Customer Reviews

Camp Morton, 1861-1865: Indianapolis Prison Camp

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I was very pleased with this book. I think the authors did a great job with the overall history of the camp. More importantly, I think I was able to get a good idea of what life was like for the prisoners held there. There are many good footnotes that will allow me further research into documents and holdings I didn't know about. There are only a few photos (all period), but very nice. It is well indexed (very few personal names mentioned..if any), but I was dismayed that there was no bibliography. A good value.

If you are a Civil War buff from the Hoosier State, as am I, or if you are fascinated by the prisoner of war camps in the Civil War, this book will be of great interest to you. To the casual student of the Civil War, this book will be too detailed and have to narrow of a focus to be of much interest.

Camp Morton was one of the more commonly used prisoner of war camps utilized by the Union government in the Western Theater. Its first commandant, a man by the name of Richard Owen, was recognized for the fair way that he treated him by his prisoners after the War - they created a bust of him to be displayed in the Indiana State House. It is still on display.

Unfortunately, the federal government took over managing the camps and the quality dropped for guards and prisoners alike. The only bright spots occur when General Benjamin Butler gets involved. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Butler, he is generally considered to be a hack general that was only promoted to general due to his political connections in Massachussetts. Nornally, Butler's inability to effectively lead military operations overshadowed the political weight he brought to the table. In this case though, Butler's shrewd political sense led him to negotiate several key provisions that temporarily improved conditions at Camp Morton and POW camps on both sides.

The quality of the research is first rate. The quality of the writing will drive away all but the most-determined of readers. I give this one a grade of C+.