Prisoners at Alton Military Prison

Prisoners at Alton Military Prison. Prisoners at Alton Military Prison , The Alton Military Prison was inhabited by four different classes of prisoner, Confederates, civilians, Federal soldiers and a group called guerillas or bushwhackers., Confederate prisoners of war made up the majority of the prison population., Civilians who had been arrested for spying, feeding or housing Confederate soldiers, vocally supporting the rebel cause or a variety of other offenses were also imprisoned in large numbers, especially early in the war., Union soldiers who were sentenced after court martial for desertion, rape, murder or other offenses occupied a portion of the cell block. Their presence was particularly irritating to the Confederates., The fourth group, bushwhackers or guerillas, included men who were not sworn members of a Confederate unit but were caught fighting Union soldiers or destroying vital property such as telegraph lines, bridges, rail lines, or causing general mayhem., (captions) , Brigadier General LLoyd Tilghman , Captured at Fort Henry, Tilghman and his staff were restricted tom the city limits of Alton and not imprisoned. He was sent to St. Louis on February 24, 1862. later exchanged, General Tilghman was killed by a cannon ball while personally manning an artillery piece at the Battle of Champions Hill, In Mississippi near Vicksburg., Confederate Soldier, Unknown , This unidentified photo of a Confederate soldier was taken at the Ritter Photo Studio, located at the the corner of of Pissa and Second Street, Alton., Private Henry Whitman Moses , Monroes's Battalion, C.S.A. , Henry Whitman Moses was born in Lowndes County, Alabama on May 18, 1831. He married Caroline Raleigh in 1854 and in 1856 moved with his family to Hempstead County, Arkansas. , On May B, 1862 he joined the Confederate Army and was with General Sterling Price on his Missouri raid, participating in many battles and skirmishes. Hc svas captured on October 12, 1864 near Mound City, Kansas and scnt to Alton via St. Louis. He arrived in Alton on November 4, 1864 and was transferred to Rock Island, Illinois on December 24, 1864. He was later transferred to Richmond, Virginia where he was paroled on May 2, 1865. , Henry returned home to Hempstead County and resumed farming. He and Caroline had nine children. He died July 3, 1920., Private William Hill , William Hill and his son, Archibald Buchanan Hill joined the Confederate service in the fall of 1864 near Fayetteville, Arkansas, Both men fought at Fayetteville under Colonel Broöks. , William Hill was wounded near Prairie Grove, Arkansas and transported to Fayetteville where he was captured by Federal troops on November 4, 1864. William was visited by his wife at Fayetteville before being sent to Alton, arrivirig here on December 7, 1864. , William was admitted to the hospital on January 21, 1865 and died January 30, 1865 of Erysipelas, an inflammatory infection of the skin and mucous membranes.Captain Griffin Frost , Griffin Frost joined the Missouri State Guard in August of 1861 and fought in the Battles Of Athens, Lexington, Pea Ridge and Corinth. He was captured while recruiting in Arkansas in November of 1862 and was sent to Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis until his parole in early 1863. In October of 1863 he was recaptured in Arkansas. Frost spent the duration of the war in Gratiot Street Prison and Alton Federal Military Prison in Alton., During this confinement, Frost kept a journal Of his experiences in the two prisons and in 1867 published Camp and Prison Journal. , The photo above is from 1905., Erasmus Potts, Civilian , "Colonel" Erasmus Potts was born in Lincoln County, South Carolina on August 8, 1801 and eventually moved to Mississippi. He was too old to fight when the Civil War broke out so he devoted his time and money supplying ContZderate troops. He was arrested at home in Marshall County, Mississippi, on December 27, 1862 for selling supplies to the Confederates and was sent to Alton. He died on January 15, 1863 of chronic diarrhea. His body was shipped home in a metal box filled with Wood shavings. He is buried in the Potts Cemetery near Winborn, Mississippi.