The Houston Civil War Prisoner of War Compound: The Forgotten History
Below in the upper left corner is a view of the warehouses on the sight of the prison
Today
the former site of the Houston prisoner of war camp is located on the site of a
younger though historical building in its own right, the Merchant and
Manufacturer’s building. If not for a
state historical marker placed in 1965, there would be no clue that in the
heart of one of the largest cities in America that there was a civil war
prison. The prison was not the largest nor were the prisoners poorly treated. It was on the small side with just two warehouses converted into a prison camp. This stands in stark contrast to the more infamous
prisoner of war camp at Andersonville, Georgia where over 30,000 men were packed in an
area designed for only 10,000 people.
It was the oldest prison camp in Texas, opening months before
the larger and more well-known camps - Camp Ford and Camp Groce.
The majority of the prisoners housed at Houston were members of the 42nd Massachusetts volunteers captured at the Battles of Galveston, January 1, 1863, and Sabine Pass, September 8, 1863. The prisoners were taken to Houston where they were held until they were paroled back to the Union. However, because of Confederate and Texas law the handful of African Americans with the 42nd Massachusetts volunteers and the African-American sailors serving aboard the USS Harriet Lane were either sold into slavery or sent to the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
The 42nd Massachusetts volunteers arrived first in New Orleans on December 17, 1862 and then four days before Christmas three companies of the 42nd Massachusetts boarded a boat for Galveston. Once there, they patrolled the city and had begun building breastworks to defend the city. Unfortunately on January 1, 1863, 2,000 Confederate troops led by General John MacGruder, stormed the island with the aid of fire from artillery batteries and two riverboats that forced the ships blockading Galveston off their post and forced the USS Harriet Lane to run aground. After a concerted effort that drew praise from General MacGruder, the Union Forces were forced to surrender. On January 2, 1863, 237 members of the 42nd Massachusetts and 110 members of the crew of the USS Harriet Lane were loaded onto train cars and taken to Houston, Texas.
By all accounts the prisoners were well treated by their captors in Houston. The enlisted men were confined to the prison compound, except for the time they had to travel among the city in groups of three or four while under armed guard. The officers were kept in separate accommodations across the bayou where they could travel freely among the city on “parole of honor”, which amounted to a promise not to attempt to escape or aid their government; however, the officers rarely ventured out.
Over all, the prisoners were well treated and even given the same rations as a confederate soldiers which consisted of a type of hard cornbread called “corn dodgers”, a type of coffee made by mixing burnt corn with hot water, and an allotment of salt beef. As Private Alexander Hobbs (prisoner) stated, “many men complained of the diet as being very hard to get used to and it caused some men to come down with diarrhea. For the most part; however, the diet seemed to have been adequate.
Ultimately the majority of prisoners at Houston were either sent to other Confederate camps or to Union parole camps, which basically amounted to prisoner of war camps. It was in one of these camps that the majority of the 42nd Massachusetts were sent, until their discharge in the summer of 1863.
The majority of the prisoners housed at Houston were members of the 42nd Massachusetts volunteers captured at the Battles of Galveston, January 1, 1863, and Sabine Pass, September 8, 1863. The prisoners were taken to Houston where they were held until they were paroled back to the Union. However, because of Confederate and Texas law the handful of African Americans with the 42nd Massachusetts volunteers and the African-American sailors serving aboard the USS Harriet Lane were either sold into slavery or sent to the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
The 42nd Massachusetts volunteers arrived first in New Orleans on December 17, 1862 and then four days before Christmas three companies of the 42nd Massachusetts boarded a boat for Galveston. Once there, they patrolled the city and had begun building breastworks to defend the city. Unfortunately on January 1, 1863, 2,000 Confederate troops led by General John MacGruder, stormed the island with the aid of fire from artillery batteries and two riverboats that forced the ships blockading Galveston off their post and forced the USS Harriet Lane to run aground. After a concerted effort that drew praise from General MacGruder, the Union Forces were forced to surrender. On January 2, 1863, 237 members of the 42nd Massachusetts and 110 members of the crew of the USS Harriet Lane were loaded onto train cars and taken to Houston, Texas.
By all accounts the prisoners were well treated by their captors in Houston. The enlisted men were confined to the prison compound, except for the time they had to travel among the city in groups of three or four while under armed guard. The officers were kept in separate accommodations across the bayou where they could travel freely among the city on “parole of honor”, which amounted to a promise not to attempt to escape or aid their government; however, the officers rarely ventured out.
Over all, the prisoners were well treated and even given the same rations as a confederate soldiers which consisted of a type of hard cornbread called “corn dodgers”, a type of coffee made by mixing burnt corn with hot water, and an allotment of salt beef. As Private Alexander Hobbs (prisoner) stated, “many men complained of the diet as being very hard to get used to and it caused some men to come down with diarrhea. For the most part; however, the diet seemed to have been adequate.
Ultimately the majority of prisoners at Houston were either sent to other Confederate camps or to Union parole camps, which basically amounted to prisoner of war camps. It was in one of these camps that the majority of the 42nd Massachusetts were sent, until their discharge in the summer of 1863.