User Information
Historical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Reel and Number Listing
Cataloguing Information
Processed by:
Ellen Swain
25 June 1992
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 4 reels microfilm
COLLECTION DATES: 1862-1865
PROVENANCE: Bud Fever, P.O. Box 1145, Roanoke, VA 24006, 4 June 1992
RESTRICTIONS: Film may not be borrowed through interlibrary loan.
COPYRIGHT: N/A
ALTERNATE FORMAT: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: Winslow, Hattie Lou. Camp Morton 1861-1865: Indianapolis Prison Camp. (rr F521.I41 v. 13 #3)
ACCESSION NUMBER: 92.0592
Camp Morton, named after Indiana's war governor Oliver P. Morton, was located at Nineteenth and Alabama Streets in Indianapolis. Used in 1861 as a training camp for Indiana regiments, it was taken over by the Federal government in February 1862, to house Confederate prisoners of war. Colonel Richard Owen of the Sixieth Indiana regiment served as the first prison commandant over the noncommissioned rebel officers and privates. Credited with having the least illness and lowest death rate, the camp contained a prison hospital which was aided by local people's donations of clothing, bedding, and food.
In 1864, the Knights of the Golden Circle, a pro-South group with a large membership in Indiana, conspired with southern officers to storm the prison and capture Indianapolis. Morton's spies uncovered the plan, however, enabling Morton to alert the Indiana militia and defeat the attack. In April 1865, the remaining 1,408 prisoners were released. The camp was converted into a fairground and later divided into lots for homes. In 1928, a memorial to the Confederate solgiers who died at Camp Morton was erected in Garfield Park.
Source:
Alton, T.H. "Camp Morton: Indianapolis' Housing for POWS"
Indianapolis Magazine, September 19, 1981.
Winslow, Hattie Lou. Camp Morton 1861-1865: Indianapolis Prison Camp. (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1940).
The collection consists of four microfilm reels of Camp Morton records (1862-1865). The first reel contains morning reports and lists of prisoners (1862-1865) that include such information as rank, age, physical description, state, occupation, and date of death. The second reel consists of registers of prisoners (1863-1865), arranged alphabetically by prisoner's name. These registers provide information about rank, regiment, place and date of capture, and date of exchange. The third reel contains correspondence (December 1863 - September 1865) between Ambrose A. Stevens, commanding Colonel of Camp Morton from October 1863 through the War's duration, and Washington D.C. regarding the Camp's progress. Many letters are illegible due to smearing. The final reel contains lists (April 1863 - November 1865) of Indiana soldiers stationed at Burnside Barracks, Camp Morton, under Colonel Stevens.
REEL CONTENTS
1 (F 1119) Lists of Prisoners, Deaths, Morning Reports, 1862-1865
2 (F 1120) Register of Prisoners, 1863-1865
3 (F 1121) Letters Sent, December 1863 - September 1865
4 (F 1122) Burnside Barracks, Indiana, April 1863 - November 1865
MAIN ENTRY: Camp Morton (Ind.)
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Stevens, Ambrose A., d. 1880
Confederate States of America. Army
Prisoners of war--Indiana--Indianapolis
Prisons, Military
Soldiers--Indiana--Indianapolis
Camp Morton (Ind.)
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisons and prisoners
Indiana--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisons and prisoners