Prisoners of War
The Federal prison at Rock Island, Illinois, a small strip of land in the Mississippi River, held between 5,000 and 8,000 Confederate prisoners. This sketch of the prison was found in a letter written by Confederate soldier James W. Duke to his cousin in Georgetown, Kentucky. The drawing, by a soldier identified only as H. Junius, is apparently the item described in Duke’s letter as “the picture of our row of Barracks.” This idyllic scene of men strolling peacefully on the grounds or performing routine chores among the neatly maintained barracks probably reveals more about the restrictions placed on outgoing mail than on actual conditions within the prison.
The Federal prison at Rock Island, Illinois, a small strip of land in the Mississippi River, held between 5,000 and 8,000 Confederate prisoners. This sketch of the prison was found in a letter written by Confederate soldier James W. Duke to his cousin in Georgetown, Kentucky. The drawing, by a soldier identified only as H. Junius, is apparently the item described in Duke’s letter as “the picture of our row of Barracks.” This idyllic scene of men strolling peacefully on the grounds or performing routine chores among the neatly maintained barracks probably reveals more about the restrictions placed on outgoing mail than on actual conditions within the prison.