Camp Chase Confederate Burial List GARDNER, F. M. PVT 24 OCT 1864 Notes: NITRE HAND, CSA Row: 11 No.: 36 Grave: 355 Until Nov. 1861, Camp Chase, named for Sec. of the Treasury and former Ohio governor Salmon P. Chase, was a training camp for Union volunteers, housing a few political and military prisoners from Kentucky and western Virginia. Built on the western outskirts of Columbus, Ohio, the camp received its first large influx of captured Confederates from western campaigns, including enlisted men, officers, and a few of the latter's black servants. On oath of honor, Confederate officers were permitted to wander through Columbus, register in hotels, and receive gifts of money and food; a few attended sessions of the state senate. The public paid for camp tours, and Chase became a tourist attraction. Complaints over such lax discipline and the camp's state administration provoked investigation, and the situation changed. Food supplies of poor quality resulted in the commissary officer's dismissal from service. After an influx of captured officers from Island No. 10, officers' privileges were cut, then officers were transferred to the Johnson's Island prison on Lake Erie. The camp's state volunteers and the camp commander were found to have "scant acquaintance" with military practice and were transferred, the camp passing into Federal government control. Under the new administration, rules were tightened, visitors prohibited, and mail censored. Prisoners were allowed limited amounts of money to supplement supplies with purchases from approved vendors and sutlers, the latter further restricted when they were discovered to be smuggling liquor to the inmates. As the war wore on, conditions became worse. Shoddy barracks, low muddy ground, open latrines, aboveground open cisterns, and a brief smallpox outbreak excited U.S. Sanitary Commission agents who were already demanding reform. Original facilities for 3,500-4,000 men were jammed with close to 7,000. Since parole strictures prohibited service against the Confederacy, many Federals had surrendered believing they would be paroled and sent home. Some parolees, assigned to guard duty at Federal prison camps, were bitter, and rumors increased of maltreatment of prisoners at Camp Chase and elsewhere. Before the end of hostilities, Union parolee guards were transferred to service in the Indian Wars, some sewage modifications were made, and prisoners were put to work improving barracks and facilities. Prisoner laborers also built larger, stronger fences for their own confinement, a questionable assignment under international law governing prisoners of war. Barracks rebuilt for 7,000 soon overflowed, and crowding and health conditions were never resolved. As many as 10,000 prisoners were reputedly confined there by the time of the Confederate surrender. Source: "Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War Those who died. The first Confederate prisoners who died at Camp Chase were interred in the City Cemetery at Columbus, Ohio. Sometime in 1863 a cemetery was established at the prison and the remains of those soldiers were moved to the new prison cemetery. Known as Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery, over 2,087 Confederate soldiers graves can be found there. Many years after the War, William H. Knauss, a Union officer and author of The Story of Camp Chase, took a personal interest in marking the graves of Confederate soldiers who died during the battle at Antietam. Thanks to his efforts, the first memorial services were held in 1896 and continued annually. In 1906 white marble headstones were placed on all graves in Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery. On June 7, 1902 a memorial was placed at Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery. It is a large arch made of granite blocks with a large bronze statue of a Confederate soldier on top of it, who now stands guard over the graves of all who lost their lives at Camp Chase Prison. Inscribed on the monument: " 2260 Confederate Soldiers of the War 1861 - 1865 Buried in this Enclosure." Beneath the statue, on the front of the arch is one word that says it all....... "AMERICANS".

The F.M. Gardner buried in the Camp Chase Cemetery mentioned in Liz's posting is Francis Marion Gardner, brother of my g'grandfather, Joseph Hogue Gardner. F. M. Gardner was born 26 April 1831, the son of Dr. James & Elizabeth (Hogue) Gardner. Married Margaret Green, 30 March 1854, in DeKalb Co., AL. Lived near Ider, Jackson Co., AL. His gravestone identifies him as "Pvt, CSA." Actually he was a civilian. The Sand Mountain area in the northeast corner of AL is full of caves, some of which were important sources of the nitre (a.k.a "saltpetre") the Confederacy needed to manufacture gunpowder. Marion Gardner & two others had crawled into a cave to see if it contained saltpetre. When they crawled out, they found themselves surrounded by Union soldiers. As Liz's posting indicates, he was sent to Camp Chase where he died of malnutrition & dysentery. He left two small sons, one of whom was raised by my g'grandparents. Conditions at Camp Chase were indeed as bad as Liz's posting indicates. One account says the flimsy barracks were so cold in winter that the prisoners slept, spoon fashion, in lines across the floors to share body heat. At a signal from the head of the line, they'd all turn over at once. As ever, many thanks to the apparently inexhaustable Liz. Joseph Gardner jgardner@iglou.com