comrades by reason
of their aptitude for their work. All army sur-
geons who visited us pronounced the hospital a
model one.

General Stevens says:

I gave the hospitals my personal attention, and
they were run on the best possible plan, and had
the reputation of being the cleanest in the coun-
try outside of Washington.

Mr. Wyeth acknowledges that the hospitals
were humanely and skilfully conducted, and
inasmuch as the hospitals and barracks were
under one management, it is inconsistent to
impugn the policy governing the one and not
that governing the other. It is absurd to sup-
pose that the authorities made the prisoners
alternately ill and well, and that any incon-
veniences which the prisoners may have suf-
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON.
761
the "Indianapolis Journal" of January 5, 1864,
I take the following :

The morning of New Year's day presented us
with the coldest weather ever known here. On
Thursday, December 31, at one o'clock P. M., the
thermometer was 40 degrees above zero, at which
time it began going down rapidly until it reached
zero before eleven o'clock and 20 degrees below
before daylight on New Year's morning. The
most moderate temperature on New Year's day
was 12 degrees below zero, and it did not rise
above zero until Saturday afternoon, thus being
more than 36 hours below zero.

The "Indianapolis Journal" of January 2,
1864, stated:

There was a rumor that several of the union
soldiers belonging to the veteran reserve corps,
who were guarding the prisoners at Camp Mor-
ton, were frozen to death on the night previous.
Governor O. P. Morton requested General H.
B. Carrington, United States Army, then on spe-
cial duty in this State, to visit all of the camps and
hospitals in and around the city, to inspect and
report as to their condition and the amount of
suffering that had resulted from the intensely cold
weather. The following is an extract from his
report:

"Troops on duty, the Invalid corps, Colonel
Stevens. No deaths or serious injury from the
extreme cold. All reports to that effect are with-
out foundation. The guard is relieved hourly,
and as much oftener as the soldier advises the
corporal by call that he suffers in the least. Hot
coffee is served to the men when relieved, and
pains are taken to prevent suffering and needless
exposure. ...

"Among the prisoners there is less sickness
than usual. I visited nearly every barracks and
the hospitals. The men were cheerful and thank-
ful ; in fifty letters sent out nearly every one spoke
kindly of their treatment. One prisoner said to
me, 'It would be extravagant to ask for anything
else.' Seven hundred extra blankets and many
shoes had been issued. They lacked for nothing
indispensable to their personal health and com-
fort."

The "Indianapolis Journal" of January 4,
1864, says:

We are pleased to state that the item in Sat-
urday's journal relating to soldiers freezing to
death at Camp Morton is incorrect. Although
the late cold snap has been very severe on the
guards on duty there, and quite a number have
had their ears, noses, and feet nipped by the icy
winds of the past few days, no fatality has resulted
therefrom.

There was issued to prisoners at Camp Mor-
ton during January, 1864, 600 cords of wood,
and in February of the same year 560 cords.
There was issued in all 11,641 cords.

Mr. Wyeth was afflicted with double vision
when he "counted eighteen dead bodies car-
fered could have been otherwise than merely
incidental and accidental in a well-intentioned
management.

Mr. John A. Reaume, a well-known resident
of Indianapolis, who was hospital steward at
the city hospital, says :

In our hospital, so far as I ever knew or heard,
the prisoners were delighted with their treatment.
I often meet some of their number, especially in
Kentucky, and they never fail to refer with grati-
tude to their treatment at our hospital.
COLD WEATHER.

MR. WYETH complains that he and his as-
sociates had no straw, and yet the official re-
cords at Washington show that during the
months of February, March, October, Novem-
ber, and December, 1863, and January and
February, 1864, 78,792 pounds of straw were
issued to the prisoners at Camp Morton, and
that the total amount issued during the winter
months to the prisoners confined there was
234,272 pounds.

He says further: "The only attempt at heat-
ing this open shed [barracks No. 4] was by
four stoves placed at equal distances along the
passage-way, and that up to Christmas, 1864,
I had not felt the heat of a stove." The build-
ing being eighty feet long, and the stoves being
but twenty feet apart, it follows that the farthest
a man could get from a stove was ten feet! Dr.
P. H. Jameson, Surgcon-in-chief of Camp
Morton, and still one of the most prominent
physicians of Indianapolis, says :

I remember those stoves. They were of the
regulation camp kind, large cast-iron box affairs
taking in a four-foot stick of wood. There was a
plentiful supply of wood in camp all the time.
Prior to January 1, 1864, I went through those
barracks often and had no difficulty in getting as
close to the stoves as I wanted to, sometimes
closer. When Wyeth came into camp he had the
pneumonia as had hundreds of his comrades, and
the seemingly high death-rate at that time was
owing to that fact, as the high death-rate at Den-
ver, Colorado, is owing to the fact that persons
go there with the seeds of the disease in their sys-
tems so far developed as to render cure impos-
sible.

Mr. Wyeth says: "A number were frozen to
death, and many more perished from diseases
brought on by exposure added to their condi-
tion of emaciation for lack of food. I counted
eighteen dead bodies carried into the dead-
house one morning after an intensely cold
night."

In this statement he evidently refers to what
is remembered in Indianapolis as "the cold
New Year's day," viz., January 1, 1864. From
VOL. XLIL—97.
762
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON.
ried into the dead-house." The coldest weather
during his imprisonment was in the months
of January and February, 1864. A letter from
the War Department says that "during the
months of December, 1863, and January and
February, 1864, the records show that the mor-
tality among the prisoners on no one day was
greater than nine deaths. No one died from
freezing." This statement corresponds with the
books of the undertakers who buried the dead

from Camp Morton.
They show that the
largest number of
deaths that ever oc-
curred among the
rebel prisoners at
Mr. Elijah Hedges, a reputable citizen of
Indianapolis, who resides at 305 East New
York street, and now the oldest undertaker in
the city, was an employee of the firm who bur-
ied those who died at Camp Morton. He says
"there never were eighteen dead bodies in
what was called the dead-house at one time."
Dr. J. W. Hervey, one of the oldest and
most respectable physicians in Indianapolis,
was surgeon-in-charge of "Burnside Bar-

Camp Morton Response to Cold Cheer Save 1-3.jpg
racks," which were occupied by the Veteran Reserve Corps, the principal guards on duty at Camp Morton. He says: "I remember the cold night, January 1, 1864. Our guards suffered fearfully, but no soldier or prisoner of
war was frozen to death."

A. E. Winship, of the 6oth
Massachusetts Volunteers, now
the editor of the "Boston Traveler." says: "There used to be some tall swearing by the sentries on those nights, as in their loneliness they braved the weather, while the prisoners were comfortably freezing to
death, shut in by the high fence, amply protected by the barracks, with four stoves, and under three blankets."
OLD CITY HOSPITAL, INDIANAPOLIS FROM A WAR-TIME PHOTOGRAPH.
Camp Morton in one day was nine, on the 25th
day of January, 1864.

General A. A. Stevens says :

I remember the cold January very well, and
worried a great deal about the men. Without
authority I made a requisition on the Quarter-
master for several hundred blankets. I was liable
to be hauled over the coals for doing it, but
something had to be done. Indianapolis never
had such weather before nor since, and we were
not prepared for it. I was so worried about the
condition of the prisoners that I could not sleep
and almost froze myself. They suffered no more
than the rest of us after the new order for blan-
kets was given out.

REGULAR RATION.

Hard Bread ... 14 oz., or
Soft Bread . . 18 oz., or
Corn Meal. . . . 18 oz.
Beef ......... 14 oz., or
Bacon or Pork. 10 oz.
Beans or Peas ...... 6 qts.     for each 100 men.
Hominy or Rice .... 8 lbs.      "      "       "     "
Sugar ................... 14 lbs.      "      "       "     "
Rio Coffee, ground... 5 lbs.  "      "       "     "
Tea .........................18 oz.      "      "       "     "
Soap .....................  4 lbs.      "      "       "     "
Candles -adamantine 5 lbs. "      "       "     "
Candles -tallow .... 6 lbs.      "      "       "     "
Salt. . . ............ 2 qts.             "      "       "     "
Molasses ... ....... 1 qts.        "      "       "     "
Vinegar ............ 3 qts.           "      "       "     "
Potatoes .......... 30 lbs.         "      "       "     "
THE RATION.
MR. WYETH says that at no period during
his imprisonment was the ration issued suffi-
cient to satisfy hunger, and that he knew from
personal observation that many of his comrades
died from starvation. He does not give the
name of a single person who died from starva-
tion nor offer a particle of testimony to substan-
tiate his remarkable statement. During the first
half of his imprisonment the prisoners received
the full army ration. But this being in excess
of the needs of inactive men, it was slightly
reduced June 1, 1864. The two rations are
herewith subjoined, and each reader may de-
REDUCED RATION

Hard Bread...... 14 oz., or
Soft Bread........ 16 oz., or
Corn Meal........ 16 oz.
Beef..................14 oz., or
Bacon or Pork. 10 oz.
Beans or Peas..... 12 1/2 lbs. for each 100 men.
Hominy or Rice. .. 8          "      "      "     "     "
} only issued to sick or wounded.
Soap .................. 4 lbs. for each 100 men.
Salt ............. 3 3/4  lbs.   "     "       "     " 
Vinegar....... 3 qts.          "      "      "     "
Potatoes......15 lbs.        "      "      "     "
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON.
763
termine for himself whether men who should
receive the reduced ration would starve or
suffer from hunger.

A letter from the War Department says:

The difference between the ration as above
established and the ration allowed by law to
soldiers of the United States army constituted the
"savings" which formed the "prison fund."
With this fund was purchased such articles not
provided by the regulations as were necessary
for the health and proper condition of the pris-
oners, as well as table furniture, cooking utensils,
articles for policing, straw, the means of improv-
ing or enlarging the barracks, hospital, etc.

That the Government did not intend to stint
the prisoners is shown by the fact that the dif-
ference in the cost of the two rations was cred-
ited to the "prison fund," and that a ration
about equal to the full army ration was given
to such prisoners as were employed upon the
public works, and by regulation No. 3: "If
the ration of soap, salt, or vinegar is found
to be insufficient, it will be increased in such
proportion as may be deemed proper by the
commanding officer of the post, not to exceed
in quantity the ration allowed soldiers of the
United States Army."

Tables prepared by Wm. H. Hart, Third
Auditor of the Treasury, at Washington, D. C.,
in whose office the accounts of commissaries
of subsistence are filed and settled, show that
the whole number of rations issued to prisoners
of war at Camp Morton from February 22,
1862, to July 31, 1865, was 2,626,684. I here-
with append, as a sample exhibit, a statement
for the year 1864, which shows in detail the
kind and quantity of rations issued.

Mr. Wyeth states in a note that "it would
be interesting to discover how many times the
contract to feed the prisoners at Camp Mor-
ton was sublet. I have no doubt the Govern-
ment intended to issue to each prisoner the
regulation prison ration above given as official,
but I know it never was received. I believe
(in fact I heard while there) that it dwindled
away under the contract system."

It is, perhaps, just as well that Mr. Wyeth
did not make this charge more definite. It is
no credit to his ability to judge what was done
in Camp Morton, or to his subsequent infor-
mation about army matters, to assert, or not to
know that the Government did not let contracts
to feed its soldiers or the prisoners of war. The
Commissary of Subsistence for this department
was required to advertise every sixty days for
bids for such articles as he desired, and to let
all contracts to the lowest reponsible bidder.
These goods were to be received and delivered
at such times and places and in such quantities
as the Commissary should direct. Every article
CLICK HERE FOR TABLE OF SUBSISTENCE STORES ISSUED TO THE PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON DURING THE YEAR 1864
 


 
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON.
764

PLAN OF CAMP MORTON. (COMPILED FROM SKETCHES BY SEVERAL PERSONS WHO WERE ON DUTY IN THE CAMP WHILE THE PRISONERS WERE THERE. THE GROUND IS STILL INCLOSED AND USED AS STATE FAIR GROUNDS.)  CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE

1. Headquarters   2. Old Hospital building   3. Hospital tents   4. Sutler's store   5. Hospital buildings - built in 1863
6. New Hospitals - built in 1864   7. Barracks   8. Hospitals   9. Gates   10. Quartermaster's office   11. Commissary of
Subsistence   12. Bakery   13. Baseball grounds   14. Creek - "The Potomac" (Not Labeled)   15. Bridges  16. Pumps   17. Sheds for officers' horses   18. Ditch   19. Dining-room   20. Kitchen   21. Dining-room   22. Consulting room
23. Reception room   24. Engineer's office   25. Prescription and supply room   ------------- Guard line


I issued the usual army rations of provisions to
both the National troops and the Confederate
prisoners. They fared exactly alike. The rations
to each were the same in quality and quantity.
There were no differences made between the pris-
oners and National troops in the field; the Camp
Morton prisoners had even better fare, for instead
of hardtack, a well-equipped bakery on the spot
furnished them soft and fresh baker's bread daily,
my commissary depot supplying a prime article
of flour for the consumption of the bakery. The
best bacon and fresh beef were issued to the
prisoners, and coffee, sugar, beans, hominy, and
rice. . . . Neither the troops nor the prisoners
could consume the liberal rations furnished by
the Government, and both made large savings,
and the United States Commissary of Prisoners,
in his frequent periodical rounds, was not slow to
demand of me promptly in cash the value of the
prisoners' savings, which he expended in getting
them tobacco and various other comforts not in
the line of regular rations. It is within my know-
ledge that the winter quarters and bedding were
about as good as were enjoyed by the National
troops in the camp who guarded them, and who
really suffered hardships from the winter severities
when mounted as sentinels on the high platform
near the top of the fence of the corral. . . .
Governor Morton was not the man to tolerate any
but the most humane treatment of prisoners un-
der his care and watchful eye, as were those of
Camp Morton. ... It is true the prisoners' carnp
was not a paradise — it was not a parlor, nor were
feather-beds issued to them by the Quartermas-
ter's Department, but they were made comforta-
contracted for was to be the best in the market,
and all goods received were to be carefully in-
spected, and if found to be below the standard
were to be rejected. Were these requirements
obeyed ? Let us see. The rations for Camp
Morton were issued by Captain Thomas Fos-
ter, now of Greenbrier, Tennessee, and Captain
Joseph P. Pope, the present Quartermaster-
General for the State of Indiana, and a resident
of Indianapolis. These officers issued sup-
plies direct to Assistant-Commissaries John J.
Palmer, 6oth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers,
now a resident of Chicago; W. C. Lupton, 54th
Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, long since dead;
Captain L. L. Moore, now connected with the
Quartermaster's Department, U. S. A., and
Captain N. Schurtleff, of Peoria, Illinois. The
rations were issued by these officers direct to
the heads of the various divisions — who were
prisoners—upon the order of the commander
of the camp, who compared each requisition
with the morning reports, to ascertain the num-
ber of prisoners present at roll-call. The fol-
lowing is an extract from a card published by
Captain Foster in the "Nashville (Tennessee)
Banner," April 8, 1891:

I was, during the most of the war, coinmissary-
in-chief of the military district of Indiana and
Michigan, and was stationed entirely at India-
napolis, where I had United States commissary
warehouses, from which, on regular requisitions,
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON.
765
hominy, potatoes, besides vinegar, salt, and soap.
We never heard any complaints of lack of food.
There were no cases of starvation. The rations
were served regularly, and every prisoner received
his share. Wyeth tells of a man who used to eat
out of the swill-barrel. There was such a case,
but the man was a low-lived sort of a fellow, and
the other prisoners when they found it out ducked
him in the barrel. There was one instance of rat-
eating, and I also heard of the men eating a dog-
stew, but these cases were similar to that of swill-
eating. We had thousands of prisoners, and
among them were many of the dirtiest and low-
est specimens of humanity possible to imagine.

Dr. Charles J. Kipp says :

I know that the refuse material of the swill-bar-
rels of the hospital was often carried away by the
prisoners. I reported this fact to the officers, and
was assured by them that the men who did this
had either sold their rations or lost them through
gambling.

General A. P. Hovey, the present Governor
of Indiana, was in command of this district
from August 25, 1864. He says:

My headquarters were at Indianapolis, and
Camp Morton, containing from 3500 to 4500 rebel
prisoners, was under my command during all of
that period. I visited and inspected the camp once
or twice a week during the time of my command.
The food of the prisoners was ample, and I never
heard any complaint of the scarcity of provisions,
or that the prisoners suffered from hunger. They
fared better than our soldiers in the field, and
many luxuries were sent them from their friends.

General H. B. Carrington, United States
Army, a part of whose duty was to inspect and
report on the condition of the camps and hos-
pitals at Indianapolis, says:

There never was any restriction upon the pris-
oners receiving favors from friends nor upon cor-
respondence except what was necessary to prevent
plots to escape. There never was a time when a
reasonable complaint as to rations or treatment
was rudely or wrongfully disregarded. There
never was a time when the rations were insuffi-
cient or unwholesome. The bread was of the
best. No prisoner was either starved or frozen to
death. On one occasion I made a visit to every
barracks, and half a day was spent in inquiry as
to their condition and wants; not a single com-
plaint was made, except a suggestion, which was
acted upon. . . . The complaint most common
outside was that the prisoners were permitted too
many favors from friends.

William J. Robie, a well-known and prom-
inent citizen of Richmond, Ind., was a mem-
ber of the 6oth Massachusetts Volunteers, and
a guard at Camp Morton. He says :

I talked freely with the prisoners, and never
heard them complain that they did not receive
the full ration ordered by the War Department.
ble, had plenty to eat, pure water to drink and
for washing, and were urged to keep themselves
in good health by athletic sports and ball-playing,
which I have seen them engaged in and appar-
ently much enjoying. Some of the prisoners
thought trustworthy and honorable were allowed
to go out on parole [returning at night] and to
engage in pursuits by which they earned a little
money to send to their families. I employed one
or two clerks of this kind myself.

Captain Joseph P. Pope succeeded Cap-
tain Thomas Foster as Commissary of the De-
partment of Indiana during the summer of
1864. Captain Pope says:

My purchases were made through public ad-
vertising every sixty days. The supplies bought
were not surpassed in quality anywhere. The
issues of flour reached one hundred barrels per
day, which was made up in one-pound loaves of
soft bread, unsurpassed in quality by any private
family or public bakery. Samples of the baking
were sent to my office daily. The bakery was
within the inclosure where the prisoners were
confined, and was under charge of State authori-
ties, and to General Stone, who was directly in
charge, there was paid by me from $6000 to
$8000 every month for and on account of the
"savings" on flour alone. This money was ex-
pended for supplies not furnished by the Govern-
ment, and these supplies thus purchased were
issued to the rebel prisoners as well as to the Union
forces, including the guards. The rebel prisoners
received better supplies than our own soldiers,
owing to the fact that almost daily their "friends"
were bearers of large hampers of provisions, etc.,
not embraced in our purchases or furnished by
the Government, and these baskets of supplies
were delivered to them. The only complaints
ever reaching my ears came from our own sol-
diers in not receiving "outside supplies" in
comparison.

Full rations were issued daily. The best quality
of fresh beef was issued every other day, and it
is a well-known fact that the "poor, emaciated"
rebel prisoners left Camp Morton fat and in good
condition. I was in this camp many times, and
can testify to what I saw ; there was no complaint
of want of food ; there were immense sugar cal-
drons into which the best quality of fresh beef by
quarters was cut up and placed, making soup by
the one thousand gallons. Potatoes by the car-
load were purchased and issued.

It is a significant fact that every officer con-
nected with the subsistence department at
Camp Morton during the war was then and still
is a poor man, and no one has ever dared to
impugn the integrity of any of their number.

General Stevens says:

I went to Camp Morton November 1, 1863,
took command immediately, and remained there
until the end of the war. The food was good and
there was plenty of it. It is true the prisoners
were not given ice-cream and pie, but they had
bread, pork or bacon, fresh beef, beans or peas,
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT CAMP MORTON.
766
viously managed by a board of officers with
indifferent success. Flour was furnished on re-
quisition by the Commissary of Subsistence to
prisoners, guards, and other troops at this point,
as shown by the morning reports. The soldiers
and prisoners being unable to prepare their own
bread, the State issued to them one pound of
bread instead of flour. A given number of
pounds of flour will furnish an equal amount of
bread and leave a surplus of say 33 1/3 per cent,
of flour on hand. This surplus the Commis-
sary of Subsistence purchased of the State at
a price fixed by the flour contract then exist-
ing between the Commissary and the party
furnishing it. The capacity of the bakery when
General Stone took charge of it, in 1862, was
between six and seven thousand loaves daily,
but it soon was increased to eleven or twelve
thousand loaves per day. The bread ration was
much better, was subject to less waste, and in
every respect was much more acceptable to the
soldiers and prisoners than the flour ration.
The money value of each loaf was six cents,
and no man or officer who knew anything about
Camp Morton can ever be made to believe
there ever was any real scarcity of bread or food
in that camp.

Charlton Eden, for thirty years a prominent
builder in Indianapolis, says :

I had the contract for building most of the bar-
racks and hospitals in Camp Morton, during the
time the prisoners were there. I had formerly
resided at Paris, Kentucky, and soon became ac-
quainted with several prisoners whose homes were
at or near Paris, including the sons of William
Mitchell, Daniel Hilder, andWilliam and Younger
Churshire. . . . William Mitchell wrote me to
supply such of the Kentucky boys as he named
with whatever they might desire and draw on him
for the amount. I furnished them a number of
high top-boots that cost sixteen dollars a pair,
soft hats, and excellent suits of clothes for which
Mr. Mitchell honored my draft. The prisoners
knew I was authorized to furnish them anything
they needed, but not one of their number ever
asked for anything to eat.

During the 1865 session of the Indiana
Legislature, rumors reached Governor Mor-
ton that certain sympathizers with the South
who were members of that body were circu-
lating reports that the prisoners at Camp Mor-
ton were being badly treated, only half fed and
clothed, and the sick were not properly cared
for. Governor Morton, on the 14th of Feb-
ruary, sent a communication to the Senate and
House of Representatives, calling the attention
of the members to said reports. He asked them
not to appoint a committee of investigation,
but to go in a body to Camp Morton and make
a personal examination. The invitation was
accepted, and the next morning at nine o'clock
. . . No one suffered from hunger or starved
while I was there. I often saw men go about
with three or four loaves of bread under their
arms, offering to exchange them for tobacco.
Hungry men would not trade off their rations in
such manner. The story of Mr. Wyeth is absurd
and untrue, as every one connected with Camp
Morton during that period knows.

Captain Jordan M. Cross, ex-City Attorney
of Minneapolis, Minn., and now a resident of
that place, was an officer of the 5th Regiment,
Veteran Reserve Corps, on duty at Camp
Morton. He says :

The general appearance of the prisoners was
that of men well fed, so much so that visitors
and our own men often compared their condition
to the well-known starved condition of our pris-
oners in the South. No prisoner at Camp Morton
ever died from starvation. I often inquired of
prisoners if their rations were good, wholesome,
and sufficient. They never complained except
at rare instances that they would like some deli-
cacies, or possibly a greater change of diet.