Castle Thunder, located between what is now 17th Street and 18th Street on northern side of E Cary Street in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, was a former

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

warehouse in three buildings, located on Tobacco Row, converted into a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

pursuant to an order of Richmond's provost-marshal John Winder by August 1862. The Confederacy there housed civilian prisoners, including captured Union spies and deserters,

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

s and those charged with

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

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 ...

. President

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

is reported to have said for every Confederate sailor hanged he would hang a Union soldier of corresponding rank, chosen by lot from among the thousands of prisoners in the Richmond tobacco warehouse. Indeed, many inmates were sentenced to death. Moreover, the prison guards had a reputation for brutality, though the inmates were sometimes allowed boxes of medicine and other supplies. The prison's most notorious commandant was Captain George W. Alexander, who commanded Castle Thunder from October 1862 until removed in February 1864 after an investigation by the Confederate House of Representatives, which nominally cleared him. As a Confederate soldier fighting in Maryland, Alexander had been captured by Union Army troops in 1861. While awaiting execution, he escaped and fled to Richmond. There, Alexander took command of the Castle Thunder Prison, which had nominal a capacity of 1,400 inmates, although by January 1863 it had more than 3000 inmates. Security at the prison was intense under Alexander, and diseases including smallpox and dysentery rampant. Prisoners complained of Alexander's brutality and that of his guards, particularly excessive lashings and use of his large dog Nero to intimidate them. Alexander defended his discipline by citing the hard-bitten character of the inmates. Among its many notable occupants was Union officer

William Jackson Palmer William Jackson Palmer (September 18, 1836 – March 13, 1909) was an American civil engineer and veteran of the American Civil War. During the Civil War, he was promoted to brevet brigadier general and received a Medal of Honor for his actions. ...

(1836–1909). In 1862, he was captured while scouting after the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam ( ), also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, took place during the American Civil War on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virgi ...

within Confederate lines in civilian clothes while gathering information for General

George McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey and as Commanding General of the United States Army from November 1861 to March 186 ...

. When questioned he gave his name as W.J. Peters and claimed to be a mine owner on an inspection trip. While the Confederates did not know he was a spy, his circumstances were suspicious and he was detained and sent to

, for detention at Castle Thunder. He was set free in a prisoner exchange and rejoined his regiment in February 1863. About 100 women were imprisoned at Castle Thunder, since the also-notorious Libby Prison housed only men. Perhaps the most famous imprisoned woman was Dr. Mary E. Walker, a Union surgeon at

Chatham Manor Chatham Manor is a Georgian-style mansion home completed in 1771 by farmer and statesman William Fitzhugh, after about three years of construction, on the Rappahannock River in Stafford County, Virginia, opposite Fredericksburg, Virginia, Fred ...

in Fredericksburg since the 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg, whom Confederate pickets arrested as a spy in April 1864 and who was imprisoned until a prisoner exchange on August 12, 1864. Although Walker reassured her mother in a letter from prison that she had a clean bed and adequate food, she weighed only 60 pounds on her release from Castle Thunder. Following the conflict, Walker received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

, the only woman to receive that distinction.Massey, Mary Elizabeth. ''Women in the Civil War''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996, pages 62-63. Some prisoners were transferred from Castle Thunder to Danville after the end of the siege of Petersburg, Virginia in March 1865 (Petersburg also had a prison of the same name but less notoriety). After Union forces captured Richmond in April 1865, they used the prison for those accused of unruly conduct and similar purposes. Although

Mollie Bean Mollie Bean was a North Carolina in the American Civil War, North Carolinian woman who, pretending to be a man, joined the 47th North Carolina Infantry, a regiment of the Confederate States Army, Confederate army in the American Civil War. Civil ...

had pretended to be a man to enlist in the Confederate Army, and served for two years in the 47th North Carolina (including twice wounded in action), her Union captors suspected her of being a spy. After the end of military rule, the property was returned to its owners. However, in 1879 fire destroyed the warehouse and Civil War–era prison Castle Thunder in its entirety.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle Thunder (Prison) History of Richmond, Virginia Crime in Richmond, Virginia American Civil War prison camps Defunct prisons in Virginia Virginia in the American Civil War 1861 establishments in Virginia 1865 disestablishments in Virginia