On October 11, 1863, the 7th Illinois Cavalry was guarding Colliersville, TN, which was an important rail junction about 25 miles east of Memphis when they were attacked by Chalmer?s Confederate Cavalry. A lieutenant was killed and about 15 men were captured. One of the captured was Pvt. Rudolph Blatter, my gg grandfather, from company M. Pvt. Blatter was transported to Libby Prison, which was a converted warehouse in Richmond, VA. Libby prison was set up by the Confederacy as a temporary holding center for enlisted prisoners until a more widespread system of prisoner exchanges could be instituted. Recognizing a need for permanent holding facilities away from the war zone where liberation might be possible, the Confederacy constructed the Andersonville prison during the winter of 1864. The first prisoners transferred to Andersonville came from Libby prison, and the official war records show that Pvt. Blatter arrived on March 14, 1864. Cherlynn Thomas