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Private for ref. material only
ELMIRA,
A CITY ON A PRISON-CAMP CONTRACT. (Statistical Data Included)
Author/s: Michael P. Gray
Issue: Dec, 1999
AS
A SLAVE on the Elzy Plantation in Leesburg, Virginia, John W. Jones often
thought about seeking a better life for himself up North. Worried that his
master would soon die and he would be sold into an even worse situation, Jones
acted on his dreams and escaped one late evening in June 1844. He headed for
Maryland and into Pennsylvania, hiding in barns and the cover of darkness.
Wandering through the countryside of upper Pennsylvania, the fugitive crossed
over to southern New York state, into the Chemung Valley. There, he settled in
Elmira, a progressive town known for its antislavery sentiment. In Elmira, Jones
held various jobs while gaining an education at a local school, before finally
achieving a position as an assistant sexton. As civil war approached, the
fortunes of John Jones, as well as other Elmirans, would continue to grow.(1)
In
1860 Elmira was a community of approximately 8,700. The Civil War greatly
augmented its growth, not only in population, but also in its economic
development. Elmira's industries expanded to embrace the city's function as a
main military rendezvous point in New York, consisting of four training bases.
Tanneries sold leather goods to the military, and woolen mills fabricated blue
uniforms. Hardware stores supplied utensils, cups, and plates, while food
contractors made sure they were put to use.(2) "Some of the farmers of the
vicinity," wrote an observer, "were made comfortably well-to-do by the
sale of their produce to the camps."(3) Land and housing leases were
negotiated for training grounds, quarters, hospitals, and any other spaces
required to fit the soldiers. Selling horses to the Cavalry Bureau became an
important function of the post and a lucrative trade for area dealers; corral
stables were built to accommodate twelve hundred animals. Lumber mills provided
manufactured wood for the various facilities and workers were hired to undertake
their construction.(4)
Wartime
growth changed Elmira's country town atmosphere, which was made official on
April 7, 1864, when it was incorporated into a city with four wards. But the new
city's first few months proved to be a pivotal time; activity within its limits
began to diminish. Two training camps shut down by early 1864, and a third was
nearly vacated. Although 20,796 soldiers were gathered, trained, and dispatched
from the Elmira Rendezvous throughout the war, about half that number were
processed during the war's first year. When the soldiers were gone, so was much
of the business required for their care.(5) "Barracks No. 1 are quite
deserted again" exemplified the "here and gone" attitude stressed
by newspapers as men left for the front.(6) No one anticipated the financial
benefits of establishing a military prison in Elmira, nor that it would
strengthen the economy.
Elmira
underwent a major transformation near the middle of 1864; many men rendezvousing
in Elmira would not be wearing Union blue, but Confederate gray. Within months,
inmates and prison keepers nearly doubled Elmira's population of some thirteen
thousand citizens. After both the prison and guard camps were established in
Elmira's first ward, where 1,440 citizens had been living, its population grew
almost exponentially.(7)
The
old training camp on the Chemung River, designated as Barracks No. 3, was
remodeled into a stockade city, an appendage of the community where services
were demanded in full. In July, when the Southerners began to arrive, readers of
local papers were not surprised to find
Our
mechanics and laboring men are all employed. Not an idle one do we know who is
willing to work--During no period have more new buildings been planned and put
in the process of construction. The presence of a military rendezvous has also
necessitated a large and additional amount of building around the Barracks which
have not reached completion, not to speak of the new improvements being
perfected as fast as required. The high price of labor and material so far seems
to influence only in a degree all kinds of building operations.(8)
In
August 1864, a month after the prison opened, the Elmira Daily Advertiser
commented on the economic revival: "The presence of so large a number of
military here causes our town to put on the appearance of old times. There will
probably be a constant guarding force of over two thousand men here, until the
rebel prisoners are disposed of." Furthermore, the paper continued,
"The number of officers will be larger than that quartered here last
winter. So the prospect of a gay, lively and spirited season for amusements and
entertainments seems quite assured for the coming fall and perhaps
winter."(9) Two days later, the local press commented "The true policy
for the sure growth of our city seems at last fully inaugurated, namely--the
increase of all kinds of manufacturing business, for which there will be a
growing demand with the advancing years." The paper could only hope
"These elements of true prosperity, besides, will last and sustain the
growth and increase of the town, when all the ephemeral advantages of a military
rendezvous shall have been done away by the subjection of the rebellion and the
close of the war.(10)
In
the middle of October, the Advertiser mentioned, "Our streets are still
thronged with the military, stranger, and citizens. The crowd, if anything,
increases, the stir and business everywhere manifested is equal to a city
quadruple of our size." "So, with the attractions of all sorts about
us and the camps and barracks," the paper concluded, "there seems to
be a good prospect of a large inflow of strangers and military personages for
some time to come."(11)
Newspaper
correspondents sent to Elmira detailed not only Johnny Reb's life in captivity,
but the prison's impact elsewhere. On August 17, an enlightening article
appeared in the New York Evening Post.
The
enterprising town of Elmira is one of the government depots for prisoners of
war, and the camp now contains between seven and eight thousand rebels .... More
than two thousand, as many as the camp will accommodate. In a few days from this
time the rebels, with their guards, will about equal in number the men, women
and children who composed the population previous to the establishment of the
rebel depot. Suppose three-quarters of a million rebel prisoners encamped in
Westchester county, and you will appreciate the situation here.
The
metropolitan correspondent did not know specifically who would provide for them
all, only the prison was "about a mile and a half from the business centre
of Elmira" and the "rich farming region furnishes the needed
supplies."(12)
On
October 7, a New York Express reporter wrote:
Elmira
is a live town,--a new city if you please. Perhaps it abounds in incidents of
real interest beyond any other locality outside of your own great city .... It
is in short, the most important military post in the Empire state .... The war
has given a great impetus to Elmira. Speculation, too, has had and is still
having its widest range. Under this influence it has swelled into the proportion
of a city of 16,000 inhabitants. Besides this, it has a floating population of
from 10,000 to 12,000 .... We have to some extent all the characteristics of
your great city. Gamblers, pickpockets, fast men and lewd women--the latter are
in legion.
His
most telling comment--It is here that army contractors fatten and get rich in a
day while thousands are wondering where all the money comes from."(13)
Not
all the advantages of the military in Elmira satisfied everyone. Some carpenters
hired by the Quartermaster's Department were unhappy because they were being
paid with credit vouchers rather than cash. In fact, most of the Department's
workers were compensated by vouchers, which could be cashed at local banks, but
with a tax. Not being paid in hard money and being taxed on top of it was bad,
but the workers' immediate supervisor made the situation worse. At the end of
October, a spokesman for the carpenters, Eli Monell, wrote the Secretary of War
that an agreement with local banks would adjust their tax rate at two percent.
However, someone had "interfered" with this arrangement. Asst. Q.M.S.P.
Suydam, they complained, told banks "not to cash them for less than five
percent."(14) In early November Q.M. Gen. Montgomery Meigs informed Stanton
that the Elmira carpenters "are liable to and do at times work more than
the number of working days in a month, and it is nothing more than fair that
they should contribute their legal share towards the support of the
Government."(15) The presidents of the Chemung Canal Bank and the First and
Second National Banks of Elmira also verified that their tax rates on vouchers
had "always" been around five percent.(16)
Meanwhile,
Elmira Prison was gradually taking a fair portion of monies out of its own fund.
Besides quartermaster and commissary expenditures, the prison fund had been
supplying the stockade with extra money and beginning to pry open the hands of
the tight-fisted commissary general of prisons, William Hoffman. Hoffman was
able to keep spending at a minimum in the camp's early months, but higher costs
occurred when more facilities were required to care for additional prisoners. In
September, $ 14,771.21 was spent on the prison, and in October, $13,026.03. Even
when expenses declined at the end of 1864, records from the Commissary General's
office indicate as much as $37,566.20 was already exhausted on the Elmira
Prison. It was only the start of the immense amount of spending that continued
into the next year.(17)
In
January, 1865, many of the military contracts had to be extended or rewritten.
Commissary Nicholas J. Sappington had hoped to solve his problem of being able
to procure better grades of meat for prisoners by stipulating in the new fresh
beef contract for larger stock. Samuel Hall won the six month contract, which
began on January 11 and was paid nearly double than that of the prior
contractor, 13 7/8 cents per pound, because it was agreed "Cattle
Slaughtered for Beef to be delivered under this contract shall weigh Five
hundred pounds net after being trimed."(18) It was a promise Hall could not
keep. He scoured the countryside for animals by the agreed terms, but they were
too scarce. The butcher made an appeal to Captain Sappington, who met with the
commander of the Elmira Depot, Col. Benjamin F. Tracy. Tracy's legal background
told him he had no authority to change a preexisting contract, so the depot
commander wrote the commissary general of Subsistence. "It is represented
by Mr. Hall that it is very difficult to get cattle of that size in the country,
while young steers & heifers, weighing about 400 to 500 lbs. in good flesh,
& much better beef and less bones, than larger animals can be procured. They
ask that lighter beef be accepted."(19) Commissary Eaton also received an
endorsement from Gen. A. S. Diven, commander of the District of Western New
York, who agreed "the rejection of beef because of the weight injudicious.
It should be inspected in reference to the quality, rather than the weight,
small cattle if in good condition make good beef, much better than larger, boney
cattle."(20) Military authorities had but little choice to modify the
contract under Hall's terms, although his pay rate remained the same.
Hall's
fresh beef would require salt, so Commissary Sappington issued another contract
for its supply in January. Virgil Read provided 1000 bushels, 60 pounds to the
bushel at 68 cents per pound, bringing him a modest $680.(21) At the end of the
month, Sappington notified his superiors in Washington they were short on flour
because "the number of troops & Prisoners of War at the post rendering
the supply necessary, and believing the flour can be obtained here as cheap a
rate of the Government as at any other point."(22) Sappington spoke in
relative terms--not much came cheap for his department, particularly flour.
Elmira
flourmills were extremely busy in 1865. Besides the amount needed for meals,
Commissary Sappington was required, as he put it, to keep in excess "about
50,000 pounds of hard bread on hand while the Prisoners were held here in case
of any accident to the bake ovens."(23) This supply, along with regular
demands, had large repercussions with local flour distributors. On February 2,
Jeremiah Dwight agreed to furnish the Elmira commissary department with 1,600
barrels of flour, evenly divided between two types. He received $10.20 per
barrel for 800 barrels of wheat flour and $9.70 for 800 barrels for his spring
wheat flour, a contract worth $15,920. On the same day, Sappington entered an
agreement with George Worrel for 400 barrels of flour at $9.60 per barrel. At
the beginning of March, J. H. Loring and Company earned their portion of
commissary disbursements. The two proprietors of this local mill, James H.
Loring and Edward W. Hersey, were obligated for 1,600 barrels of flour at $9.64
per barrel, adding up to a $15,424 contract.(24) At the end of April, Thomas C.
Platt from nearby Tioga County was awarded a flour contract for 1,600 barrels of
flour at $7.122. Platt grew up in Owego with Colonel Tracy and had personal
leverage other bidders could not compete against. As both men emerged in
politics after the war, Platt would repay his friend with political favors.(25)
Individuals
providing the prison pen with food never endeared themselves to captives. More
than one Southerner believed contractors to be interested only in growing rich
at their expense. Alabaman J. L. Williams stated, "I think the Government
made an honest effort to care for us, but sometimes the Government and
sub-contractors were not honest."(26) Marcus Toney "thought for awhile
that the government was retaliating on us on account of Andersonville, but
afterwards believed it was done by the army contractors."(27) A South
Carolinian agreed, "my honest opinion is that they could have treated us
much better without much effort. The government may have made the effort, but
the agents of the government failed most miserably."(28) Perhaps failing in
quality, food contractors did not fail in quantity. The amount of meat and bread
doled out to inmates, the two primary staples in their diet, were enormous.
Sappington provided Elmira prisoners with an estimated 13,000 barrels of flour
and 2,396,165 pounds of beef.(29)
The
quartermaster's department continued to keep hundreds of individuals in and
around Elmira working in 1865. Supplying the prison kept many teamsters working
for forty-five dollars a month, a five dollar raise.(30) Q.M. John J. Elwell
complained regularly to Washington that he lacked proper land transportation for
ten thousand prisoners and three thousand guards, and although admitting the
costs were "excessive" he had no other choice but to rent
equipment.(31) Private parties loaned wagons out at $2.75 a day, and horses at
$5 a team to transport supplies. J. S. Baldwin earned $365.50 in one month for
that purpose, while other Elmirans also found renting equipment extremely
profitable. Building or repairing facilities brought carpenters frequently to
the prison. They were also given an increase in pay after the new year, up to
three dollars per day. General laborers might earn $45 a month, while civilian
clerks could make as much as $125. Surveyors were paid $50 a month and wood
inspectors $100.(32) On the bottom of Elwell's payroll were nine persons hired
as "dirt cart drivers" for removing waste from the prison yard and
compensated $20 a month. Local blacksmiths were required for working at the
depot, and when Cook and Covell's hardware store won the contract for furnishing
the dirt carts, their blacksmith, Miles Trout, built them.(33) With all the
contracts made in Elmira, small wonder that lawyers were required "in
giving legal advice in regard to leases, contracts and claims against the
government." James Dunn charged $75 a month for his counseling.(34)
The
operational demands of the prison and guard camps kept local businesses active.
Besides providing hardware, Cook and Covell supplied kerosene oil to keep the
prison camp illuminated, while grosses of lamp wicks and matches were needed for
lighting and burning.(35) The masonry firm of Russell and French sold hundreds
of dollars worth of lime, brick, and sand, used for building and disinfecting
privies.(36) Record keeping and sending correspondence required an immense
amount of stationary and supplies. F. A. Devoe sand Son printed out sutler
orders for the prison, while Presnick and Dudley and the Hall Brothers furnished
paper, ledgers, report and prescription books, pens, pencils, erasers, rulers,
scissors, rubber bands, envelopes, ink, and sealing wax. George D. Bridgeman and
Fairman and Caldwell bound information into voluminous books.(37) Straw and hay
were bought in bulk and used by the hospital department for bedding.(38)
Druggists, particularly Ingraham and Robinson, stocked the hospital with
medicinal supplies.(39)
Perhaps
the greatest opportunity for anyone employed by prison authorities was that of
John Jones, the former slave from Virginia. Jones had advanced to the position
of sexton at Woodlawn Cemetery by the time the prison opened in July 1864. At
the end of the month, Commissary General Hoffman approved three hundred dollars
for leasing a half-acre of ground at the local cemetery for dead Confederates,
and the employment of a person to bury them for $40 a month. Jones held his
modest job at a fortuitous time since he soon found that the morbid business of
death was a booming industry while the prison existed. To help the sexton,
Hoffman allowed the purchase of a wagon so it could be modified into a
hearse.(40) "The first day that I was called in my capacity of sexton to
bury a prisoner who had died," wrote Jones, "I thought nothing of
it." "Directly there were more dead. One day I had seven to bury.
After that they began to die very fast."(41) By 1865, burials were becoming
more expensive as Jones began running out of room to bury prisoners. On January
1, 1865, Elmira's mayor, Steven Arnot, leased out an additional half-acre of
land at Woodlawn, costing the government $600 for Confederate burial grounds.
Also, undoubtedly to the chagrin of Hoffman, Jones was not being paid monthly,
but at an individual rate set at $2.50 per burial.(42)
In
the meantime, the customized hearse had been pulling up to the deadhouse for its
daily collection, driven by John Donohoe for $60 a month. Inmates employed at
the prison camp morgue prepared their own for burial, constructing pine coffins
as fast as they could while corpses piled in the comers.(43) Clothing and
personal items of the deceased were to be left alone, while each cadaver was
tagged for identification, giving a name, company, regiment, and date of death.
These records were transcribed on the coffin lid, then the papers bottled and
put in the coffin before it was nailed shut. The coffins were loaded six at a
time onto the dead wagon for removal to Woodlawn, a few miles north of the
prison.(44) This "admirable system" provoked one Confederate to
sarcastically state that at Elmira "the care of the dead was better than
that bestowed on the living."(45)
At
Woodlawn, trenches were opened under the direction of Sexton Jones, most lying
north to south. A crew of ten to twelve prisoners on grave yard detail helped
with the digging. The largest number Jones buried in a single day was
forty-three; in his busiest month, March 1865, he earned $1,237.50.(46) He
meticulously logged the records on each coffin lid to a large ledger detailing
the position of every Confederate buried at Woodlawn. He made sure wooden
headboards had the correct information written on them in white lead paint, and
then placed over the appropriate plot. Nine laborers were on the quartermaster's
payroll, paid $45 per month, to set the headboards, which were built by local
carpenter William F. Naefe, over the graves.(47)
Eventually
2,973 Confederates were laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery.(48) It would have
cost just $480 if the Sexton were paid monthly. Instead, he earned $7,432.50
from prisoner burials. The former slave had adapted quite well in the
capitalistic North. Long after the ending of hostilities, a personal friend
remembered: "The aggregate of these fees was the basis of the comfortable
fortune he amassed in the years after the war. He [Jones] was rated as the
wealthiest colored man in this part of the State."(49)
If
space was needed to lay Confederates to rest, additional room was required to
lay Union soldiers to sleep. Officers in Elmira were given daily stipends for
housing when other quarters were not arranged. The Brainard Hotel was depot
headquarters and furnished rooms for camp administrators. Prison Cmandant Major
Henry V. Colt, Colonel Tracy and Captain Suydam all lived at the Brainard. Other
hotels in the city housed military guests. But it was private homes that were
especially hospitable to military personnel, opening their doors in return for
rent checks.(50) Maj. S. W. Beall rented three rooms from Theodore Edwards for
$32 a month. Capt. R. R. R. Dumars paid only $24 for his three rooms from a Mr.
Baker. The second chief surgeon of the prison, Anthony Stocker, rented four
rooms from Mrs. W. B. Dewitt for $32 a month, while Adj. C. C. Barton leased
three rooms from her for $24. Many more officers connected with the prison and
guard camps lived in private homes and paid their owners similar rates. Clerks
and orderlies were given quarters at the government's expense. Even Mayor Arnot
got in on the action, renting quarters for the provost guard at $20 a month.
Office space was just as prime, as hundreds of dollars were spent in renting out
to the adjutants, quartermaster, and commissary departments. Still, it was hard
to beat the monopoly the Foster family had on their block, combining for $2,215
in renting space for Southerners at Elmira Prison and guards at Camp
Chemung.(51)
Leases
and rents, persons and articles hired on contract, expenditures by the
commissary, quartermaster, and prison funds, all benefited Elmirans. Farms,
lumber yards, flourmills, meat markets, hardware shops, stationary and drag
stores had to accelerate business to meet military demands. "The merchants
are busy morning through night" noticed a reporter for the Advertiser
during the prison's hey day, "all kinds of business seem to be in a
flourishing condition."(52) Furthermore, job growth was not restricted to
those filed on contractual records or paid by the quartermaster, commissary or
prison funds. For example, an omnibus driver was employed by the Brainard to
chauffeur officers, produce vendors, theaters, restaurants, saloons, and less
moral establishments overindulged off duty prison keepers with various forms of
entertainment, food, and drink.(53)
Perhaps
one of the greatest forms of entertainment connected with Elmira Prison was two
observation towers built alongside the stockade. There had been little
opportunity, before some individuals became overly opportunistic, for citizens
to see the Rebels in prison. Military regulations kept most people outside the
wooden barricade, while small openings, either between slats or through
knotholes, only offered a limited view. To the dismay of captives, people were
being charged ten to fifteen cents a head to climb up the observatories and view
them.(54) The Daily Advertiser reported an observatory was "often crowded
with sightseers and must prove a paying institution." About a month later,
the paper assessed, the "two observatories ... in operation ... both are
doing a rushing. business."(55) Wooden stands soon popped up beside the
towers peddling food and drink that included everything from cakes, peanuts, and
crackers, to lemonade, beer, and liquor.(56)
Southern
prisoners were less enthusiastic in having money made at their expense. A
Tennessee sergeant, G. W. D. Porter, remembered how "hundreds would crowd
daily to get a view of the prisoners--many to gloat, perhaps, on their
sufferings."(57) Virginian James Huffman blamed the Northern press for
sending "a constant stream of people winding their way to the top of these
observatories to get a glimpse of the Rebs, as they supposed us to be some kind
of curious, monkey-shaped animals."(58) Another Virginian, Anthony Keiley,
was "surprised that Barnum has not taken the prisoners off the hands of
Abe, divided them in companies, and carried them in caravans through the country
... turning an honest penny by the show. ... Patriotism is spelled with a `y' at
the end of the first syllable up here."(59) Indeed, the commercialization
of the prison was taken to a new level with the observatories, bringing more
visitors into the city. However, financial opportunities also extended outside
of the Chemung Valley.
Although
canals had been giving way to railroads for some time in the Valley, the inland
waterways were revitalized during the Civil War. Delivering fuel to the depot,
particularly coal, kept towpaths crowded. Elmira's main connection to
Pennsylvania mines, its supply source, was along the Junction Canal, which
connected the Chemung Canal to the Susquehanna systems. The Junction had been
gradually increasing in cargo throughout the war. In 1861, tonnage was 97,331,
in 1862, 126,395, and in 1863, 153,059. The year the prison was established,
cargo on the Junction, more than half Anthracite coal, was reaching its highest
mark.(60) In November, the Daily Advertiser reported "Coal is arriving here
in large quantities by the Junction Canal, in anticipation of the close of
navigation. The gross amount will much exceed the previous seasons."(61) By
the end of 1864, 170,849 tons, primarily coal, were transported from
Pennsylvania to Elmira. The percentage of anthracite about doubled from 1861 to
1864. March floods in 1865 prevented the canal from ever matching these figures;
no matter to J. D. Baldwin, since he sold the majority of his coal, worth about
$ 10,000, to the prison before the heavy rains fell.(62)
Elmira
was in fact a transportation nexus because of its rail lines, the primary factor
that made it a military depot. The Erie and Northern Central intersected at
Elmira, and reaped large earnings from the army for their high transportation
rates. Not only did they move goods in and out, but transporting human freight
was a seemingly unending endeavor, with streams of soldiers coming or leaving
the city. Besides taking soldiers to and from the battlefields, prisoners and
guards were sent to Elmira from various places and when they were released, the
government again paid their way. Assistant Quartermaster Suydam was in charge of
contracting use of the railroads, and despite poor service on the Northern
Central and a dreadful mishap on the Erie, the military had no choice but to
continue using them at a costly price. For example, from July 1864, when the
prison was inaugurated to the end of July 1865, about the time it was closed,
the military incurred $ 115,000 in charges from the Erie Railroad Company
alone.(63)
Quartermaster
Elwell never had the luxury of having that type of cash on hand, so the Erie
would have to wait at least a year before the government paid its bills.(64)
Some local contractors were less patient. In March 1865, a number of businessmen
whose "entire capital is now in the hands of the U.S. Government for
lumber, coal, and hardware furnished upon contract on Q.M. orders" were
becoming nervous by the delay in receiving payments.(65) The lumber firm of
Hatch and Partridge represented the group and explained their dilemma to
Quartermaster General Meigs; "We do not know whether the proper regulations
have been made on you or the U.S. Treasury for money to pay this indebtedness
but we are persuaded there is incompetency somewhere in the Q.M. Department at
this post." Although they had "no special charge to make with Q.M.
Elwell--We are personally acquainted and highly esteem him as a man and a
Christian. But so long as we are satisfied that the government has the money
wherewith to pay we can but feel that there is great money somewhere, in keeping
the credits of the government here."(66) Also in March, Commissary
Sappington was writing Subsistence Commissary Eaton that he had not received
cash since December 1864: "The Creditors of the U.S. are very urgent for
their money and it would give me great pleasure to satisfy them if the Treasurer
could forward the funds."(67)
Prison
Commissary Hoffman was having his own funding problems by the spring of 1865.
Elmira Prison was starting to take up even more money from the prison fund,
although he had hoped to save as much as possible as the war ended. January and
February coupled for an expenditure under $20,000, but in March, a combination
of factors led to a disbursement Hoffman never anticipated. Bills from building
winter barracks were still being paid off, and that, compounded by a devastating
flood that took place in the middle of the month, made for large expenditures.
Much of the prison and guard camps had to be rebuilt or cleaned up, resulting in
costs of $73,334.16. No prison fund came close to equaling this figure in any
month of the Civil War. For that matter, its value might be better appreciated
by the fact that March funds at Elmira were equal to that for most Union prisons
during the year and a few throughout their entire history; including Johnson's
Island in Ohio, Camp Morton in Indiana, and Gratiot Street Prison in Missouri,
all three founded in 1862. Moreover, if Commissary Hoffman tallied the final
operational costs from prison funding, the prisons at Alton, Illinois;
Louisville, Kentucky; Wheeling, West Virginia; Ship Island, Mississippi; Harts
Island, New York; and Forts McHenry in Baltimore Warren in Boston, and
Lafayette, in New York, he still would not have enough money for Elmira Prison
in the month of March.(68)
Unfortunately
for Elmira, spending on the prison camp would soon stop. At the end of the
month, General Orders No. 77 was issued by the War Department. Elmira newspapers
headlined "Important Order--The Reduction of Expenses by the War Department
... every possible reduction of military expenses, in view of the conclusion of
hostilities, will be made immediately."(69) The act officially prepared
citizens for the closing of the rendezvous and the suspension of army activities
in Elmira. Army purchases were only to be "what is absolutely necessary in
view of the immediate reduction of the forces in the field and in
garrison."(70) Also, the commissary and quartermaster departments were not
only to reduce spending, but the number employees as well. Only those who were
"required for closing the business of their respective departments,"
would remain.(71)
It
did not take long for Elmira's economy to be affected by the bad news. Although
newspapers assured "a year will elapse before the complete abandonment of
this military post," the potential of losing an immense money-generating
enterprise was not well received. Just the prior fall, the Advertiser bragged,
"The high price of gold does not seem to affect the pockets of the
consumer. The confidence in the stability of the nation is so great that no
hesitancy or anxiety actuates the business transactions or pecuniary dealings of
trade."(72) At the end of winter, the paper realized the war "gave a
stimulus to this place, and has caused its growth to increase doubly in material
acquirements, and has insured a permanent and steady advance from its previous
state, even should the war end today."(73) "Today" was a reality
in the spring of 1865, but gold plummeted and buying slackened, while government
employees began to be laid off. "The prices of provisions are gradually
tending downwards in our market," reported the Advertiser in May,
"Prices cannot keep up with the fall of gold and the prospect of the
breaking up of the rendezvous."(74)
Downsizing
at the depot continued. Clerks, laborers, carpenters, teamsters, cooks,
messengers, stewards, and other military workers were let go. On May 10, it was
reported "There are now about two clerks at headquarters who are enlisted
men ... the thinning out, within a few days, has been quite
remarkable."(75) Elmirans felt the economic pinch when leases were not
renewed, quartermaster supplies not purchased, and commissary contracts phased
out. The dismantling of the "stockade city" and its "guard camp
suburb" led a reporter for the Advertiser to write; "Tearing
Down--Already the Saloon buildings along the street, this side of Barracks No.
3, are in the process of demolition, or tom down. They have filled their day and
must now give way to the new order of things."(76) Also in July, articles
purchased by the prison fund dramatically dropped.(77) In August, the local
press again verified the changing composition of the city; "There is quite
a thinning out constantly going on among the military men at this post.
Reductions are gradually taking place, that will restore us in a few months to
our former civilian, minus the military aspect."(78)
Gradual
reductions had also been going on at the prison. In April, $28,261.71 was
expended on the pen, in May, $20,55 1.08, June, $4,379. 19, July, $2,863.64, and
August, a mere $2,714.26. In September and October, the sale of prison camp
material continued. Incidentally, the auctioneer, W. Sheridan, was still being
paid by the government, $150 for his sale of government property.(79) In
November, the War Department was informed "all the land heretofore occupied
as barracks No. 3 is no longer required. The following described land, being
part of several leases with Messrs. Foster can be surrendered."(80) The
land was returned to the Foster family after all the government property was
sold in December, which totaled $2,824.10. The amount of money left over in the
prison fund and returned was $58,151.54.(81)
War
had greatly affected Elmira, which was a changed place compared to five years
prior. Soon after the conflict ended and outstanding claims settled, the economy
was also altered for the better. Debts were lessened between individuals and
credits shortened, but easily secured, while there was an advancement in prompt
payments. Pauperism was reduced in some sections of the city, however, there was
a rise in crime. The monthly price of farm labor before 1861 was $12 to $15,
rose to $24 in 1864, and $26 by war's end. Even with the drought of 1864,
farmland rose in value.(82) One observer noted the "camps required large
amounts of farm produce, meat, vegetables and wood for fuel.... Along West Water
Street might be seen great wood-piles extending for nearly a quarter
mile."(83) Food contractors, supposed to be selling their goods to the
military at the lowest bid, never lost much. The market price of flour was $9 to
$10 per barrel and beef sold as low as 10 [cts.] a pound, both figures
commensurable to what the military was paying.(84) Consequently, one should not
be surprised at Commissary Sappington's assessment after the war: "Citizens
were at all times willing and anxious to furnish anything that was required at
reasonable prices, and wait the pleasure of the government to pay them, in fact
the resources of the country and the faith of the People seemed during this war
to be inexhaustable."(85)
Census
enumerators help in understanding how much the Elmira economy was affected by
the military. One agent wrote that the influence of war made Elmira
"Generally more prosperous and contented."(86) Another noticed
Elmirans had "A great desire to become quickly Rich out of the government
by fat contracts."(87) Census Judge Edwin Munson commented on the changing
financial and social conditions in the ward containing the stockade and
surrounding guard camp. There was "an increasing tendency to extravagance
and display. The large government expenditures at this post with the large
number of officials and troops stationed here have doubtless greatly fostered
this tendency at this point. The same causes have led to a largely increased
consumption of intoxicants," something more than a few prison guards could
appreciate.(88)
Elmira
Prison led all Union Prisons in prison funding in 1865, and not one camp came
close to matching its maintenance fee of $165,225. Not only was it the first
time that a prison camp broke six figures in a single year, but Elmira went well
beyond it. Comparatively, Elmira Prison doubled, tripled, and more than
quadrupled many of the stockades operating in 1865. Camp Douglas, came closest,
spending $93,995 that year. Then came Camp Chase, with $52,134 in expenses,
followed by Point Lookout, $42,436, and finally, Fort Delaware with $30,964. In
fact, of the twenty-seven camps under Prison Commissary Hoffman's control in
1865, $489,876.29 was spent, meaning about one-third went to Elmira.(89)
All
told, $202,784 was spent on Elmira Prison during its existence, and some 12,147
prisoners passed through its gates. No prison cost as much from July 1864 to the
following year. Commissary Hoffman's first prison, on Johnson's Island, Ohio,
which he hoped would be the only one required for the war, registered $57,784.69
for its 7,627 captives, who were mostly officers. In central Ohio, a camp near
Columbus, converted from training facilities, housed 16,335 men through its
three-year term as a prison, having a total of $128,872.80 spent on it. Camp
Morton, a similar prison converted from an instruction base in 1862 on the state
fairgrounds a mile and a half from downtown Indianapolis, received 12,082
Confederates, on whom $43,565.41 was expended. The prison in Alton, Illinois, a
former state penitentiary used by the War Department for 9,330 Southerners since
1862 had spent $33,538.09 by the end of the war. Gratiot Street Prison in St.
Louis, Missouri, a medical college before it was converted a prison early in the
war, never held more than a thousand prisoners, but expended $19,115.93 from
1862. Fort Delaware, built earlier in the century--on an island, to protect
Philadelphia--was converted into a prison for Confederates in 1862. It held
25,275 prisoners throughout its existence and incurred $122,934.11 in bills.
Another prison located on a river was Rock Island in the Mississippi, bordering
Illinois and Iowa. It was established at the end of 1863, confined 11,458, and
had $96,427.91 in expenditures by the end of the war.(90)
Only
two stockades compared to the spending at Elmira from prison funding. Point
Lookout, where 42,762 inmates were held for its three year history expended
$162,416.83. Camp Douglas, established in January 1862, just four miles from
center city Chicago, spent more than Elmira. However, its spending began in
January of 1862 and lasted until the end of the war, a four year existence
adding up to $208,230.91 spent on the 26,060 men that it received. Both its
prison population and time frame more than doubled Elmira. A closer look finds
that the Chicago prison expended $159,543.25 during Elmira's existence, while
Elmira itself spent over $200,000. Moreover, the impact each had on the local
population would be hard to compare. Camp Douglas was located in the main market
of the Midwest, where all forms of industry were firmly entrenched. Its
population was over 109,000 at the beginning of war, while Elmira's, was not
even a tenth of that.(91)
These
figures indicate no other prison camp community had been impacted to the degree
Elmira was by the end of the war. It helped support the local economy and grew
from it, adding stability during a sluggish time. This did not matter to some
locals. More than a few might wonder if it were worth all the trouble for
posterity's sake. Besides leading all Union stockades in expenditures for the
year of its existence, Elmira also led Northern camps in another statistic. It
had the highest death rate of any in the North, and Elmirans long lived with the
stigma that their Civil War prison was considered the worst of its kind.
Notes:
(1)
Clay w. Holmes, The Elmira Prison Camp: A History of the Military at Elmira, N.
E, July 6, 1864, to July 10, 1865 (New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1912),
140-48.
(2)
Walter H. Ottman, "A History of the City of Elmira, New York," Ph.D.
diss., Cornell University, 162-65; A. G. Steen, "Recollections of Elmira in
Civil War Days," typescript, Chemung Historical Society, Elmira, N.Y., 1-4;
Elmira Star-Gazette, May 17, 1993.
(3)
Ottman, "History of Elmira" 170.
(4)
Elmira Star-Gazette, May 17, 1993; Ottman, "History of Elmira,"
165-71; "Annual Report of Captain S. P. Suydam, A.Q.M., to the
Quartermaster General, 1865," entry 225, RG 92, National Archives. Horses
sold for about $155 apiece, and 15,725 were purchased by war's end, costing the
government millions. "Annual Report of Captain J. J. Elwell to the
Quartermaster General, 1864, 1865," entry 225, RG 92.
(5)
Ottman, "History of Elmira," 200; Horigan, "Elmira Prison Camp--A
Second Opinion," The Chemung Historical Journal (Mar. 1985): 3450; Elmira
Daily Advertiser, Aug. 9, Sept. 15, 20, 1864; Elmira Star-Gazette, May 17, 1993;
Towner, History of the Chemung County, 259; "Elwell's Annual Report,
1865;" "Suydam's Annual Report, 1865."
(6)
Daily Advertiser, Nov. 18, 1864.
(7)
Ibid., Aug. 8, 1865.
(8)
Ibid., July 15, 1864.
(9)
Ibid., Aug. 9, 1864.
(10)
Ibid., Aug. 11, 1864.
(11)
Ibid., Oct. 19, 1864.
(12)
New York Evening Post, Aug. 17, 1864.
(13)
New York Evening Express, Oct. 10, 1864.
(14)
E. Monell to E. M. Stanton, Oct. 24, 1864, "Records of the Quartermaster
General, Letters Received," entry 225, RG 92, NA.
(15)
M. C. Meigs to Stanton, Nov. 5, 1864, "Records of the Quartermaster
General, Letters Received."
(16)
Suydam to Elwell, Oct. 24, 31, 1864, "Records of the Quartermaster General,
Letters Received."
(17)
Records of the Commissary General of Prisons, Statement of Prison Funds,
1864" entry 16, 77, RG 249, NA.
(18)
Office of the Commissary General of Subsistence, Record of Contracts," Dec.
13, 1864, entry 77, RG 192, NA.
(19)
B. F. Tracy to A. B. Eaton, Feb. 28, 1865 in "General Correspondence,"
entry 17, RG 192.
(20)
B. F. Tracy to A. B. Eaton, Feb. 28, 1865 in "General Correspondence."
(21)
"Contracts at Elmira, NY," Jan. 1, 1865, entry 77, RG 192.
(22)
N. J. Sappington to A. B. Eaton, Feb. 2, 1865, "Letters Received"
entry 17, RG 192. Other items on contract with the Commissary Department
included 198 bushels of white beans to James Hotchkip at $2.25 per bushel; salt
to George McGrath and V. B. Read, 250 bushels each at 53[cnts.] per bushel.
Ibid., Apr. 6, 1865; "Contracts," June 23, 1865, entry 77, RG 192.
(23)
N. J. Sappington to A. B. Eaton, Aug. 23, 1865, "General
Correspondence."
(24)
"Contracts," Feb. 2, 1865; Feb. 6, Mar. 3, 1865, "Letters
Received," entry 17, RG 192.
(25)
"Contracts," Apr. 29, 1865, Feb. 6, 1865; "Letters
Received;" Benjamin F. Cooling, Benjamin Franklin Tracy: Father of the
Modern American Fighting Navy, (Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books), 7. Throughout
1865, the prison fund also paid other locals a significant amount of money for
feeding inmates, particularly for sick men. In March, the fund paid J. H. Loring
& Co $568.06 for 218 bushels of onions; Andrew Hawthorn, $890.43 for 302
bushels of onions; Levi Coke received $575.95 for 575 onions; and J.A. Bundy
173.69 in potatoes. In April, William Ryan was paid $38.70 for about 60 pounds
of potatoes; J. A. Bundy, $12 for potatoes; Andrew Hawthorn, $661.85 for 189
bushels of onions; In May, the fund paid Levi Coke $463.83 for 337 bushels of
potatoes; J. H. Loring & Co., $1,012.47 for 291 bushels of onions; the
Loremore Brothers received $68.75 for 25 gallons of whiskey; and M.P. Fitch,
$168.59 for 269 bushels of potatoes. "Abstract of Disbursements On Account
of the Prison Fund," Mar.-May 1865, entry 11, RG 249, "Statement of
Prison Funds," Feb.-May 1865.
(26)
Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 340.
(27)
Marcus B. Toney, The Privations of a Private (Nashville, Tenn.: Publishing House
of the M. E. Church, South, Smith & Lamar, Agents, 1907), 98. The Tennessean
added, "We had the same kind of scandal in the corned beef business during
the Spanish-American War; we would nowadays call them grafters."
(28)
Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 340.
(29)
Ausburn Towner, History of the Chemung County, New York (Syracuse, N.Y.: D.
Mason & Co., 1892), 273; Undated Newspaper Clipping, Prison File, Chemung
County Historical Society, Elmira, New York; Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 92.
(30)
"Persons and Articles Hired at Elmira, New York." entry 238, RG 92,
(31)
J. J. Elwell to M. C. Meigs, Aug. 14, Sept. 9, 1864, "Records of the
Quartermaster General, Letters Received."
(32)
"Persons and Articles Hired." In October, the prison fund expended
$230.02 for paying citizens and soldiers working inside the prison. In November,
$199.05 was paid to "Clerks, Orderlies, Mechanics, & Laborers in
Military Prison." By April, 1865, the free labor force earned $703.51, and
May, $431.85. "Abstract of Disbursements," Oct., Nov., 1864, Apr.,
May, 1865, entry 11, RG. 249.
(33)
Daily Advertiser, Aug. 12, 1864; Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 343-45. William
Merwin charged $112 for four single sets of cart harnesses at $28 apiece. Palmer
& Knowl repaired prison carts at a fee of about $20, "Statement of
Prison Funds, Letters Received" Apr. 30, May 19, 1865, "Abstract of
Disbursements" May 1865, entry 11, RG 249.
(34)
"Persons and Articles Hired."
(35)
It might take as many as 12 grosses of matches, two grosses of lamp wicks, and
from 250 to more than 500 gallons of kerosene oil to keep the prison illuminated
for a month. Cook & Covell charged 75[cnts.] a gallon for the oil.
"List of Quartermaster Stores at Elmira, NY," Nov. 1864, Jan., Feb.,
Apr. 1865, entry 11, RG 249; "Statement of Prison Funds," Mar. 31,
Apr. 29, 1865.
(36)
"List of Quartermaster Stores," Jan. 1865; "Statement of Prison
Funds," Jan. 31, Mar. 31, 1865. Besides building material, Russell &
French charged from $2.25 to $3.50 a day for their work as masons. The cost per
barrel of lime was $1.75, and the camp could average from 30 to 60 barrels a
month for disinfecting privies. Cook & Covell also supplied lime. "List
of Quartermaster Stores," Nov. 1864, Jan., Feb., Apr. 1865.
(37)
In July 1864, Presnick & Dudley sold $145.91 in supplies; In August,
$117.58, September, $93.91 December, $270.45, January, $113.97, February, 1865,
$165.97, and from March $181.25. In addition, Hall Brothers sold more than $400
to the prison. "Statement of Prison Funds," July 19, 31, 1864, Aug.
29, 30, Sept. 30, December 31, Feb. 28, 1865; "Abstract of
Disbursements," Oct., 1864, Apr., May, 1865.
(38)
In February 1865, George McGrath supplied the hospital with 5,800 pounds of hay
for $87, in March, 13,900 for $208.50, and in April, 8,112 for $109.51. R.
Simmons provided 4, 150 pounds for $51.87. From March through May, 1865, D. D.
Reynolds & Co., J. G. Widing, George McGrath, W. T. Post, and J. A. Sly, all
furnished straw for prisoners, for a total of around $200. "Statement of
Prison Funds," Feb. 28, Mar. 31, Apr. 11, 30, 1865; "Abstract of
Disbursements," Mar.-May, 1865.
(39)
The costly medicines included opium, ammonia, mustard, acetic acid, chalk,
morphine, quinine, and juniper berries, which were purchased by the prison fund.
John K. Perry & Son also sold provisions, and in September 1864, Elmira
prison chief Eugene F. Sanger approved an expenditure for $63.15 from his store.
By February 1865, Cook & Covell was even selling $92 in drugs to the pen.
From February through April, Ingraham & Robinson charged nearly $500 in
medicine for the prison hospital."Statement of Prison Funds," Sept.
13, 1864, Feb. 20, 28, 1865, Mar. 20, Apr. 8, 20.
(40)
Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 131, 140-43, 145-46; The War of the Rebellion: A
Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 128
vols. (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1880-1901), ser. 2, vol. 7, 506 (hereafter cited
as OR), "Burial Report to the Quartermaster General," Sept. 23, 1874,
entry 576, RG 92.
(41)
The New York Sun, Aug. 13, 1880.
(42)
Jones was responsible for directing the "interring the remains, setting
headboards and recording deaths." "Receipt of Rolls of Employees paid
by the Prison Fund," 1864-65, entry 11, RG 249; "Ledgers of Deceased
Prisoners of War, Elmira, New York" in the William N. R. Beall Collection,
Prisoner of War Series, Eleanor S. Brockenbrough Library, The Museum of the
Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia; "Lease Agreement at Woodlawn," Jan.
1, 1865, entry 576, RG 92; "Veteran Administration Pamphlet, Woodlawn
National Cemetery, Elmira, N.Y.; "Burial Report," Sept. 23, 1874,
entry 576, RG 92.
(43)
R.G. 249, entry 11, box 142, "Receipt of Rolls of Employees paid by Prison
Fund," 1865; Toney, Privations, 109. Palmer and Knowl were responsible for
repairing the hearse. In January, March, and April 1865, they rendered their
services, which cost $24.25. Lumber for the construction of coffins would be
more expensive, 35[cnts.] for every ten feet. In January 1865, 18,000 feet of
lumber was required; in February, 24,000 feet; and in April 10,000 feet of
lumber was "Used in the construction of coffins for deceased
prisoners." In March, when deaths were highest, Spaulding & Haskell was
paid $770 for supplying 22,000 feet of "coffin lumber," and Hatch
& Partridge provided 10,000 feet for $350 so inmates could be properly
buried. "List of Quartermaster Stores," Jan., Feb., Apr. 1865;
"Statement of Prison Funds," Jan. 31, Mar. 31, Apr. 30, 1865.
(44)
"Records of the Quartermaster General, List of buildings inside the
enclosure at Barracks No. 3, Elmira, N.Y.," entry 225, RG 92; Toney,
Privations, 109-10; John R. King, My Experience in the Confederate Army and in
Northern Prisons (Clarksburg, W. Va.: United Daughters of the Confederacy,
1917), 40; Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 129; Daily Advertiser, Aug. 25,1864;
James Marion Howard, "A Short Sketch of My Early Life" typescript,
Chemung County Historical Society, Elmira, N.Y., 16.
(45)
Toney, Privations, 109-10.
(46)
Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 129-30; "Woodlawn National Cemetery
Pamphlet"; The New York Sun, Aug. 13, 1880; OR, 8:1001.
(47)
"Persons and Articles Hired." Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 130;
Confederate Veteran, vol. 22, 1914, 396. "List of Quartermaster
Stores," Apr. 1864. Cook & Covell supplied the paint for writing
identification on the headboards. In April, 1865, for example, 100 pounds of
powdered white lead paint were required for that purpose, costing the prison
fund $18. Ibid., box 142, "Statement of Prison Funds," Apr. 30, 1865.
(48)
Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 130-31.
(49)
Ibid., 131. Census records stated Jones was a mulatto, age forty-seven, had a
framed house estimated at $2,000, and was a voter and an owner of land. New York
Census Records, 1865, Ward 1, John W. Jones. Clay Holmes wrote after retirement
Jones "lived quietly on his little farm, working if he liked, spending much
time in doing little acts of kindness to others." Ibid., 150.
(50)
Daily Advertiser, Dec. 2, Sept. 21, 23, 1864, June 30, 1865; Elmira
Star-Gazette, May 17, 1993.
(51)
"Persons and Articles Hired."
(52)
Daily Advertiser, Nov. 16, 1864.
(53)
Ibid., Aug. 29, 1864.
(54)
Daily Advertiser, July 11, 29, Sept 6, 1864; John Kaufhold, "The Elmira
Observatory," Civil War Times Illustrated (July 1977): 30-32.
(55)
Daily Advertiser, Aug. 10, Sept. 9, 1864.
(56)
Ibid., Sept. 6, 13, 1864, Aug. 30, 1864; Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 35;
Kaufhold, "The Elmira Observatory" 32; Anthony M. Keiley, In Vinculis;
or, The Prisoner of War (Petersburg, Virginia, 1866), 158.
(57)
G. W. D. Porter, "Nine Months in a Northern Prisons," The Annals of
the Army Of Tennessee and Early Western History 14 (July 1878): 159.
(58)
James Huffman, Ups and Downs of a Confederate Soldier (New York: William E.
Rudge's Sons, 1940), 105.
(59)
Keiley, In Vinculis, 158-59.
(60)
Charles Petrillo, The Junction Canal (1855-1871) Elmira, New York to Athens,
Pennsylvania (Easton, Pa.: Canal History and Technology Press, 1991), 20l-2;
Thomas E. Byrne, ed., Chemung County ... Its History (Elmira, N.Y.: Chemung
County Historical Society, 1961), 16; Elmira Sun Telegram, Aug. 25, 1940; Arthur
Keifer, "Junction Canal: Elmira to Athens," Chemung Historical Journal
(Sept. 1992): 4173.
(61)
Daily Advertiser, Nov. 18, 1864.
(62)
Coal cost $10.92 1/2 per ton. J. D. Baldwin provided the prison in February with
848,620 pounds of coal for $4,635.58. In March, he furnished 379 tons for
$4,145.81. And in April, just 69,591 for $380.15; "Statement of Prison
Funds," Feb. 28, Mar. 31, Apr. 30, 1865; Petrillo, Junction Canal, 201-2;
Keifer, "Junction," 4, 173.
(63)
"Suydam's Annual Report, 1865;" R. Burdell to E. M. Stanton, May 25,
1866, "Consolidated Correspondence, Erie Railroad," entry 225, RG 92.
(64)
M. C. Meigs to E. M. Stanton, June 4, 1866, "Consolidated Correspondence,
Erie Railroad.".
(65)
Hatch & Partridge to M. C. Meigs, Mar. 14, 1865, "Letters
Received," entry 225, RG 92
(66)
Hatch & Partridge to M. C. Meigs, Mar. 14, 1865.
(67)
N. J. Sappington to A. B. Eaton, Mar. 1, 1865, "Letters Received"
entry 10, RG 192.
(68)
"Records of the Commissary General of Prisons, Expenditures," entry
16, 77, RG 249; "Abstract of Disbursements," Mar. 1865;
"Statement of Prison Funds," Mar. 31, 1865.
(69)
Daily Advertiser, May 1, 1865.
(70)
Ibid.
(71)
It was wishful thinking for the paper to speculate that the government might
make the military depot "a permanent affair." Ibid.
(72)
Daily Advertiser, Nov. 16, 1864.
(73)
Ibid., Feb. 23, 1865.
(74)
Ibid., May 10, 1865.
(75)
Ibid. Some workers at the prison were fortunate to work throughout May, such as
George Mathews, Lochmon May, and Horace Little, clerks earning $100 a month;
Harrison Hart, Darwin Rudd, Henry Osborn, and Robert Even, all clerks except the
latter, each earned 40 [cts.] daily. Sexton John Jones and hearse driver John
Donohoe would also remain on the payroll. "Receipt Roll," Apr.-May
1865, entry 11, RG 249,
(76)
Daily Advertiser, July 14, 1865.
(77)
"Abstract of Articles," entry 11, RG 249, July 1865. Only four local
businesses were on the July account, Hall Brothers, Spaulding & Haskell,
Cook & Covell, and Loremore Brothers, culminating in a bill of $724.80.
(78)
Daily Advertiser, Aug. 4, 1865.
(79)
"Expenditures"; "Persons and Articles Hired."
(80)
J. J. Elwell to J. D. Bingham, Nov. 14, 20, 1865, "Letters Received,"
entry 225, RG 92.
(81)
Holmes, Elmira Prison Camp, 276; "Consolidated Report of Prison Funds"
entry 16, 77, RG 249; N. J. Sappington to A. B. Eaton, Sept. 7, 1865,
"Letters Received," entry 17, RG 192.
(82)
"Remarks on the Influence of War," New York Census Records, Elmira,
New York, 1865.
(83)
Ottman, "History of Elmira,, 170.
(84)
Daily Advertiser, June 20, 1865.
(85)
June 28, 1865," General Correspondence."
(86)
Samuel M. Guthe, New York Census Records, Elmira, New York, 1865.
(87)
D. T. Billings, New York Census Records.
(88)
Edwin Munson, New York Census Records.
(89)
"Expenditures."
(90)
"Expenditures"; The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the
Rebellion, part 2, vol. 5: Medical History (Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office, 1879), 50-63; Holland Thompson, ed., The Photographic History
of the Civil War, vol. 8; Prisons and Hospitals (New York: The Review of Reviews
Co., 1911), 44, 54, 56, 69.
(91)
"Expenditures"; George Levy, To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners
at Camp Douglas 1862-1865 (Evanston, Ill.: Evanston Publishing, 1994), 7, 9
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