Civil War Alabama

CASTLE MORGAN

Site of Castle Morgan Prison at Cahaba

The Confederate government acquired an abandoned cotton warehouse in Cahaba, near Selma in Dallas County, Alabama, for use as a prison for captured Union prisoners in the summer of 1862. Colonel Samuel M. Hill originally owned the warehouse, and had constructed the building as part of a complex to provide storage for the Cahaba, Marion, and Greensborough Railroad. The railroad failed in the 1850’s and the warehouse was abandoned. Cahaba was selected after an extensive search throughout Alabama for suitable locations for a prison to handle excess prisoners from the main Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia. Cahaba was selected due to its relatively secure location in the deep South, which would permit freedom from potential Union raids.

Inmates sarcastically named the prison "Castle Morgan" after Confederate cavalryman John Hunt Morgan. There were two co-commanders at Castle Morgan, with Captain H.A.M. Henderson sharing command with Lieutenant Colonel Sam Jones. Henderson took charge of the prison facilities, while Jones directed the prison’s guards. The prison guard totaled 179 troops, with a number of them coming from established Alabama reserves. These troops were additionally armed with two small caliber artillery pieces.

The original warehouse part of the prison complex covered approximately 15,000 square feet, and was located along the bank of the Alabama River. A wooden stockade fence was built around the warehouse to secure the prison yard. There was a covered water supply that ran through the center of the prison building, with a pipe system set up using old wooden barrels. Towards the end of the Civil War, only about half of the building’s original roof remained. Conditions within Castle Morgan were common among Civil War prison camps. There were problems with lice, rats, and dysentery. However, Cahaba had access to ample medical supplies, firewood, and food. This contributed to the substantially lower death rate among Cahaba prisoners.

The prison may have been used as early as 1862 to temporarily house captured Union prisoners, and had been intended for only approximately 500 prisoners. Its population had grown to 660 by August of 1864. Previously, Union General Ulysses S. Grant had suspended the practice of prisoner exchange with the Confederacy. Therefore, by October of 1864 the prison’s numbers had swelled to 2,151. Many of the Union prisoners came from Northern states such as Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa. There were also substantial numbers from Southern states, with those who had served in Union units from states such as Tennessee and Louisiana.

As the fortune of the Confederacy continued to deteriorate on the battlefield during the winter of 1865, so did the conditions within Castle Morgan prison. The Alabama River flooded, leaving Union prisoners to survive by floating on makeshift rafts or sitting on ceiling rafters. These terrible conditions directly contributed to a prisoner revolt, which was quickly put down. With the approach of the end of the Civil War, H.A.M. Jones negotiated the exchange of Union prisoners from Cahaba for captured Confederates. This exchange took place at Vicksburg, Mississippi in April 1865. Once exchanged, many of the newly freed Union soldiers were placed on the extremely overcrowded steamship Sultana for the journey north. Unfortunately, the overburdened ship exploded, and many of the 1100 people that were killed were former Cahaba prisoners.

Sources:

Alabama: A Documentary History to 1900 by Lucille Griffith

Cahaba Prison and the Sultana Disaster by William O. Bryant

The Alabama Confederate Reader by Malcolm C. McMillan