Prison - Pens of the North
Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp #2071
by Bobby Tully

Elmira Prison Camp

Elmira, New York

The Confederate prisoners called the prison, "Hell-Mira." Elmira was selected as a place for confinement of prisoners because

its accessibility. This camp was active from July 6, 1864, to July 10, 1865.

There were nine dying each day. Overall, more than 3,000 prisoners died, one of every four. The prisoners who died are buried in Woodlawn National Cemetery, 1825 Davis Street Elmira, Chemung County, New York, many of them in marked graves. The fact that marked graves with headstones exist at all is due to the efforts of John W. Jones Sexton of the cemetery during that time. Born as a slave in Loudon County, Virginia, Jones had worked his way north via the Underground Railroad and was an established businessman

Elmira. He kept meticulous records of each death, and supervised each burial personally. He insisted on respect for the Confederate dead, in opposition to the wishes of Union commanders. Jones even had the task of burying two grandsons of his former owner.

A monument and flagpole are all that remains of the original site.

"On account of the waste from the commissary, a great many rodents from Elmira ran into the prison. As there were not any holes in which they could hide, it was an easy catch for the boys by knocking them over with sticks....As there was very little currency in prison, tobacco, rats, pickles, pork, and lightbread were mediums of exchange. Five chews of tobacco would buy a rat, a rat would buy fivechews of tobacco, a loaf of bread would buy a rat, a rat would buy a loaf of bread and so on.."

Tennessee prisoner

Marcus B. Toney