Prisoners of War

Prisoners of War. Fort Henderson and Trinity School. . “When told that the fort had been surrendered... [the soldiers] could scarcely believe themselves, but with tears demanded that the fight should go on, preferring to die in the fort.” , Lt. Robert McMillan, 110th U.S. Colored Infantry

You now stand near the fort's northwest bastion. Treating them differently than white soldiers who went to prisoner of war camps, General Nathan Bedford Forrest sent many from the 110th United States Colored Troops to Mobile, Alabama. There, Julius and Samuel Redus, George Allen, John Jackson, Doctor Peete, Moses Peete and John Roberts were put to work by General Richard Taylor on the city's fortifications. They remained prisoners for eight months until Taylor surrendered to Union forces. Sadly, not all returned home. Samuel Redus took ill during captivity and passed away in a Nashville hospital on June 24, 1865. Two days later and likely unaware of his brother's passing, Julius died due to complications from a blow to the head inflicted by a guard. Moses Peete, while aboard the Natchez on the Alabama River, fell from the deck and drowned. His body was never recovered. Their comrades, John Jackson, Doctor Peete and John Roberts, returned to the regiment as did George Allen, despite an injury from a magazine explosion. These men served out their term of enlistment and were discharged in February 1866. No longer slaves, they now had to find their way in a new society.

[Photo captions . Middle: Norton W. Campbell served as a captain in the 110th U.S. Colored Troops. Campbell briefly commanded the regiment in the spring of 1864 and surrendered at Fort Henderson. Unlike enlisted men in his charge, Campbell was exchanged and returned to duty in December 1864. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Right: Edward R.S. Canby graduated from West Point in 1839. Early in the war, Canby defeated Confederate General Henry Sibley in the New Mexico Campaign. Appointed to command the Military Division of West‘Mississippi, Major General Canby ultimately freed the USCTS captured at Fort Henderson when he accepted General Richard Taylor's surrender in May 1865. Courtesy of the Library of Congress . This historical marker was erected in 2020 by American Battlefield Trust & Paul Bryant Jr.. It is in Athens in Limestone County Alabama