Black Prisoners
General Sweet Born to Mr. and Mrs. Reverend James Sweet on April 24, 1832 in New York, Benjamin Jeffery Sweet was to grow up to be known as one of Camp Douglas’s greatest commanders, and a hero to the city of Chicago. Sweet was the oldest of fourteen children, and, due to his father’s failing health, started working to support the family at age nine. He began work in a cotton mill, earning the respect as the best weigher. His expert skills but a damper on any advancement he could earn, as he was too valuable in his current position. So, Sweet stayed in the cotton mill, waking up at four in the morning to work, only studying and attending school in the few spare hours he had. Seven years later, the family moved to Wisconsin, on a wooded lot nestled among forest land. Sweet worked hard, clearing the land for his family, and selling his fallen timber. He entered Appleton College in Wisconsin a year later, and used his little earnings to pay for college. After a year of college, Sweet took a teaching job in a town near his family. He fell in love with books, and read everything that became available to him in the small town he lived. He focused on the works of Shakespeare, and often returned to their pages for peace and solitude. Although his family and friends wished he would enter the ministry, Sweet turned his attention towards studying law. Later that year, Sweet married Miss Lovisa L. Denslow, an old schoolmate and friend from the family’s previous home in New York. The had a daughter, Ada Celeste in 1852, followed by Lawrence Wheelock in 1854, Minie in 1858, Martha Winfred in 1865, and the youngest, a Junior, would follow in 1871. During that period, Sweet served on the Wisconsin State Sentate as a republican and a strong abolitionist. Seeing first hand the struggle that the war imposed, and the great need that would arise for additional troops, Sweet was one of the first to enlist when the civil war broke out. He served with the Sixth Wisconsin Regiment, as a commissioned Major. While stationed in the Potomac, in the summer of 1862, Maj. Sweet brought the unit home, and trained two new regiments, the Twenty-first and Twenty-second, and became a Colonel of the former. His new regiment was sent out prematurely, only three weeks after coming together, and began battle at Perryville, Kentucky on October 8, 1862. The small corps of Union soldiers Sweet was commanding was enough to sustain the entire force of Bragg’s army. Colonel Sweet caught malaria, from more conditions and sleeping on the ground, but he left medical services to fight along side his troops, and command his regiment from horse back. Sweet was struck in the neck, receiving a flesh wound, but he did not let that deter him. For the rest of the battle, Sweet remained untouched, until, at the end, he was hit by a sharp shooter’s Minnie ball crushing his right elbow, and lodging into his chest. Despite the fact that the new regiment was poorly armed and had little time to train, they were well disciplined and organized by Sweet, and fought as if they had much more experience. Three hundred of the troops were either killed or wounded. This number included the death of the major, three captains, and, what was thought, was Colonel Sweet. The Colonel was critical for several weeks, but eventually, his health was restored, and his arm saved. The wound remained very painful and open for years, and his arm was useless, hanging at his side. Sweet refused to leave the army, and commissioned as Colonel in the Veteran Reserve Corps, and built a fort he would command in Gallatin, Tennessee. He was ordered to take command of Camp Douglas in Late May of 1864. As commander of the camp, Sweet was eventually needed to provide a constant presence. He enacted a lot of orders to raise security, and solve problems with the confederate prisoners. In response to the prison break attempt, the barracks were raised several feet, preventing tunnels from being dug. Under his personal command, many conditioners were also improved including larger hospitals and storage buildings, more inventory, and living accommodations were increased. |
The Making of Camp Douglas: From Training Grounds to Prison Camp
In 1848 the United States was an inflamed wound, oozing with internal conflict and trauma. The South was getting more and more worried about the destruction of its economy with the looming slavery ban, and the northern portion was roiling with industrial development and anti-slavery sentiments. Many conflicts between the different geographic areas stemmed from varying economic situations, cultural beliefs, and slavery. After the cotton gin was invented, the economies of the North and the South split from each other significantly. This led to conflict within the Federal government over domestic and foreign policy. As the economies, social structures and cultures grew further apart, the conflicts grew larger. The internal conflicts boiled under the surface, until the energy came to a head at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 when the Confederate army fired at Union affiliated forces, marking the beginning of a war that tore this country apart. The war ripped families asunder, changed the foundation of trade, and in the middle of it all, “Chicago was bustling with war fever”. Chicago became “War Capital of the West”. To prepare for the war, Chicago dedicated a parcel of land just outside the city, converting it into a training ground for the fresh troops. Throughout the war, Chicago alone raised 28,000 troops out of a population of approximately 156,000, providing more soldiers per capita than any other city in the north. Chicago established Camp Douglas to prepare recruits and volunteers for battle. While Chicago bustled with war preparations, the reality of the brutality of the civil war was yet to be realized by either side. Before the war began, both the North and the South believed that the war would be over in a matter of months. They did not prepare adequate systems for sustaining a long term war, let alone properly accommodating prisoners. At the beginning of1862, the only prison camp in the North could hold approximately 1,000 prisoners. Until February of 1962, the North did not win any significant victories, therefore the North did not capture enough men to indicate that prisoners of war would be a large problem. On February 6, General Grant won the battle of Fort Henry, from there the Union forces marched up the Cumberland river to fight at Fort Donelson, securing a surrender on February 16. While the two victories in a row raised the spirits of the Union troops, they also generated a large number of prisoners who needed to be taken care of for the duration of a war. The Union captured 15,000 prisoners of war from those two battles alone. Eimon Cameron appointed the distinguished Colonel William Hoffman as the Union Commissary-General of prisoners. The task fell to him of arranging for shelter, food, clothing, and transportation for the prisoners. He scrambled to find accommodations. Of the first set of prisoners, Hoffman sent approximately 5,000 prisoners to Chicago; Camp Douglas was re-situated to house prisoners along with training new recruits. To accommodate the prisoners, the soldiers in training vacated their barracks. The soldiers moved to the southern part of the camp, living in tents and training in open fields. From the very beginning the conditions at Camp Douglas were questionable; the prisoner’s rations were small and blankets for beds were lacking. To make matters worse, Camp Douglas was built on low, swampy ground, which made building sanitary facilities difficult. As the war stretched on and the number of prisoners in the camp grew to over stretch the carrying capacity, the conditions of the camp deteriorated. |
Why Camp Douglas?
Camp Douglas was located on the south side of Chicago and most significant Union Civil War camps. The camp was active between 1861 to 1685. Some important facts of the camp include: - Largest military camp in the Chicago area - Accommodated and prepared more than 25,000 troops - One of the few camps that trained African American Union soldiers - Has the greatest number of deaths of prisoners in any prison in the Union - 60 acres of land and resided more than 200 buildings on site - 30,000 prisoners were held total at the camp Most of Camp Douglas was destroyed in 1865 and not much of the camp remains. There are plaques located at the once Griffin Funeral located at the 3232 South King Drive. In addition, there is a monument located in the Oak Woodland Cemetery, where prisoners were held. Click here for more information. |
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