Illinois During the Civil War

Questions for you to answer…..

-Why is there a war going on?-Who is fighting?-What do they want?

What about Illinois?

• 1,711,951 people lived here at the start of the war (Illinois has 12,901,563 now!)• 250,000 is the number of soldiers that Illinois sent to help fight in the Civil War. (4th)

What did Illinois have?• Agriculture!!• John Deere and the plow• Cyrus McCormick and the

reaper

• Camp Douglas – Chicago was a training camp• Camp Butler – Springfield was a training

camp.• Camp Defiance, Cairo• Camp Dement Camp Taylor• Camp Douglas Camp Yates• Camp Fry• Camp Fuller• Camp Kane• Camp Mather

Camp Douglas

- largest training camp in Illinois - land provided by estate of Stephen A. Douglas

in 1861 - east side: parade ground and administration

buildings - south side: camp hospitals -west side: prison camp -first prisoners arrived in 1862, about 8000 from

capture of Fort Donelson - during war held over 18,000 prisoners - over 12,000 at one time [Dec 1864] - prisoners included Sam Houston, Jr. and Henry

M. Stanley, African explorer.

Camp Douglas

Camp Butler

- major mustering-in site for Civil War -named for William Butler, treasurer of state of Illinois for 2 terms

[1859-1863] who was from Sangamon County - first troops arrived in Aug 1861 - troops boarded trains at Jimtown [now Riverton] - trained 39 regiments of infantry [e.g. 32, 38, 73, 115] and 9 regiments of cavalry

Camp Butler

Camp Fuller

Camp Fuller"In August of 1862, Camp Fuller was established as a training ground for four Illinois regiments, the 74th, 92nd, 93rd and 95th Illinois. It was set up in an area of Rockford known as Churchill's Grove, for an original owner of the tract of land. It was a picturesque site, along the river with groves of trees. It was a popular visiting site for the local populace, as they showed their patriotism and support for the war by showering the soldiers training in the camp with food and attention. "When the soldiers left, in December of 1862, the camp was closed. It's legacy is a stone set in the corner of a street indicating the entrance to the camp." -- Steve Hass

Rock Island

Two days before Christmas, a train rustled into Rock Island and passed over a wooden bridge to the island where a landmark clock tower was being built, and unloaded 468 Confederate soldiers captured in battles near Chattanooga, Tenn. They were the first prisoners of war incarcerated on the 12-acre Confederate prison camp on the northern side of the island. Before the camp closed 20 months later, 1,964 prisoners died and were buried in the cemetery on Rodman Avenue. Marcy Norton: http://www.qconline.com/progress98/places/prfedcem.html

Rock Island Arsenal

Camp Kane

During the period that the new recruits trained, they captured the attention of many local residents. Children and adults alike came to the camp and watched the men training and drilling. On October 14, 1861, the regiments marched to Geneva. There they took a train to Washington, D.C., where they received their horses and joined the Army of the Potomac. President Abraham Lincoln dubbed the 8th Cavalry "Farnsworth's Big Abolition Regiment."The 8th Regiment participated in the bloody battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. The 17th Regiment fought in Kansas.Following the war, men of the 8th Cavalry continued to serve their country. In April 1865, they took part in the search for Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, and also guarded the President's body.

Camp Kane

Danville NationalCemetery

Danville National Cemetery

Danville National Cemetery is located in Vermilion County, Ill. This area once belonged to the Miami, Kickapoo and Pottawatomie tribes of the Algonquin Indians. 1818, the Kickapoo ceded a large area of land to the federal government, including what is now Vermilion County. From 1841 to 1859, Abraham Lincoln practiced law in Danville; in 1852, he established a law practice with Ward Lamon. This was Lincoln’s only permanent law office in the Illinois circuit.Although no Civil War battles occurred here, many men from Danville volunteered for the Union. The men who returned home were often sick, wounded or disabled. In 1897, Congress authorized the establishment of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Danville.

Alton Penitentiary

Alton PenitentiaryIn 1862 it was reopened as a military prison during the Civil War. Thousands of captured Confederate prisoners were housed here during the war. In 1863, a small pox epidemic spread through the prison killing hundreds. The prison was closed down permanently in 1865 at the close of the war, and the remaining prisoners were sent to St. Louis or released. The prison was then dismantled, except for a portion of a wall which was relocated in 1970 to its present location in downtown Alton.

Madison county, IL Gen Web - http://madison.ilgenweb.net/prison.html

Prisoner-of-War Camps• Alton Penitentiary• Camp Butler• Camp Douglas• Rock Island Prison

• One way for a prisoner to leave Johnson’s Island was to take an Oath of Allegiance to the United States. The prisoner had to first apply to take the Oath. He was then segregated from the prison population and assigned to a separate prison block. This was done for the safety of those taking the Oath as they were repudiating their loyalty to the Confederacy. Until 1865, only a small number of prisoners took the Oath because of their fierce devotion and loyalty to the cause for which they were fighting. However, in the Spring of 1865, many prisoners did take the Oath, feeling the cause for which they fought so hard was dead. The following letter written by prisoner Tom Wallace shows that “swallowing the eagle” (taking the oath) was not done without a great deal of soul searching.

Confederate Letters….Tom Wallace was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 6th Kentucky Regiment and was captured at Bardstown, Kentucky on July 6th, 1863.

U. S. Military Prison Johnson’s Island _ May 1st 1865My dear mother _ Perhaps you may be surprised when I tell you that I have made application for the “amnesty oath”. I think that most all of my comrades have or will do as I have. I don’t think that I have done wrong, I had no idea of taking the oath until I heard of the surrender of Johnston and then I thought it worse than foolish to wait any longer. The cause that I have espoused for four years and have been as true to, in thought and action, as man could be is now undoubtedlydead; consequently I think the best thing I can do is to become a quiet citizen ofthe United States…..

I will probably be released from prison sometime this month, if so I will go home immediately via Cincinnati. I wrote to Mr Barret for a hundred dollars and to you for a suit of citizens clothes, both of which I will have to wait the arrival of. Your letter of the 20th reached me yesterday. I will take your advice about sending home whatever I have that is worth shipping. Please write to me immediately and inform me where your home is, so that upon my arrival at New Albany I will have no difficulty in finding it.

Love to all. Your devoted son Tom Wallace

Camp Chase OhioApril 9th, 1865 Dear and most loving wife, it is with pleasure that I seat myself to write to a few lines to let you know that I am well, & doing tolerable well and hope when this comes to hand it will find you and the rest of the family well. Dear, I hope that it won't be long until I get to come and see you all and stay with you in peace. I have no news to write. Only I heard from Brad Will I got a letter from him and he is well and says that the family is well in doing well for the Times. He wants to hear from you. Dear, tell all to write for our want to hear from them all. Tell Lemmy that he must take good care of himself and get well, and Jimmy to be a good boy and I will bring him a present. Flemmy that she must be a good girl and I will bring her a present to. Well sis Tot I will write you a line to let you know that I still remember you and want to see you very bad and _ _ _ B. Rogers and all of them. Dear, I must close now, write soon and often.T L Lewis"

Biographical Project Overview

-Start with the end in mind – what do I expect when you are done

-Groups and their jobs

-Time allowed in class

- Deadline

- Grading