Within a montheven before receiving this letterStephen A. Douglas lay dead in Chicago, with Fort Sumter in Confederate hands and Patrick Edward Connor of Stockton, California, about to join the Union Army. In the [proposed] withdrawal of the troops the General Government virtually abandons her sovereignty over this Territory.[41], The armys late arrival in 1862 required it to work hard throughout the winter building temporary facilities at the new camp. Grant Building Connor to Maj. R. C. Drum, 14 September 1862, in WOTR2, 119. Department of the Pacific, San Francisco, Cal., 5 July 1862, Richard C. Drum, in WOTR2, 56. Hover over highlighted date and click the event to get details. [73] Andrew Jensen, Church Chronology (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1899), 69. N8390 County Road H, Camp Douglas, WI 54618. . They fully understand that honesty and peace constitute their best and safest policy. See P. Edw. What's in a Name? The Establishment of Camp Douglas During the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympic games, part of Fort Douglasnow an integral part of the University of Utahwas used as the Olympic Village, housing visiting athletes from many continents. [67] P. Edw. See also Thomas G. Alexander and Leonard J. Arrington, Camp in the Sagebrush: Camp Floyd, Utah, 18581861, Utah Historical Quarterly 34 (1966). Connor to Lieut. [Applause.] A New York Times report from Salt Lake stated, There may be still another jurisdiction conflict in our midst, and perhaps a very pretty quarrel. Connor to Lieut. . Discussing the armys presence in Salt Lake City, Young once observed in a report to Utahs Legislative Assembly that there is not one soul of them [Camp Douglas soldiers] that I would not take into my house if they were perishing in the street, and then he added even Gen. Connor. He reportedly continued, I do not know the man [Connor]; as a citizen I have nothing against him, he wants to kill the truth, and sacrifice every virtue there is upon the earth that God has established, that is what makes me hate him. The government initially rejected their offer because it is not supposed so large a force is necessary.[11] On April 28, 1862, though, by express direction of the President of the United States, Brigham Young, then a private citizen but still President of the LDS Church, was authorized to raise, arm, and equip one company of cavalry for ninety days service.[12] The governments request specified that the company will be employed to protect the property of the telegraph and overland mail companies in or about Independence Rock [Nebraska Territory], where depredations have been committed, and will be continued in service only till the U.S. troops can reach the point where they are so much needed. [58] P. Edw. $41.4K. [5] Fort Crittenden was also sometimes referred to as Camp Crittenden. . We guarded the mail route. On October 26, 1991, the fort closed officially, though the Utah National Guard maintained control of the museum, and the 96th ARCOM received the parts of the fort that were not deeded to the university. Southerners came to revile Camp Douglas. Discussion - Camp Douglas | Civil War History Discussion History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. Hold your troops well in hand. The soldiers then established Camp Floyd (named after John B. Floyd, President Buchanans secretary of war) forty miles southwest of Salt Lake City, the nations largest garrison until the outbreak of the Civil War. The whole population would have to mount guard and Chicago would find itself in possession of an elephant of the largest description. After all, no one thought the Civil War would go on as long as it did. As a museum and educational institution, we will continue to raise awareness and create a more equitable narrative rooted in our history as a recognized Underground Railroad site. Connor's men were Union volunteers from both California and Nevada. Visitors to Fort Douglas today can tour a military museum and several historic buildings that help preserve its historic past. James D. Doty following his death and burial in the cemetery. obnoxious and revolting water usage practices. Wyoming Places - Douglas Camp You may also contact site Superintendent, Jenna Thorburn at 307-358-9288 oe email at jenna.thorburn1@wyo.gov. There may be two reasons for thisfirstly, because more than half of the population of Utah consists of recent emigrants of foreign birth, gathered from all the lands under the sun, and from all the islands fixed in the sea; and secondly, because the long and terrible persecutions of the Mormons in Illinois and Missouri in the early days of the Church, have left behind them bitter memories of the power that failed to afford protection. Connor to Lieut. In December 1862, the army disbursed among them the snug sum of $74,000, so that they can now rejoice in being paid up. The sooner we are rid of the evil, and the nation of the stigma [of Mormonism], the better it will be for us. The Fort Douglas Cemetery continues to be an active federal military cemetery, actively maintained. Ten feet inside the fence was a smaller wooden barrier that marked the dead line. Prisoners would be shot if they crossed it. The Camp Douglas Vendor & Farmer's Market | Camp Douglas WI - Facebook N. Baldwin, 11 May 1864, in WOTR2, 846. Why have you barked with the dogs, except to prove that you were a dog with them?[36] The velvet glove which Brigham Young had earlier used in dealing with Douglas as chairman of the U.S. Senates Committee on the Territories was off. Brigham Young and his Latter-day Saint pioneers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847. [38] Salt Lake City schoolhouse, 30 October 1862, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, ed. June 23, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news - CNN International A year earlier, Stanton had vetoed the replacement of burned barracks at Camp Douglas, saying that he was not disposed at this time, in view of the treatment our prisoners of war are receiving at the hands of the enemy, to erect fine establishments for their prisoners in our hands.. Virtual PresentationThe Story of Camp Douglaspresented by David Keller. an open prairie, a few groves of trees, some modest dairy . The cause of this rupture was a speech given by Douglas in Springfield, Illinois, on June 12, 1857, two weeks after the launch of the Utah Expedition and soon after his return from Washington. Guards sometimes forced them to pull down their pants and sit in the snow or on frozen ground for hours at a time. . . rev. . As caretakers of Lombards heritage, the Lombard Historical Society is dedicated to our communitys collective experience. Containing over 200 buildings on 60 acres, Camp Douglas was the most significant Civil War facility in Northern Illinois. [8] Gilbert Clements to W. G. Mills, 25 August 1861. Later, the cemetery was expanded to accommodate a larger number of burials, not only from the fort, but also from Fort Cameron following its closure. For 2023 season our hours of operation will be Tuesday thru Saturday 10am to 4pm starting May 30, 2023 thru September 2, 2023. Were they promptly on hand? The lack of a sewer and proper sanitation accounted for a tremendous amount of sickness and death, Joseph L. Eisendrath Jr. concluded in an article published in 1960 in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. Through the efforts of Utah's U.S. Sen. Thomas Kearns, the fort became a regimental post. Camp Douglas Officer's Club State Historic Site is open seasonally. The establishment and naming of this post on the bench above Salt Lake City is a colorful, but little known, story of the American Civil War. With Douglass failed 1860 presidential bid and Joseph Smiths apocalyptic 1843 prophecy about Douglass political fate in mind, President Young closed, Do you not begin to realize that the prediction of the Prophet Joseph Smith, personally delivered to you, has been and is being literally fulfilled upon your head? Camp Douglas Prisoner of War Camp - mycivilwar.com On August 19, General Connor received new orders to the extent that if, in your judgment, the withdrawal of the troops from Camp Douglas would produce an impression on the minds of the Mormons that the removal was in consequence of disapprobation of your course while in command, or in any manner injurious to the interests of the Government, you will retain Camp Douglas as your principal stationwhich he did.[82]. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. [55] P. Edw. As early as September 1862, his official reports began to include complaints about Mormons and Mormonism. Camp Douglas, WI Real Estate & Homes for Sale - realtor.com [6] The Secession Rebellion, New York Times, May 24, 1861, 1. Connor to Lieut. Each prisoner got an eight-ounce serving of beef on weekdays and a five-ounce serving of bacon on Sundays. From February 1862 the camp also became a prison camp holding 30,000 Confederate soldiers until it was closed in late 1865. Both the Italian and German POWs did not . The Mormon portion of the community entertain certain hard recollections of the Senator, on account of his loathsome ulcer recommendations. David L. Keller is the founder of the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation and the author of The Story of Camp Douglas: Chicagos Forgotten Civil War Prison (History Press, 2015). . Col. R. C. Drum, 20 December 1862, in WOTR2, 257. The local citizens recognized that most of the soldiers were simply trying to serve their country at the territorial outpost to which they had been assigned, and soldiers stationed at Camp Douglas learned that the local residents were people who had much in common with them. Connor to Lieut. [32], In his 1989 book Brigham and the Brigadier, James F. Varley discerns a motivation very different from Madsens belief that Connor intended simply to honor the late Senator Douglas. 801-422-6975. While many supply items were received from the States, the military purchased tons of locally produced hay, barley, oats, potatoes, and cattle, among other products. Camp Douglas became a permanent prisoner-of-war camp from January 1863 to the end of the war in May 1865. . Camp Douglas in Chicago opened in 1861 as a Union training and reception facility for over 40,000 Union soldiers. The arrival of the Confederate POWs, who vastly outnumbered their guards, had been a source of worry for some in Chicago who feared that the camp couldnt contain them. This is decidedly, sneered, when it broke the news of the prisoners impending arrival in mid-February. So why would Colonel Connora man patently on the rise with even higher military aspirationsmake such a politically maladroit name selection given the Democratic Party identification of Stephen A. Douglas vis--vis the prominent Republican Party affiliations of Secretary of War Stanton and President Lincoln? [30] Orders, No. Utahs governor here overlooked the fact that Fort Bridger was in Utah until the formation of Wyoming Territory in 1868. Camp Douglas met those criteria, even though its flimsy barracks and crude sewers werent designed to handle large numbers of occupants for extended periods. Dachau: Concentration Camp, Germany & Memorial - HISTORY No. On Monday evening I received the instruction, and on Wednesday afternoon that hundred men were mustered into service and encamped ready for moving. Shortly after Senator Douglass death, a New York Times correspondent reported from Salt Lake City that last Wednesday the Pony [Express] told us of the death of Senator Douglas. His interest in Camp Douglas comes from his interest in the Civil War, Civil War Prison Camps and 19th century Chicago history. . [42] P. Edw. This may have been the first time that Colonel Connor or his soldiers saw the national flag flying at Brigham Youngs residence, but it was clearly not the first time a flag had been flown there. The fort was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975, for its role in the Civil War and in furthering the settlement of Utah.[4]. . A cemetery was established in 1862 about a mile south of the original parade grounds. The following year, a smaller monument was added for Utah Gov. If the general decides that I shall locate there, I intend to quietly intrench my position, and then say to the Saints of Utah, enough of your treason; but if it is intended that I shall merely protect the overland mail and permit the Mormons to act and utter treason, then I had as well locate at Crittenden. Confederate Deaths at Camp Douglas | FamilyTree.com [17], In May 1862, Brigadier General George Wright, commander of the armys Department of the Pacific in San Francisco, appointed Patrick Edward Connor, a California militia officer, to command several companies of California volunteers (or CVs, as they were often called) to travel from Stockton, California, to the vicinity of Salt Lake. According to orders received in July 1862, his primary mission as a newly commissioned colonel was to protect the Overland Mail Route [18] and also the telegraph stations.[19] Connors command arrived at Fort Churchill (near Reno, Nevada Territory) in August 1862, where Colonel Connor assumed command of the military district of Utah, which included Utah and Nevada Territories.[20]. The North's Last POW Camp - HistoryNet Chicago1 s Camp Douglas, 1861-1865 Chicago manufacturer Joseph L. Eisendrath, Jr. is a man of many interests. Because of mail delays, word of Douglass comments about the Mormons did not reach Utah until late summer, at which point the reaction was volcanic. [14] Jas. By October of 1864, the number of Union prisoners inside Salisbury swelled to more than 5,000 men, and within a few more months that number skyrocketed to more than 10,000. Drum to Brig. IN AUGUST 1864 SOUTHERN PHOTOGRAPHER A.J. To add an RSC website shortcut to your home screen, open the website in the Safari browser. To celebrate and bring those of our Armed Forces closer to their neighboring community and enjoy the In the space of a few short years, Camp Douglas became an important and uncontroversial part of Salt Lake City. In the summer and fall of 1865, the camp served as a mustering out point for Union Army volunteer regiments. Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites, & Trails - About [25] Ibid. [73] On March 12, the flag at Brigham Youngs residence was raised again, causing 1,500 Mormon militia members to assemble. land at this point, forty-two acres of which - in open prairie - was made available by the Douglas estate. Repeating the same mistakes as others, from the atrocious depravities to establishing inadequate facilities, Americans had failed miserably at their first test as guardians of POWs.. Colonel Patrick Connor was ordered to reestablish a military presence with volunteer soldiers in the Utah Territory. [29] Arrival of Col. Connors Command, Deseret News, October 22, 1862. From sin and the practice thereof. Home Front Travel Mart & Restaurant. Hardings comments parallel President Lincolns facetious exposition of his Mormon policyif Brigham Young will let me alone, I will let him alone. George H. Hubbard, Abraham Lincoln as Seen by the Mormons, Utah Historical Quarterly 31 (Spring 1963): 103. History of Camp Douglas - Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation Some of the dead prisoners were buried in the two small cemeteries on the grounds of Camp Douglas, but most were buried in Chicagos old City Cemetery along the shores of Lake Michigan, in what is now Lincoln Park. . The Fort Douglas Military Museum is housed in two former barrack buildings, and a small section of the original post is still used by the U.S. Army Reserve. Email agent. In a sense, these two speeches became the template, if not the inspiration, for the early rounds of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of the following year. . Several federal actions, though, were not viewed favorably by the Saints. Connor to Lieut. As the camp filled up with prisoners, its soggy, crowded environment became a breeding ground for disease. But all this does not prove any loyalty to political tyrants. One evening, while sitting in front of the generals tent [at the Camp], he said, I was attracted by a beautiful flag and staff and I was asked by the commanding officer [Colonel St. George-Cooke], if I thought President Young would accept it. What if they broke free and attacked? Your Chicago: Camp Douglas, A Civil War Historic Site Connor clearly recognized the friction that existed but apparently felt he was not responsible for it. 4. Camp Floyd was renamed Fort Crittenden,[5] in honor of U.S. senator John J. Crittenden, after Secretary Floyd resigned in disgrace in December 1860 and joined the Confederacy. From the arrival of the first troops, Camp Douglas and its satellite camps acted as a reception and training center for the Northern District of Illinois. The presentation includes information on conditions and loss of life at the camp, current status of the camps site, and work done by the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation to provide a lasting remembrance of Camp Douglas. [22] Affairs in Utah. New York Times, September 7, 1862, 3. 2) of MHQThe Quarterly Journal of Military History with the headline:The Norths Last POW Camp, Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. One Salt Lake residents August 1861 letter summed up the feelings of many Utah residents: The troops are gone. The battle was one of the Unions first major victories, but it also created a major problem: what to do with the thousands of Confederate soldiers who had been captured. Part of the problem was the unfortunate choice of location: a parcel of land only a few hundred yards from Lake Michigan, built on sand over a clay base that made it a quagmire during even a moderate rainfall. Within a week more than 200 of them were in the hospital, with several hundred more being treated outside. The fabric of our communitys history is woven with strands of many colors. Col. R. C. Drum, 16 October 1863, in WOTR2, 656657. ANDERSONVILLE, THE CONFEDERATE PRISON CAMP IN GEORGIA WHERE NEARLY 13,000 UNION soldiers died from disease, malnutrition, and brutal mistreatment in 1864 and 1865, became forever infamous after its commandant, Henry Wirz, was tried and executed as a war criminal after the war. In May 1861, he wrote a caustic, mocking unpublished letter to a gravely ill Douglas reminding him of his 1857 Springfield speech as well as of his role in the disruption of the Union then so violently in progress. Gen. P.E. If authorities will give Chicago permission to hang the whole batch as soon as they arrive, let them come.. Denied the coal needed for their boilers, the German captain reluctantly submitted to detention. . PDF A History of Camp Douglas' Illinois, Union Prison, 1861-1865 Col. R. C. Drum, 15 March 1863, in WOTR2, 372. Mills was then serving as a missionary in England. . By February 1863, Colonel Connor reported that his troops had built thirteen small officers quarters, a guard house, a bake house, a commissary, quartermaster offices, stores, stables, a blacksmith shop, and a hospital. [66] M. G. Lewis to Capt. There has been some controversy surrounding the university's stewardship of the historic fort property. 50, pt. [35] Heber C. Kimball, discourse, 23 August 1857, in Journal of Discourses (London: Latter-day Saints Book Depot, 185486), 5:178. [7] Fort Crittenden was evacuated and closed. Is it necessary for the government to take any action in the premises? In May 1861, the War Department issued orders for the immediate withdrawal of all the regular troops from New-Mexico and Utah.[6] Auctions held in June and July disposed of reusable building materials (lumber, windows, doors, and so forth), and the remaining adobe walls were left to the elements. There were 1037 men court martialed between January and August 1862 for drunkenness, insubordination, fighting, theft, destruction of property, desertion, shooting an officer, and "playing cards with prisoners.". John was not released until June 14th, 1865. Memories of Camp Douglas gradually faded, a part of local history that few Chicagoans cared to remember. The whole population would have to mount guard and Chicago would find itself in possession of an elephant of the largest description. March 1863 was a particularly tense period in the relationship between Salt Lake City and Camp Douglas. . This listing was just of Confederate soldiers from Georgia. . In fact, Wright did not even know at this point that Connor was establishing a new post, having assumed that he would be using the remnants of old Camp Floyd in distant Cedar Valley. Unfortunately, that didnt happen, and when Colonel William Hoffman, the Union armys commissary general for prisoners (and a paroled POW himself), sought funds to improve the drainage, Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs refused the request. No one knows exactly how many prisoners died at Camp Douglas, but Union records indicate that at least 4,000 Confederates perished there, mostly from smallpox, dysentery, and other diseases, and some estimates put the number as high as 6,000. But notwithstanding this, the courtesy we have given is returned with abuse. [17] Richard H. Orton, ed., Records of California Men in the War of Rebellion: 18611867 (Sacramento: State Office, 1890), 2. Camp Douglas was a thorn in Brigham Youngs side, and Connor knew it. Others were stretched over a barrel and whipped with a belt buckle or forced to ride the mule, a 15-foot-high structure with a sharp saddle, with buckets of sand tied to their anklesa punishment that left some unable to walk for hours. In other words, it had been improvised, and wasn't meant to hold prisoners or last more than a couple years. . 79 were here. Since my arrival the people of the Territory have been treated kindly and courteously by both my officers and men, who have never given one of them cause for complaint, which the people freely acknowledge. [48] Arrest of Brigham Young for Polygamy, Deseret News, March 11, 1863. Bad sanitation wasnt the only problem at Camp Douglas. Since my arrival the people of the Territory have been treated kindly and courteously by both my officers and men, who have never given one of them cause for complaint, which the people freely acknowledge. . Connor to Lieut. Property Value Avg. Patrick Connor deliberately established Camp Douglas in the foothills above Salt Lake City so that his forces could dominate and command the city below and probably named the post to rub salt into the civil-affairs wound that resulted. [24] P. Edw. The idea of keeping five thousand prisoners in a camp, where the strongest guard couldnt keep in a drunken corporal, is rich. Yet by February 1865, General Connor was again reporting that Indians have again returned in increased force. A more motley looking crowd was never seen in Chicago, Mary A. Livermore, a Union army nurse, would recall years later. From 1,400 to 1,700 lay dead but only 615 could be counted in the desolate graves far from camp. They presented it; it was accepted and placed as stated. Quoted in George D. Pyper, The Romance of an Old Playhouse (Salt Lake City: Seagull, 1928), 75. Neither side was prepared to handle POWs and neither figured out how to successfully remedy the situation once it presented itself, Jennifer Caci and Joanne M. Cline wrote in an article on prisoner of war camps published in 2009 in the, . Brigham Youngs feelings regarding soldiers being sent again to Utah might be summed up in the opening words of the proclamation he issued to the Citizens of Utah in declaring martial law five years earlier, on September 15, 1857: For the last twenty-five years we have trusted officials of the government, from constables and justices to judges, governors and presidents, only to be scorned, held in derision, insulted and betrayed. The early history of Camp Douglas may be viewed, in large measure, through the interaction between two strong personalitiesBrigham Young and Patrick Connor. $469,000. It wasnt until October 1863, with Meigss reluctant accession, that the much-needed sewers finally were built. On the grounds of Pershing East Magnet School, archaeologist Mike Gregory and his staff are hoping to unearth 150-year-old artifacts. [72] P. Edw. But while the prisoners regarded many of the guards as competent and compassionate, there were also brutal ones who got away with abusing prisoners, often supported by officers who turned their backs on the wrongdoing. $89.3K. After reciting the then-current litany of accusations against Utahs Mormonsprincipally disloyalty and un-American backgrounds and tendenciesSenator Douglass Springfield speech advocated the repeal of Utahs organic act and therefore her territorial obliteration. Guards sometimes forced them to pull down their pants and sit in the snow or on frozen ground for hours at a time. C Camp Douglas Next Camp Douglas Camp Douglas, 1863 Founded in the fall of 1861 as a training camp and staging center for Union forces, Camp Douglas was named after Stephen A. Douglas, whose property south of the city provided its site. The prisoners, who had no winter coats or blankets, had endured several days of travel on unheated boats up the Mississippi River to Cairo, Illinois, and then more exposure to frigid temperatures during the 300-mile train trip to Chicago. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. . . We have neither time, space, nor inclination to review the wrongs and insults that our bodies, and we as a people have suffered. The shopkeepers of this city are doing a heavy business. (Prisoners whose families sent them money could buy extra food from the camps commissaries). First, the camp was in ruins except for a few buildings (for which the owner wanted $15,000). [52] G. Wright to Brig. [79] G. Wright to Brig. . It is a commanding position, looking down on the city, and hence has been dreaded by the Mormon chief.[52], Colonel Connor saw it as his responsibility to do something about the Mormons. [76] G. Wright to Col. P. E. Connor, 11 March 1863, in WOTR2, 347. Connor to Lieut. Gen. L. Thomas, 9 December 1862, in WOTR2, 245. 36.5 Years. William P. MacKinnon is an independent historian in Montecito, California. Less than a month after closing, Camp Douglas was reopened as a camp for German POWs. [60] P. Edw. 58 were here. In late August 1862, after this volunteer company had returned to Utah, Union General James Craig, who was responsible for the overland mail and telegraph lines from the Missouri River to Utah Territory, telegraphed Secretary of War Stanton and requested either reinforcements from the States or permission to re-enlist the Utah troops for a limited time.[14] Secretary Stanton answered the following day, You are authorized to raise 100 mounted men in the mountains and re-enlist the Utah troops for three months as requested.[15] After conferring with Brigham Young, Utahs Governor Harding informed the army that reenlistment of Lot Smiths company was not possible because, as Harding cryptically phrased it, Things are not right.[16] Consequently, federal military leaders determined that dispatching volunteer units from California would be a more permanent military solution to the need to protect commerce and emigration along the Overland Trail. [21] Memoranda in relation to Camp Douglas, U.T.
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