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By J. J. Prats, July 1, 2012 | |
| | | 1. Civil War in Lynchburg Marker | | |
Inscription. This was the site of a Confederate training camp and Union prisoner-of-war camp during the Civil War. Before Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861, the population of Lynchburg doubled
with the influx of soldiers from
other parts of the state, as well
as from throughout the Confederacy. Virginians were housed at Camp Davis in Lynchburg,
while other soldiers bivouacked
here at the fairgrounds just
outside the city.
At first, all prisoners-of-war are to be detained in
Richmond, the Confederate
capital, but the jails and warehouses there quickly filled. Auxiliary facilities
were established elsewhere. Lynchburg was an
obvious choice for a prisoner-of-war camp because
of its superior rail system and its remoteness
from the front lines.
Located on part of the fairgrounds, the
camp was for Federal prisoners waiting to be
exchanged. No medical services were available, and many deaths occurred in the camp before the autumn of 1862, when
the sick and wounded
were moved to hospitals
in Lynchburg. After
the exchange cartel
ceased operating in the
summer of 1863, the
camp quickly became
overcrowded. The only
permanent structures inside the enclosure | | | | 
By J. J. Prats, July 1, 2012 | |
| | | 2. Civil War in Lynchburg Marker | | |
were
open stalls that had been used for livestock, so
the prisoners were forced to live
in them or in tents. Most of the
Union dead were buried in the
City Cemetery by the firm of
George Diuguid and then, in
October 1866, were re-interred
at Poplar grove National Cemetery in Petersburg. E.C. Glass
High School now stands on the
site of the prison camp.
Erected by Civil War Trails.
Location. 37° 24.418′ N, 79° 9.978′ W. Marker is in Lynchburg, Virginia. Marker is on Memorial Avenue (Virginia Route 163) near Park Lane, on the right when traveling north. Click for map. It is on the grounds of E. C. Glass High School visible from the street. Marker is in this post office area: Lynchburg VA 24501, United States of America.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Mustered and Disbanded 1861-1865 (approx. 0.2 miles away); Second Virginia Cavalry, C.S.A. (approx. ¼ mile away); Kemper Street Station (approx. half a mile away); Inner Defenses (approx. 0.7 miles away); John Warwick Daniel (approx. 0.7 miles away); Inner Defences (approx. ¾ mile away); Old City Cemetery (approx. ¾ mile away); Spring Hill Cemetery (approx. 0.8 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Lynchburg.| | | | | | 3. Close-up of map on marker | | Click on image to zoom in. | | |
More about this marker. Marker has three photographs and to the right a map of the area during the Civil War. On the left is a photograph captioned “POW Chester A. Tourtellotte, 18th Connecticut Infantry — Courtesy The American Civil War Research Database”; center bottom is a portrait captioned “POW Pvt. Melker M. Jeffreys, 15th West Virginia Infantry — Courtesy Sally Thayer and family”; and center next to the map is a photograph captioned “POW camp scene, reenacted — Courtesy M. ernest Marxhall.”
Also see . . . Taylor Wilson Camp Heritage Group. Shows plans for a monument to the prisoners-of-war. (Submitted on August 12, 2012.)
Credits. This page originally submitted on August 12, 2012, by J. J. Prats of Springfield, Virginia. This page has been viewed 164 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 12, 2012, by J. J. Prats of Springfield, Virginia.
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