Island History - Civil War Era
Letters to and from Confederate Prisoners

Confederate Prisoners on Johnson’s Island were allowed to send and receive letters on a regular basis. Unfortunately, there was a rule that required the letters be no more than one page. This was true for both outgoing and incoming letters. Supposedly, all letters were examined by censors and any letter over one page was considered to be contraband and therefore not delivered to the prisoner. This rule led to prisoners using every square inch of the page to write their messages. At times the letters greater than one page were removed from the cover, and the empty cover was sent to the prisoner. When General M. Jeff Thompson was imprisoned on Johnson’s Island in September of 1863, he took steps to eliminate the one page rule. He struck a deal with those censoring the letters. Long letters were to be read by the censors in the evening rather than during the day. Thompson would see that they received two and one-half cents per page for each page read. The censors agreed, but the matter had to be kept secret. This worked well as the censors were able to make several dollars more per day than their pay. However, the scheme fell apart when a prisoner complained to the prison commandant that he had to pay a dime tax to receive a four page letter. After the matter was investigated, the long letter mail was stopped.

The letters transcribed herein are only a few samples of the many letters written by prisoners. Several of both the original letter and transcription are displayed at the Johnson’s Island Museum in Marblehead, Ohio.

Prisoners requesting that money be sent to them had to first receive permission from the commander of the prison to make the request. The following letter, dated Dec. 20th, 1864, was written for that purpose and shows how the prisoner applied for permission. Any money that the prisoners received was removed from the letters and kept by the Commandant. The prisoners could then buy goods at the prison sutler’s store, and the amount would be deducted from the money held by the Commandant.

                              Johnsons Island
                                                            Dec 20th, 1864
Col E A Schovile_
                              I have the honor to apply through
You to the Commander of this Post for permission to
Receive Thirty (30) Dollars from my uncle in Ky
(who is anxious to send me the same) I am in great
need of the above amount to defray expenses.

                              Yours most Respectfully
                                                  L L Stanford
                              Capt. 3rd Ga. Cav
                                        Block 4 Mess1 Co 7

                                                            Dec 25th 1864
Dear Uncle. You will see that I have the approval of the
                    Commander of the Post to receive from you Thirty
Dollars, which you will please send me. My health is now
Good; I have been sick since I last wrote you, and was compelled
To use what little money I had . I know that it will give you
pleasure to furnish me. I will remunerate you in the future.
                                                  L.L. Stanford.
My love to all the family. Your Nephew. Capt 3rd Ga Cav

 

Reverse side of letter

                                                  Application of Capt.
                                                  L.L. Stanford to receive
Officer Supt. Prison                    Money.
          Dec 21st 1864                   __ __ __ __ __
Respectfully forwarded
Approved.

E A Scovill (Signed)
Lt. Col. 128th O.V.I.
          Supt. Prison
H’d Qrs. U. S. Forces
Johnsons Island, Ohio,
Approved,
By Command of
          Col. C. W. Hill
          J. H. Huntington
          Capt of a.a.a. Genl.

The next letter was written by L. D. Hatch to Sergeant W. W. Powers of the 8th Alabama Cavalry. Powers was a prisoner at Camp Douglas near Chicago. The letter expresses Hatch’s desire to have news of those from the 8th Alabama Cavalry so he can relay it to their families. Letters from one prison to another prison are somewhat rare. Many times they were written to inquire about the condition of relatives who were also prisoners.

                              Johnsons Island Ohio Mch 29th 1865
Dear Powers
                    Your letter of the 22nd instant reached me
By yesterday morning mail. I was very glad to
Hear from you so promptly and to know that you are getting
On comfortably for a prisoner. For several months we
suffered hear very much for something to eat, but all
restrictions have now been taken off the sutler and we are
living well. I hope your rheumatism has deserted you
before this. The extreme cold of last winter and the changeableness
of the climate has been a severe shock to many of our men.
I notice a great deal of sickness especially among the
Prisoners captured at Nashville. Nearly all of them have
Suffered with rheumatism or pneumonia since their
Arrival. You must keep me posted about your condition
And that of other members of the regt with you so that
I can send word to your families by every opportunity.
A friend leaves here on exchange tomorrow and I will send
Word to your wife how you are. I have rec’d no later
News from home that 6th Febry and will write you when ever I
Hear anything. Capt Wescott left here last week for
Greensboro. I have good reason to believe that I will go about
Three weeks hence. If you should leave be sure to write
Me. I wish you would write to Wightman. I have not
Heard from him in some time. Harrison Hutchison and Britton
All well and send their regards. Your true friend L. D. Hatch

The next letter is from a POW on Johnson’s Island, R. C. Champson, to Captain B. N. Cocke, imprisoned at Point Lookout, Maryland. The letter is typed as it was written, including misspelled words and lack of punctuation. Most likely Captain Cocke was transferred from Johnson’s Island to Point Lookout to be exchanged. The reference to General Terry’s cousin is that he became the prison sutler and sold goods from the store inside the prison stockade. General Terry was Commandant of the prison for approximately four months in the spring of 1864. More importantly, he brought additional infantry regiments with him to guard the prison and repel any attempt to raid Johnson’s Island by Confederates marching across the ice of Lake Erie from Canada.

A listing for a Captain B. N. Cocke was not found in the General Registers of Prisoners for Johnson’s Island. However, there is a listing for a Capt. B. M. Coke of the 7th Missouri who was captured at Helena, Arkansas, sent to Johnson’s Island, and then transferred to Point Lookout, February 10th, 1864.

                    Johnsons island Ohio March the 28th / 64

                    Capt
                         In reply to yours of the 17th I tells you that we are
all well and glad to hear that you are having a good time and some pros
pect of getting off to Dixie. As for the beans there is some on hand
yet. Cap I must confess that I never thought of any box coming
to you and neglected to look at the letter before forwarding it.
Here is another, I will not do anything more. Andy says that them
buiscuitts was for a full meal and the worst of all he had me and
little Joe to help him and we did our part – and more too; as for
making pictures when we get to Dixie Ile do anything to
accommodate you and amuse the ladies. Success to Col SS and GH
the same to all your inquiry is not comprehendible though
we know of Dixie being invaded by scouts from Jons Isle
since you left here. I think you have better have sent
Dolan some pennywinkles or snakes as they would have been more
nourishing to the Duck though I sepose she is fond of mass
to if she had enough to weddle in. Genl Terys cousin is
Suttling here now and sells anything Mr Johnson says he is
coming in tomorrow to. Some of the boys ask him if he would have any
pictures He sayed he wouldn’t So it will be impossible for me to obtain them for you
though I would be glad to accomadate you Dolan says thank you.
It is the very trick he wanted. Kelly says mention all the
boys and let us know what they are doing Peat anyhow
excuse incompotency yours as ever          R. C. Champson

One way for a prisoner to leave Johnson’s Island was to take an Oath of Allegiance to the United States. The prisoner had to first apply to take the Oath. He was then segregated from the prison population and assigned to a separate prison block. This was done for the safety of those taking the Oath as they were repudiating their loyalty to the Confederacy. Until 1865, only a small number of prisoners took the Oath because of their fierce devotion and loyalty to the cause for which they were fighting. However, in the Spring of 1865, many prisoners did take the Oath, feeling the cause for which they fought so hard was dead. The following letter written by prisoner Tom Wallace shows that “swallowing the eagle” (taking the oath) was not done without a great deal of soul searching.

Tom Wallace was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 6th Kentucky Regiment and was captured at Bardstown, Kentucky on July 6th, 1863. He was transferred from Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio to Johnson’s Island on October 10th, 1863. He was released on his oath on June 11, 1865.

                    U. S. Military Prison
                              Johnson’s Island _ May 1st 1865

My dear mother _ Perhaps you may be surprised
when I tell you that I have made application
for the “amnesty oath”. I think that most all
of my comrades have or will do as I have.
I don’t think that I have done wrong, I had
no idea of taking the oath until I heard of
the surrender of Johnston and then I thought
it worse than foolish to wait any longer.
The cause that I have espoused for four
years and have been as true to, in thought and act-
ion, as man could be is now undoubtedly
dead; consequently I think the best thing
I can do is to become a quiet citizen of
the United States. I will probably be releas-
ed from prison sometime this month, if so
I will go home immediately via Cincinnati.
I wrote to Mr Barret for a hundred dol-
lars and to you for a suit of citizens clothes, both of
which I will have to wait the arrival of.
Your letter of the 20th reached me yesterday.
I will take your advice about sending
home whatever I have that is worth
shipping. Please write to me immedi-
ately and inform me where your home is,
so that upon my arrival at New Albany
I will have no difficulty in finding it.
Love to all. Your devoted son
                    Tom Wallace