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    The Photographic History of the Civil War
                  Volume 7 -
Prisons and Hospitals

  Nineteenth Iowa Infantry after POW Camp in Texas

 

Commissioned Officers of the Nineteenth Iowa Infantry as Prisoners of War

These pictures represent some of the ragged non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers of the Nineteenth Iowa Infantry after they reached New Orleans for exchange. Razors and scissors had evidently been held at a premium in Camp Ford, from which they had come. During almost the entire war this Confederate prison was maintained near Tyler, Texas. For a time it seemed forgotten. Up to the spring of 1864, conditions here were better than in many other prisons. The stockade included a number of noble trees, several springs, and a stream of some size. Abundant opportunities for bathing were afforded. Drinking water was excellent. Wood was plentiful and an abundant supply of fresh meat was furnished. Prisoners at first built themselves log huts. Later any simple shelter was a luxury. Many of the captives were forced to burrow into the sides of the hill. The supply of wood became scanty. Meat grew scarcer until at last corn-meal was the staple article of diet. Clothes wore out and were not replaced.

Non-Commissioned Officers of the Nineteenth Iowa at New Orleans
 

Note

Images were obtained on-line from Library of Congress; image quality only slightly better than in book

page 49 in 1911 book

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More Civil War Material:
American Civil War Anecdotes, Incidents and Articles.

This online edition of The Photographic History of the Civil War includes improved images using digital images from the Library of Congress, when available. It also includes additional images that are either cropped from the Library of Congress digital images or are related to the specific topic being discussed in the article or page.

Volume 7 of the History is the first volume I'm publishing online simply because it was the one I was interested in when I decided to publish.

More to come, I hope.

 

Copyright © 2004 Michael P. Goad  All rights reserved.