To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65 [Hardcover]

George Levy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 1999

"Did Wirtz, the commandant of Andersonville prison, ever do anything as inhumanly brutal as was inflicted on Confederate prisoners in Camp Douglas?" Sgt. T. B. Clore, Camp Douglas survivor The Chicago doctors who inspected the facility in 1863 called Camp Douglas an "extermination camp." It quickly became the largest Confederate burial ground outside of the South. What George Levy's meticulous research, including newly discovered hospital records, has uncovered is not a pretty picture. The story of Camp Douglas is one of brutal guards, deliberate starvation of prisoners, neglect of the sick, sadistic torture, murder, corruption at all levels, and a beef scandal reaching into the White House. As a result of the overcrowding and substandard provisions, disease ran rampant and the mortality rate soared. By the thousands, prisoners needlessly died of pneumonia, smallpox, and other maladies. Most were buried in unmarked mass graves. The exact number of those who died is impossible to discern because of the Union's haphazard recordkeeping and general disregard for the deceased. Among the most shocking revelations are such forms of torture as hanging prisoners by their thumbs, hanging them by their heels and then whipping them, and forcing prisoners to sit with their exposed buttocks in the ice and snow. Andersonville never saw such gratuitous barbarity. In To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65, Levy's primary sources include original camp records only recently discovered after a church fire in Chicago, as well as baptismal books kept by a priest who visited the camp.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

George Levy, professor of legal studies at Roosevelt University, became interested in Camp Douglas as a student at the University of Chicago, which is located across the street from the site of the camp. Levy, who maintains a private law practice, has served in the public defender's office and as an assistant Illinois attorney general.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Pelican Publishing; 2 Sub edition (January 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565543319
• ISBN-13: 978-1565543317
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #191,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > History > Military > Prisoners of War

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Crown Jewel of Civil War POW Stories, April 2, 2000

By 

Steve Quick - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65 (Hardcover)

Lets start with the author. His research is exacting, methodical, and painstaking. He brought zero bias to the enterprise and the result is a stunning achievement that is both scholarly and readable. Douglas, the "accidental" prison camp began as a training camp for IL. volunteers. Donalson and Island #10 changed that. The long war no one expected combined with artic cold, primitive medical care and the barbarity of the captors created in the authors own words "a death camp." Stanton's and Grant's policy of halting the prisoner exchange behind the pretense of Fort Pillow accelerated the suffering. In the latest edition Levy found the long lost hospital records at the National Archives which prove conclusively that casualties were deliberately under reported. Prisoners were tortured, brutality was tolerated and corruption was widespread. The handling of the dead rivals stories of Nazi Germany. The largest mass grave in the Western Hemisphere is filled with....the bodies of Camp Douglas dead, 4200 known and 1800 unknown. No one should be allowed to speak of Andersonville until they have absorbed the horror of Douglas.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and detailed presentation of POW camp, October 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65 (Hardcover)

George Levy does an excellent job in presenting the life and times of a Civil War prisoner of war camp -- from its origin to its closing after the completion of the War. The most positive aspect of the book, however, is that it lacks bias; Levy is objective throughout his presentation. The only detractions of the book are what I perceived to be poor editting. For instance, several statements and facts were often repeated in later chapters. Also, tables of data were poorly presented in their format. This is not the author's fault, but rather the editor's. With regard to content, I would have preferred to read more descriptions of Camp Douglas from the Union soldiers' point of view (especially those within the Camp's garrison or the VRC). Nearly all of the views of the Camp from the Union perspective were based on administrator's reports and communications. How different were the views between the common Union soldier and the Confederate POWs? We really don't get a clear picture of this dichotomy from Levy's book. Overall, the book is better than any Andersonville book that I've read.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Book, August 31, 2002

By 

DeEttaDemaratus (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65 (Hardcover)

To Die in Chicago is a wonderfully researched and well-written book that provides a vivid and heartbreaking account of the Confederate prisoners who lived and died in a Union prison camp. It gives much information for anyone seeking information about ancestors held there and it offers a real sense of the prisoners' daily lives and ordeals. I checked it out six times from the library and decided it is time to buy it. You should too!