Camp Ford was a

POW camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, an ...

near

Tyler, Texas Tyler, officially the City of Tyler, is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the population is 105,995. Tyler was the List of municipalities in Texas, 38th most populous city in Texas (as well as the m ...

, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. It was the largest

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

-run prison west of the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

.Texas State Historical Society: Camp Ford
Retrieved August 18, 2010.

History

Camp Ford is not a battlefield memorial, it is the site of a prison camp where over 350 US Army personnel died of starvation, exposure, and disease. Their names are listed on unit honor rolls for units of Ohio and Pennsylvania infantry among others. Established in the spring of 1862 as a training camp for new Confederate recruits, the camp was named for Col.

John Salmon Ford John Salmon Ford (May 26, 1815 – November 3, 1897), also known as "Rip" Ford, was an American military officer and politician. He served as a member of the Republic of Texas Congress and the Texas Senate. He was also the mayor of Brownsville a ...

, a Texas Ranger and the Superintendent of Conscripts for the State of Texas. 19th-iowa-nco-prisoners

The first Union prisoners to arrive at camp Ford in August 1863 included officers captured in Brashear City Louisiana in June, and included naval personnel captured when the 'Queen Of The West' and the 'Diana' were seized by the Confederate Navy. The captives were initially held in the open, but a panic ensued in November 1863 when 800 new prisoners threatened a mass breakout. A military

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

enclosing was soon erected. With over 2,000 new prisoners taken in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

on April 8 and 9 1864, at the battles of

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

, and Pleasant Hill, the stockade was quadrupled in size. Among those imprisoned there following these battles were 17 members of the

47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment The 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, officially the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and sometimes referred to simply as the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the Ameri ...

, the only regiment from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to fight in the Union's 1864 Red River Campaign across Louisiana and the only regiment from the Keystone State to have men imprisoned at Camp Ford. With more prisoners captured in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, the prison's population peaked at about 5,000 in July 1864. The population was reduced by exchanges in July and October 1864, and again in February 1865. The last 1,761 prisoners were exchanged on May 22, 1865.

Camp layout

Multiple Union soldiers who were held as POWs at Camp Ford documented their confinement through diaries kept during their time there. One such diary was created by James S. McClain, who had been captured on May 3, 1864, and was held until the final exchange of prisoners on May 27, 1865. Included in McClain's documentation were sketches of various buildings and other aspects of the camp.

Camp today

The original site of the camp stockade is now a public historic park, owned by

Smith County, Texas Smith County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 233,479. Its county seat is Tyler. Smith County is named for James Smith, a general during the Texas Revolution. Smith County is part of the Tyl ...

, and managed by the Smith County Historical Society, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1959 by individuals and business firms dedicated to discovering, collecting and preserving data, records and other items relating to the history of Smith County. The park contains a kiosk, paved trail, interpretive signage, a cabin reconstruction, and a picnic area.Smith County Historical Society: Camp Ford.
/ref> The camp is located on US Highway 271, .7 miles north of Loop 323 in Tyler, Texas. The geographical coordinates are: 32°23'44.13"N - 95°16'7.28"W. The property is exempt from County property taxation.

References

External links

Camp Ford Civil War Prison
(video). Washington, D.C.: C-SPAN, March 12, 2018.
Camp Ford Historic Park, C.S.A.
in Texas Forest Trail. Nacogdoches, Texas: Texas Forest Trail Region and Texas Historical Commission, retrieved online August 4, 2019.
Camp Ford Historic Site and Park
(profile). Washington, D.C.: American Battlefield Trust, retrieved online August 4, 2019.
Texas Beyond History: Camp Ford
Austin, Texas: Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. * , in CensusDiggins.com. * ''The American Civil War;'

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camp Ford 1862 establishments in Texas 1865 disestablishments in Texas American Civil War prison camps Buildings and structures in Smith County, Texas American Civil War army posts Defunct prisons in Texas Military installations established in 1862 Military installations closed in 1865 Military installations of the Confederate States of America Texas in the American Civil War