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From: "M. Daniels" <>
Subject: [ALGENEVA] "Hellmira"
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2000 20:41:04 -0500



Elmira (NY) Military Prison, 1864-1865.

Created in May 1864 as a transfer depot by enclosing a 30 A. site with existing barracks on the Chemung River near Elmira, and was known in the South as "Hell-mira." There were 35 barracks (two-story, low-ceilinged, with unsealed roofs and floors) which held only half the 10,000 prisoners (enlisted men only); the rest lived in tents or slept in the open, even in the worst winter weather. Clothing and supplies sent from the South was warehoused by the Commandant and not distributed for up to six months; food *donated* by local churches was *sold* to the prisoners by corrupt Union officers. Many prisoners were transferred there from Point Lookout. Broiled rat was regarded as a delicacy and any dog that wandered within reach was quickly slaughtered and consumed (a punishable offense). One-acre lagoon of stagnant river water within the compound served as a latrine and dump, and led to large epidemics. Most guard detachments were recruited ex-slaves. More than 10% had no blankets!
; food was scarce and usually spoiled. Scurvy was common. The Commandant refused to "waste" medicines on prisoners and also barred Sanitary Commission inspectors from entering the stockade. One doctor boasted: "I have killed more Rebs than any soldier at the front." There were few escape attempts because few prisoners were healthy enough to try. Discipline was strict and brutal, even by contemporary military standards; hanging by the thumbs was a popular punishment for infractions of the rules. Erie Railroad train jammed with prisoners collided with a freight 15 July 1864; the more than 100 injured prisoners were dumped into the compound untreated and most died within a few days. Death rate averaged about 5% per month and the rate of illness was extremely high; Elmira's conservatively estimated overall death rate of 24% was the highest of *any* Civil War prison. Townspeople of Elmira built two platforms overlooking the walls where spectators could observe the prisoners for $!
.15; the customers were mostly well-dressed women. Closed March 1865 (though the last prisoners did not actually leave until September) and all that remains is the cemetery.

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