Page 2 - May 03, 2012 ‘Camp Douglas’ Cont. from Page 1 camp. Neither side was prepared to house large numbers of prisoners. For instance, Camp Butler (Springfield IL), Camp Morton (Indianapolis IN), Camp Randall (Madison WI) and Camp Douglas (Chicago IL) all had been used to train U.S. volunteers. Each camp had to be hastily converted to house Confederates captured at Fort Donelson and Island Ten. Originally, at Camp Douglas, 32 units trained here: the 9th Cav, the 51st IL Infantry and the 55th IL Infanty. The first prisoners arrived in 1862, about 8000 from the capture of Fort Donelson. During the war Camp Douglas held over 18,000 prisoners, over 12,000 at one time [Dec 1864]. Prisoners included Sam Houston, Jr. and Henry M. Stanley, the famous African explorer. Since both sides wished to have prisoners-of-war returned, a cartel was estab-
Give Us This Day Our Daily Chuckle
This week, a compendium of wit, wisdom and neat stuff you can tell at parties. Enjoy! Excuse Notes Received by Teachers (Said to be Real) My son is under a doctor’s care and should not take P.E. today. Please execute him. Please excuse Lisa for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot. Dear School: Please ekscuse John being absent on Jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and also 33. Please excuse Gloria from Jim today. She is administrating. Please excuse Roland from P.E. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.
lished to arrange for agreeable terms. The cartel remained in operation until the summer of 1863 when Confederate authorities objected to release of black prisoners. The agreement broke down at that point, and few exchanges took place subsequently until the final weeks of the war. A few months after the surrender of Vicksburg, the Confederate government pressed most soldiers paroled there back into service. Much of the other source material was recommended by Mr. Ries. We draw heavily upon research by Pritchett Ford.
Andersonville is the National Prisoner of War Historical Site, with white headstones for each of the 12, 912 Union prisoners who died there with a 475 acre park and monuments erected by every Union State and the National Government. All of the main highways of South Georgia have directional signs to aid the tens of thousand who visit there yearly. Look North to Chicago and you will find at least 6000 Confederate soldiers buried in a mass grave on one acre of land. There is only one monument to these prisoners who died, erected in 1895, 30 years after the war, by Southerners and their friends in Chicago and the North.
The South had Andersonville, an internationally known reminder of prison camp hardships and deaths, immortalized in song, literature, film and by many Union Monuments. The North had Camp Douglas, a little known civil war prison in Chicago that set records for prison mortality, hidden in lost and incomplete records and suppressed publicity. To the victor belongs the silence.
According to Dorothy Wells Earlandson, writing in Chicago’s Heritage Guest, a few native Chicagoans knew of its existence. You see, Chicago has never publicized its one time camp. There are no highway directional signs. We will never see a film about Camp Douglas or any of the other notorious Northern prisons. The winners write the history books,
John has been absent because he had two teeth taken out of his face.
porch, and when we found it Monday, we thought it was Sunday.
Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt in the growing part.
Sally won’t be in school a week from Friday. We have to attend her funeral.
Megan could not come to school today because she has been bothered by very close veins.
My daughter was absent yesterday because she was tired. She spent a weekend with the Marines.
Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side.
Please excuse Jason for being absent yesterday. He had a cold and could not breed well.
Please excuse Ray Friday from school. He has very loose vowels.
Please excuse Mary for being absent yesterday. She was in bed with gramps.
Please excuse Pedro from being absent yesterday. He had — diahre— —dyrea— — direathe— the runs.
Gloria was absent yesterday as she was having a gangover.
Please excuse Tommy for being absent yesterday. He had diarrhea and his boots leak. Irving was absent yesterday because he missed his bust. Please excuse Jimmy for being. It was his father’s fault. I kept Billie home because she had to go Christmas shopping because I don’t know what size she wear. Please excuse Jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgot to get the Sunday paper off the
Maryann was absent December 11-16, because she had a fever, sore throat, headache and upset stomach. Her sister was also sick, fever and sore throa t, her brother had a low grade fever and ached all over. I wasn’t the best either, sore throat and fever. There must be something going around, her father even got hot last night. American as she is spoke At a Santa Fe gas station: WE WILL SELL GASOLINE TO ANYONE IN A GLASS CONTAINER. In a New Hampshire jewelry
and for 130 years they have been silent about their prison camps. The Oak Wood Cemetery monument sustains interest in the camp located near the shore of Lake Michigan. Before the camp closed, it earned the dubious distinctions of an undisputed first place in mortality among Northern prisons. Prisoners from Fort Donelson arrived at Camp Douglas in February 1862, and within one year the monthly mortality rate was at ten percent, a rate unsurpassed by any other prison in the North or South. Ultimately, one in five prisoners died, establishing the camp’s reputation for extermination. The highest death rate at Andersonville was nine percent set for August, 1864. Three traits distinguished Camp Douglas from other Northern prison camps: high mortality rates, extreme acts of cruelty, and a low official ‘Camp Douglas’ Cont. on Page 3 store: EARS PIERCED WHILE YOU WAIT. In a New York restaurant: CUSTOMERS WHO CONSIDER OUR WAITRESSES UNCIVIL OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER. On the wall of a Baltimore estate: TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW. - SISTERS OF MERCY On a long-established New Mexico dry cleaners: 38 YEARS ON THE SAME SPOT. In a Los Angeles dance hall: GOOD CLEAN DANCING EVERY NIGHT BUT SUNDAY. On a movie theater: CHILDREN’S MATINEE TODAY. ADULTS NOT ADMITTED UNLESS WITH CHILD. In a Florida maternity ward: NO CHILDREN ALLOWED. In a New York drugstore: WE DISPENSE WITH ACCURACY. On a New Hampshire medical building: MARTIN DIABETES PROFESSIONAL ASS.
‘Chuckles’ Cont. on Page 14