Elmira Prison was a prisoner-of-war camp constructed by the Union Army during the American Civil War to house captive Confederate soldiers. Located in Elmira, New York, the prison was one of the larger facilities in the North. A Prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of persons captured by the enemy in time of war. ... The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of Shermans veterans. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Some Confederate soldiers The Confederate States Army (CSA) was formed in February 1861 to defend the Confederate States of America, which had itself been formed that same year when seven Southern states seceded from the United States (four more states soon followed). ... Location in Chemung County in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York County Chemung County Government  - Mayor John S. Tonello (D) Area  - City  7. ...

The site was selected partially due to its proximity to the Erie and New York Railroads, which criss-crossed in the midst of the city, making it a prime location for an Army training and muster point early in the Civil War. A great deal of the 30-acre Union installation, known as Camp Rathbun, fell into disuse as the war progressed, and the camp's "Barracks #3" were converted into a Civil War prison camp in the summer of 1864. The camp, in use from June 6, 1864, until the fall of 1865, was dubbed "Hellmira" by its inmates. Towner's history of 1892 and maps from the period indicate the camp occupied a somewhat irregular parallelogram, running about 1000 feet west and approximately the same distance south of a location a couple of hundred feet west of Hoffman Street (Foster Avenue?) and Winsor Avenue, bordered on the south by Foster's Pond more or less, on the north bank of the Chemung River. The Erie Railroad (AAR reporting mark ERIE) was a railroad that operated in New York State, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, connecting New York City with Lake Erie, and extending west to Cleveland, Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. ... The New York Central Railroad (AAR reporting mark NYC), known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the North-Eastern United States. ... June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 1 day remaining // 1508 - Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friulia by Venetian forces; he is forced to sign a three-year truce and cede several territories to Venice 1513... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...

In the months the site was used as a camp, 12,123 Confederate soldiers were incarcerated; of these, 2,963 died during their stay from a combination of malnutrition, prolonged exposure to brutal winter weather, and disease directly attributable to the dismal sanitary conditions on Foster's Pond and lack of medical care. The camp's dead were prepared for burial and laid to rest by the sexton at Woodlawn National Cemetery, ex-slave John W. Jones. At the end of the war, each prisoner was given a loyalty oath and given a train ticket back home; the last prisoner left the camp on September 27, 1865. The camp was closed, demolished and converted to farm land. September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ...

Woodlawn cemetery, about 2 miles north of the original prison camp site (bounded by West Hill, Bancroft, Davis, and Mary streets), was designated a National Cemetery in 1877. The prison camp site is a residential area today, and few of the city's residents are aware that the prison camp ever existed.

References

• Horigan, Michael, Death Camp of the North: The Elmira Civil War Prison Camp. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2002. ISBN 0811714322.
• Towner, Ausburn, Our County and its People - A History of the Valley and County of Chemung. D. Mason & Co., Pub., 1892.

External links

• Elmira Prison Camp Library
• Elmira Prison History and Conditions in prison