Within a montheven before receiving this letterStephen A. Douglas lay dead in Chicago, with Fort Sumter in Confederate hands and Patrick Edward Connor of Stockton, California, about to join the Union Army. Full view. Camp Douglas was the largest military installation in the state of Illinois and, as a mustering in center, received and trained over 40,000 Union soldiers beginning in September 1861. Connor to Lieut. If the constitutional rights which pertain unto us as American citizens were extended to Utah, according to the spirit and meaning thereof, and fairly and impartially administered, it is all that we could ask, all that we have ever asked. Because of mail delays, word of Douglass comments about the Mormons did not reach Utah until late summer, at which point the reaction was volcanic. [83] James Duane Doty to General [G. Wright], 9 August 1863, in WOTR2, 584. Following the end of the Civil War, between 1866 and 1898, the fort was part of the Department of the Platte. [39] As a compromise, Connor was ordered to detach one or two companies from his command to occupy Fort Bridger. Echoing Colonel Connors anti-Mormon sentiments, General Wright informed his superiors in Washington, DC, Without entering into details I am well convinced that prudential considerations demand the presence of a force in that country [Salt Lake] strong enough to look down any opposition.[40] Utah governor Stephen S. Harding also recommended that Colonel Connors command remain at Camp Douglas: I have not a doubt but that it will be the last time that U.S. soldiers will have the privilege of entering this Territory peaceably if Colonel Connor is now ordered away. [81] R.C. According to Wright, The presence of the force now there is indispensable for the protection of the Overland Mail Route and the general safety of the country.[80], That same day, July 31, Wright notified Connor that he was contemplating reoccupying Fort Crittenden and ordered Connor to make immediate preparations to this end.. . March 1863 was a particularly tense period in the relationship between Salt Lake City and Camp Douglas. . The cause of this rupture was a speech given by Douglas in Springfield, Illinois, on June 12, 1857, two weeks after the launch of the Utah Expedition and soon after his return from Washington. As before, the unofficial militia was dismissed, but Latter-day Saint guards patrolled the city each night. Anthony Ethier, 6 April 1863, in The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, series 1, vol. In the summer and fall of 1865, the camp served as a mustering out point for Union Army volunteer regiments. A small portion of the southwestern section of the original fort remains in use by the United States military. . Within a month there were nearly 5,000 men in camp. The reserve center consists of 51 acres, and includes the historic Soldier's Circle, along with several sub-installation buildings. . Another onlooker observed that the prisoners toes stuck out of their worn-out boots as they trudged through the snow. But what of Varleys quite accurate point about a highly negative Mormon reaction to Douglas early in the Utah War? Several federal actions, though, were not viewed favorably by the Saints. Drum to Brig. Our property data indicates the average home value is $89,300.00. [61] P. Edw. . Kenneth L. Alford (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012), 16181. To Die In Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-1865 feet large. Connor, 31 July 1863, in WOTR2, 547, 548. 4, 1862 to 1867 (Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2009), 2076. But all this does not prove any loyalty to political tyrants. Connor to Lieut. You may also contact site Superintendent, Jenna Thorburn at 307-358-9288 oe email at jenna.thorburn1@wyo.gov. According to Connor, Mormons were a community of traitors, murderers, fanatics, and whores[53] who were composed chiefly of the very lowest class of foreigners and aliens . Discussing the armys presence in Salt Lake City, Young once observed in a report to Utahs Legislative Assembly that there is not one soul of them [Camp Douglas soldiers] that I would not take into my house if they were perishing in the street, and then he added even Gen. Connor. He reportedly continued, I do not know the man [Connor]; as a citizen I have nothing against him, he wants to kill the truth, and sacrifice every virtue there is upon the earth that God has established, that is what makes me hate him. Several events and beliefs contributed to the heightening of tensionschief among them was concern that the army was planning to arrest Brigham Young. 101 Independence Dr, Camp Douglas, WI 54618-5001. [53] P. Edw. The site, made up of two tracts bordering the fairgrounds used for the U.S. No one knows exactly how many prisoners died at Camp Douglas, but Union records indicate that at least 4,000 Confederates perished there, mostly from smallpox, dysentery, and other diseases, and some estimates put the number as high as 6,000. Camp Douglas in Chicago opened in 1861 as a Union training and reception facility for over 40,000 Union soldiers. Dachau: Concentration Camp, Germany & Memorial - HISTORY After all, no one thought the Civil War would go on as long as it did. THE DEATH RATE THAT SUMMER WAS WELL OVER 100 PER DAY. . Containing over 200 buildings on 60 acres, Camp Douglas was the most significant . . Camp Douglas (Chicago) - Wikipedia Fans can secure tickets for the 2023 Dolphins training camp beginning Thursday, July 6. Did U Know? Camp Douglas - YouTube Curious locals gathered at a hotel across the street with an observation tower that charged five cents for a peek into the camp. Wyoming Places - Douglas Camp By June 1862 the prison population at Camp Douglas had swelled to 8,900 men, more than it had been designed to house, and the barracks had taken on a dilapidated look. [52] G. Wright to Brig. Keller has written four books; already published are The Story of Camp Douglas, Chicagos Forgotten Civil War Prison and Robert Anderson Bagby, Civil War Diary (Annotated) 1863-1865 . In 1864, the soldiers at the post improved the cemetery significantly. And then, predicting that the prisoners will prove an elephant, Grant put them on a flotilla of rickety transport steamers with two days of rations and sent them up the Mississippi River to Cairo, Illinois, where they would be Hallecks problem. Col. R. C. Drum, 20 December 1862, in WOTR2, 257. In Glory Hunter, his 1990 biography of the general, Brigham D. Madsen notes that Connor had long been an admirer of Senator Douglas and even before entering the army had raised funds to finance the erection of a statue in his honor in Stockton. Between 1962 and 1973, Fort Douglas was the site of the Deseret Test Center (Buildings 103 and 105) with the responsibility of evaluating chemical and biological weapons, although no tests were actually performed on the base. No temporizing policyno half-way measure will then answer.[34], With this political betrayal and provocative language, Douglas was immediately assigned to a place in the LDS pantheon of Utah War villains second only to Judge Drummond, and he remains there. [20] P. E. Connor to Major Drum, 5 August 1862; R. C. Drum to Colonel Connor, 5 August 1862; and Orders No. an open prairie, a few groves of trees, some modest dairy . . No. . He is nothing to me as a business man. On Monday evening I received the instruction, and on Wednesday afternoon that hundred men were mustered into service and encamped ready for moving. 185 Heber J. In 1878, the post was renamed Fort Douglas. . [54] P. Edw. A June letter from Dr. Brock McVicker, a surgeon who served as the camps chief medical officer, to Colonel Joseph H. Tucker, the camps commander, described the dire health hazard. Connor to Lieut. IT WAS FEBRUARY 1862, AND ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF CHICAGO, , A SMALL CROWD GATHERED and watched anxiously as several thousand Confederate prisoners of war climbed out of a long string of boxcars. John was fighting along with his 13th AR Infantry in the Battle of Chickamauga in TN when he was captured on Sept. 20, 1863, and sent to Camp Douglas. . [55] P. Edw. Solitary confinement in an underground dungeon and captivity in a small room jammed with other captives were other harsh punishments. Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon,Whats in a Name? Camp Douglas Officer's Club State Historic Site is open seasonally. During the Civil War, more Confederate soldiers died at Chicagos Camp Douglas than on any battlefield. Richard S. Van Wagoner, vol. Over time, though, Salt Lake residents came to accept the idea of federal forces in their midst and enjoyed the economic benefits that resulted from the armys presence. The Constitution of our common country guarantees unto us all that we do now, or have ever claimed. Camp Douglas effort stirs ghosts of the Civil War In 1878, the year after Brigham Youngs death, Camp Douglas was officially renamed Fort Douglas and designated as an army regimental post. We do not need any soldiers here from any other States or Territories to perform that service, neither does the Government, as they would know if they were wise. Col. R. C. Drum, 26 October 1863, in WOTR2, 656. There may be two reasons for thisfirstly, because more than half of the population of Utah consists of recent emigrants of foreign birth, gathered from all the lands under the sun, and from all the islands fixed in the sea; and secondly, because the long and terrible persecutions of the Mormons in Illinois and Missouri in the early days of the Church, have left behind them bitter memories of the power that failed to afford protection. The 10,000 prisoners at Camp Douglas, he decided, could provide the manpower needed to keep the place clean. Then, again, there have always been annoying quarrels in progress with the Mormons, which reached the very verge of war eight years ago, and the embers of which have been smouldering ever since. The state of California was asked to recruit sixteen thousand volunteers, some of whom would be sent to Utah. He saw thousands of Confederate prisoners as a menace that the camps small permanent garrisonjust 469 men and 40 officerswouldnt be able to contain. Our wealth data indicates the average income in this area is $41,406.00. In 1878, the post was renamed Fort Douglas. Under the guard of Union soldiers, augmented by local police officers and volunteer constables, the captivestraitors, the Chicago Tribune branded themmarched some 400 yards to the gates of Camp Douglas, a Union army camp that had been hastily repurposed as a military prison to accommodate them. . The Mormon portion of the community entertain certain hard recollections of the Senator, on account of his loathsome ulcer recommendations. If I remain in my present position (although a strong one) for them to attack me, I am lost, as they have about 5,000 men capable of bearing arms and cannon of heavier caliber than mine. (The Civil War, in fact, would cause such rules to be written. They are working for the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation . . [14] Jas. It will not be employed for any offensive operations other than may grow out of the duty hereinbefore assigned to it.[13], The requested soldiers mustered within two days, an extraordinary feat of organization. Unfortunately, Apple's iOS doesn't support home screen shortcuts in the Chrome browser. [32] E. B. After World War II, the Army began disposing of its land, transferring it to the University of Utah, located adjacent to it. Gen. L. Thomas, 9 December 1862, in WOTR2, 245. Col. R. C. Drum, 26 October 1863, in WOTR2, 656. [9] The Secession Rebellion, New York Times, May 24, 1861, 1. Virtual PresentationThe Story of Camp Douglaspresented by David Keller. [18] Special Orders No. [24] P. Edw. The establishment and naming of this post on the bench above Salt Lake City is a colorful, but little known, story of the American Civil War. More Confederate soldiers are buried in Chicago than anywhere else north of the Mason-Dixon Line. David L. Keller is the founder of the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation and the author of, https://www.historynet.com/norths-last-pow-camp/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, The 20th Maines Little Round Top Hero Had a Hardscrabble Life. We can serve God, and mind our own business; keep our powder dry, and be prepared for every emergency to which we may be exposed, and sustain the civil law to which we are subject. Utah residents had done too good of a job dismantling Fort Crittenden after the army blew up its magazines and marched east. 1. Col. R. C. Drum, 19 February 1863, in WOTR2, 319. Some of the dead prisoners were buried in the two small cemeteries on the grounds of Camp Douglas, but most were buried in Chicagos old City Cemetery along the shores of Lake Michigan, in what is now Lincoln Park. Col. Connor, at a dress parade on Monday, declared, by special order, that the military reserve [reservation] connected with the post above-named, was extended to embrace an area of four miles square.[46].
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