Fort Delaware - Civil War

Civil War

Soldiers appear by a circular stairway inside the fort in 1864. Photograph by John L. Gihon. Restored mess hall that was used by Union soldiers and Confederate POWs inside the fort.

During the Civil War, Fort Delaware went from protector to prison; a prisoner-of-war camp was established to house captured Confederates, convicted federal soldiers, local political prisoners as well as privateers. The first prisoners were housed inside the fort in sealed off casemates, empty powder magazines, as well as two small rooms inside the sally port. In those small rooms, names of confederates can still be seen carved into the brick. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the island "contained an average population of southern tourists, who came at the urgent invitation of Mr. Lincoln." The first Confederate general to be housed at the fort was Brig. Gen. Johnston Pettigrew. During the war, a total of about a dozen generals were held within the fort as prisoners-of-war.

Barracks & Hospital
In 1862 and 1863, two separate phases of construction took place, building "barracks for enlisted prisoners of war" that was known as the "bull pen," said Pvt. Henry Robinson Berkeley a Confederate prisoner. Most of the Confederates captured at Gettysburg were imprisoned here. An L-shaped barracks building, using similar plans, was constructed for Union regiments assigned as guards. A 600-bed hospital was also built around the same time and was designed by noted architect John McArthur Jr. of Philadelphia. "These Barracks were common wooden sheds, affording accommodation for about ten thousand persons," wrote Lt. Francis W. Dawson, a confederate POW captured in August 1862. "The bunks were arranged in tiers of three, and into one of these I crawled. The next morning I was told that these Barracks were the quarters for the privates and non-commissioned officers, and that, by requesting it, I could be removed to the quarters for the officers, which were inside the Fort."

Mortality Rate
The first Confederate prisoner to die at Fort Delaware was Captain L. P. Halloway of the 27th Virginia Infantry. He was captured at Winchester, Va. on March 23, 1862, dying on April 9. Captain Halloway, a Freemason, was given a full Masonic funeral by Jackson Lodge in Delaware City. The funeral procession was led by fort's commander, Captain Augustus A. Gibson, from the town's lock on Clinton Street, and ending in the cemetery on Jefferson Street. According to church records, Halloway's body was reclaimed by family after the war.

By August 1863, there were more than 11,000 prisoners on the island; by war’s end, it had held almost 33,000 men. The conditions were decent, but about 2,500 prisoners died on Pea Patch Island. Statistically, the overall death rate for prisoners was about 7.6 percent. Half of the total number of deaths occurred during a smallpox epidemic in 1863. Inflammation of the lungs (243 deaths), various forms of diarrhea (315 deaths) and smallpox (272 deaths) were the leading killer amongst the prison population. About 215 prisoners died as a result of Typhoid and/or Malaria, according to records in the National Archives. Other causes of death include scurvy (70 deaths), pneumonia (61 deaths) and erysipelas (47 deaths). Five prisoners drowned, and seven died from gunshot wounds. During the war, 109 Union soldiers and about 40 civilians died on the island as well.

Prisoner Rations and Living Conditions (outside the fort)
By 1863, enlisted men and junior officers (mostly lieutenants and captains) of the prison population were living in the wooden barracks on the northwest side of the island. These two classes of prisoners were separated by a tall fence complete with a catwalk for the guards. In 1864, the War Department ordered the rations to be cut in retaliation for the treatment of Northern soldiers in southern POW camps. Although prisoners were only receiving two small meals, they were allowed to purchase extra food from the sutler, and allowed to fish in the waterways on the island and in the Delaware River. Official records also show that prisoners at Fort Delaware received more care packages than any other POW camp in the country.

"Things here are not quite as bad as I expected to find them. They are, however, bad, hopeless and gloomy enough without any exaggeration," said Pvt. Henry Berkeley. "We went into dinner about three o'clock, which consisted of three hardtack, a small piece of meat (about three bites) and a pint tin cup of bean soup. We only get two light meals a day."

Trinity Chapel was built outside of the fort by POWs in 1863. G.L. Thompson Publisher. Confederate POW cover from Civil War.

"The mess-room is next to 22 and near the rear. It is a long, dark room, having a long pine table, on which the food is placed in separate piles, either on a tin plate or on the uncovered greasy table, at meal hours, twice a day," said Capt. Robert E. Park, 12th Alabama Infantry Regiment. "The fare consists of a slice of baker's bread, very often stale, with weak coffee, for breakfast, and a slice of bread and a piece of salt pork or salt beef, sometimes, alternating with boiled fresh beef and bean soup, for dinner. The beef is often tough and hard to masticate."

"There are several large ditches running across the island which are filled daily by the bay water and which furnish the water for washing," wrote Capt. William H. Burgwyn, 35th North Carolina Infantry. "Our drinking water is brought from Brandywine Creek about ten miles ."

Prisoner Rations and Living Conditions (inside the fort)
High-ranking Confederate officers and some political prisoners were housed in former laundress quarters and open-bay barrack rooms inside the fort. These prisoners were often afforded paroles of the island, access to more food, and allowed more freedoms than the outside prison population.

"By the kindness of Gen. Albin Francisco Schoepf, Cols. Morgan, Tucker, Coleman and myself were paroled to the Island", said Col. William W. Ward, on March 24, 1864. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, Gen. Robert B. Vance and the Cols of our command form a mess, and live very well. We give a negro woman $7.00 per week for cooking, $10.00 for washing."

Also living in the former laundress quarters was Reverend Isaac W. K. Handy of Portsmouth, Va., a political prisoner. "Our supplies have, recently, been so abundant, that 'Commissary' Tibbetts has appropriated No. 3 as a larder and pantry. We have been living upon hams, turkeys, chickens, tongues, jellies, pickles, butter, cheese, canned fruits, and jellies of various kinds, with all else that could be desired for comfortable and healthy diet," wrote Reverend Handy in 1864. He further notes, "The only article regularly furnished by the Government commissary is bread. Each man gets a well baked loaf, every other day, which is quite sufficient in quantity."

"We were installed in a large barrack-room, which then contained seventy or eighty officers. The highest in rank was a Major Holliday," wrote Lt. Francis W. Dawson. "Our room was dry, warn and well lighted, while the Barracks were cold, damp and dark. Our room had conveniences for washing, and there was plenty of water of a poor quality," said Dawson. "We only left the room to march down into the mess-hall."

In late 1862, prisoners inside the fort were fed three meals a day instead of the usual two. "For breakfast we had a cup of poor coffee without milk or sugar, and two small pieces of bad bread. For dinner we had a cup of greasy water misnamed soup, a piece of beef two inches square and a half inch thick, and two slices of bread. At supper the fare was the same as at breakfast. This was exceedingly light diet," wrote Lt. Francis Dawson. "We contrived to make some additions to our diet by purchases at the Sutler's store."

Immortal 600
On August 20, 1864, six-hundred Confederate officers boared the Crescent bound for Morris Island, S.C., "for the purpose I believe of being placed under the fire of the Confederate batteries in retaliation for an equal number of Federal officers who have been placed in the city of Charleston, and are said to be exposed to the shelling of their own guns. I am glad of this move as it will be a diversion to the monotonous life led in prison," said Capt. Leon Jastremski of the 10th Louisiana Infantry. This group of prisoners was later known as the Immortal Six Hundred.

"Aug. 20 - Am detailed to go to Charleston with the Rebel Officers. Was very busy in the forenoon hunting up shoes and packing up things," said Pvt. Alexander J. Hamilton, Pittsburgh Heavy Artillery. "At 3 p.m. we fell in and marched up to the barracks and by 5 were on board the Crescent and under way. There are 35 of our boys and about 90 of the other two batteries and of Company C, 157th Ohio ."

"After long delay-all being ready - the guards took their places, and the command was given to march through the sally-port, to the west end of the bull-pen," according to Reverend Isaac Handy. "As the noble fellows marched out, I stood at the opening of the sally-port, as near by as the guards would allow, and until the very last man disappeared from the enclosure. 'Good-bye! Good-bye!' was uttered, time and again, as the files moved on; and I could do nothing but return farewells, as some one or more in every rank would wave the parting salutation."

Garrison Units
Starting in 1861, volunteer troops were sent to garrison Fort Delaware that included, Collis' Zouaves de Afrique, 19th New York Volunteers, Mlotkowski's Independent Battery A, Young's Independent Battery G (Pittsburgh Heavy Artillery), 5th Delaware Infantry, 6th Delaware Infantry, 9th Delaware Infantry, 5th Maryland Infantry, 11th Maryland Infantry, 6th Massachusetts Infantry (100 Days), 157th Pennsylvania Infantry (Battalion), 201st Pennsylvania Infantry, 215th Pennsylvania, 157th Ohio Infantry, 196th Ohio Infantry, and zouaves of the 165th New York Infantry. The fort was also used to organize and muster troops from the first state. Ahl's Independent Battery of Heavy Artillery was organized here for garrison duty. Although listed as a Delaware unit, Ahl's Battery was composed of Confederate prisoners that took the oath of allegiance.

The fort's artillery soldiers were responsible for manning the guard posts within the fort as well as serving on various duty positions on the island. Infantry troops were mainly responsible for manning guard posts along the seawall, which ran around the island. In August 1864, there were approximately 85 guard posts on the island that required about 255 men on each shift.