Civilian Prisoners

"The proceedings of Governor Peirpoint in seizing and confining suspected rebels in his vicinity, placing them in a chain gang and holding them at hard labor until certain civilians and officers of West Virginia are released and exchanged by the enemy is certainly an interference with the disposition and treatment of prisoners of war which must needs be very embarrassing to those officers to whom control of prisoners and their exchange has been expressly delegated by the War Department. Unless some special authority has been given to Governor Peirpoint by the War or State Office to act in this manner he should be advised that he cannot without embarrassing the Government transcend the ordinary police power which he is authorized as Governor to exercise over rebels within his jurisdiction, and that by taking it upon himself to hold rebel prisoners for exchange for Union men he necessarily interferes with the formal arrangements made by the proper officers for the same purpose. The fearlessness and energy shown by Governor Peirpoint in making these arrests cannot be too highly commended, but they should be made by virtue of his general police powers if not expressly enlarged as aforesaid."

 J. Holt, Judge-Advocate-General, June 5, 1863, Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series 2, Vol. 5, pgs. 611-12

These lists come from the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series 2, Vol. 2, pgs. 264-268. and also from the Camp Chase Cemetery records, which are available online. Camp Chase left an indelible scar on the West Virginians who were sent there, though few West Virginia historians have bothered to write about it. It even became the title of a traditional fiddle tune called "Camp Chase", which was recorded by the Hammons Family in the late 1940's. According to Thomas J. Arnold, Stonewall Jackson's nephew,

"Immediately, following the fight, Col. T. M. Harris, mad at allowing himself to be surprised by Jackson, and, who at the time of the Imboden raid, had remarked he was coming back to Beverly to spend the 4th of July, sent armed guards out for several miles north of Beverly and gathered all the citizens they could find and marched them into town. They were lined up on the street. I was present and saw and heard everything that was said. Harris walked along the line and questioned each man as to whether he was a Union man. Whenever the answer was "my sympathy is with the South," or "I am a constitutional Union man," the order came "take two steps to the front." There were thirteen that stepped to the front. Without any opportunity whatever to be heard, or explanation given, they were rushed off to Fort Delaware, a military prison, from whence but few of them returned alive."

So there are about a dozen West Virginia civilians also buried at Fort Delaware.

This list is not meant to be definitive. It only reflects what records are available for early 1862, which would have been substantial numbers.  For instance, in Dr. Camden's narrative he states that about 80 citizens of the Weston area were headed for Camp Chase by order of Gen. Roberts. I am merely offering this as an example of what was happening in western Virginia.

"Twenty-eight prisoners arrived Saturday from West Virginia via Cincinnati; and of these, twenty-three are on parole. They will be immediately transferred to Richmond, Va. The reporter heard one of them remark that if they took Washington City they would not burn it, for there were too many good buildings there ; and as they wished to make it the capital of the Confederacy sometime, these buildings would be needed." from "The Story of Camp Chase", by William H. Knauss, pg. 121.

The following three citizens are buried in the Johnson Island Confederate Cemetery

Ash, Samuel :Citizen of Doddridge Co. Virginia. Captured on unknown date at unknown  site. Arrived Dec. 25, 1862. Died Jan. 4, 1863 of typhoid fever. Buried on island, grave unknown.

Christian, Daniel :Pvt. 129th Virginia, Co. E. Captured Feb. 16, 1862 at McDowell Co. Virginia (Now West Virginia). Arrived Sept.6, 1862. Died Oct. 11, 1862 of chronic diarrhea. Buried grave 72

    NOTE:The 129th Virginia was a militia regiment (27th Brigade), from Nicholas and Logan Counties and was in service during 1861.It appears that Christian may have been a civilian when captured.

Fuqur (or Ferquer), James :Citizen of Virginia. Captured at date unknown in Tyler Co. Virginia (West Virginia). Arrived Dec. 25, 1862. Died Feb. 3, 1863 of typhoid fever.Buried on island, grave unknown.

The following paragraph comes from Kenneth W. Noe's essay, "Who Were the Bushwackers? Age, Class, Kin, and Western Virginia's Confederate Guerrillas, 1861-1862", Civil War History, Vol. 49, No. 1, March, 2003.

"The Camp Chase materials reveal, for example, that dozens of civilians went there during the war's first year for "aiding the rebels" in some manner, some only for voicing support for the Confederacy. The rosters list at least forty prisoners suspected of disloyalty, while the incomplete descriptive lists suggest a much higher number. Many clearly were "political prisoners": in November 1862 officials specifically used that term for the more than three hundred men and three women then imprisoned in Camp Chase. Among the western Virginians held, authorities identified Thomas C. Reid of Alleghany County as a "spy," charged John Leeson of Calhoun County with "treason," and dispatched David Murphy of Marion County to Camp Chase although he was only "awaiting charges." Henry Jenkins of Doddridge County made the mistake of "cheering for Jeff Davis," Thomas F. Watson of Monogahelia County dangerously advocated secession, and E. J. W. Rawson of Mason County was "hostile to U.S. government." The military also arrested A. J. Seamands of Cabell County for "treason" although he had "done nothing," and imprisoned George Standiford of Marshall County for "trying to run a union man off his field."

Eight men went to the prison for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the United States government, while a ninth, Berry Y. Morris of Marshall County, reportedly violated the oath he had taken. Two others, Joseph Wilson of Calhoun County and B. F. Smith of Hampshire County, were listed simply as "hostage. All told, the annotated rosters and descriptive lists of prisoners suggest that the contention of Mark E. Neely, Jr., that historians have exaggerated the Abraham Lincoln administration's violations of civil liberties may require readjustment if not significant reevaluation. Apparently unaware of the existence of the rosters, Neely inadvertently plays down Federal arrests in West Virginia while emphasizing similar Confederate activities there. Arrests of secessionist civilians in the region, however, clearly were somewhat more widespread than Neely maintains."

ro=released on oath

rob=released on oath and bond

dcc=died at Camp Chase, Ohio