At various points in the Civil War, over 400,000 soldiers were held prisoner. Union and Confederate prison camps were uniformly undesirable, although some had worse reputations than others: Andersonville, for instance, is largely considered the worst of all Civil War prison camps. Somewhat different in their design, many southern prison camps were “open air” stockades; the conditions at Andersonville (an “open air” example) contributed to the disease and discomfort. Clean water and food supplies were rarely present, and the crowded conditions, without the benefit of sanitary practices, spread a lot of misery and death. By the end of the Civil War some 56,000 prisoners had perished (both sides); Andersonville, by August of 1864, held over 30,000 prisoners.
Usually, however, old buildings were modified to house prisoners, and, in a few cases, islands were converted for the purpose of holding captives – such is the case with Belle Isle. Henry County pioneer Andrew McQueen (Leesville Township) was held at two Confederate prison camps: Libby Prison and Belle Isle.
Andrew McQueen, though perhaps fortunate he was not at Andersonville, still underwent considerable suffering.
He had enlisted in September of 1862 with the 110th Ohio Infantry (Company K). The Ohio Infantry ended up in Virginia at the crossroads town of Winchester in June of 1863.
Winchester, which Stonewall Jackson had already secured in May of 1862 by besting Union General Nathaniel Banks, was still a prime piece of real estate and part of Robert E. Lee’s overall plan to take the fight to the North (Pennsylvania, Maryland, etc.).In May of 1862 Stonewall Jackson had been able to kill a third of the Union men present there, take 100 cattle, about 15,000 pounds of bacon, and somewhere upwards of a half million rounds of ammunition; the town was firmly in Confederate hands.
By June of 1863 Stonewall Jackson was dead, and the Confederates faced a new Union Commander at Winchester. But the new Union Commander (Major General Robert Milroy) had very little to show against southern forces there, either. Major General Milroy found himself cut off, surrounded, and outnumbered. In an effort to sneak out of the predicament he found himself in, he ordered his men to leave anything that made noise behind (wagons, canons, etc.) and at 1:00 a.m. in the morning proceeded to leave the fort. Confederates under “Alleghany” Johnson anticipated his movements and left even earlier to cut him off: the result was a confused early morning skirmish where Milroy placed the 110th (and the 122nd and 123rd) in harm’s way to try to break out of the Confederate hold. It was unsuccessful – Milroy and many of the Union troops escaped and fought on towards Harper’s Ferry (Milroy yelling: “Men! Save yourselves!”). The Confederates only lost about 300 men and were able to inflict nearly 4,000 casualties on the Union forces. They also took 4,400 men prisoner and Andrew McQueen was one of them.
Libby Prison, where McQueen was initially taken, was in Richmond. It had originally been a warehouse and through some of the barred windows the tents on Bell Isle could be seen. It is where McQueen would eventually end up. The treatment was harsh. He lost 40 pounds in 40 days. One Confederate officer had a habit of cursing at the prisoners and beating them for no reason and one Irish prisoner with McQueen eventually knocked the officer senseless for his brutalities; the other prisoners did not give up the name of the Irishman that retaliated and as a result all lost food and water rations for two more days.
Prisoner exchanges were common, and McQueen was exchanged in August (1863) and returned to his regiment – he was soon sent home. In early Spring of 1864, he married his sweetheart and then re-enlisted into the 157th Ohio Infantry for 100 more days. There was a third battle for Winchester (McQueen was not a part of) – this time, General Sheridan of the Union Army soundly defeated Lt. General Jubal Early, who had been a part of the victorious forces the previous year at the same spot.
McQueen suffered from health problems the rest of his life because of his experience in the war but was able to eventually settle down. Initially, he purchased 80 acres in Indiana but left because of the poor condition of the land (and his health) after four years. In 1869 he came to the Leesville Township and purchased 200 acres (for $13 an acre), bought a team of horses, some livestock, and tools. The first few years for him “were lean years.” To get settled, he cut logs, trimmed and finished them, and built his first home – a two-room log cabin. However, by 1885 he was prosperous enough to possess 700 acres and was able to build a framed house. He and his wife (Sarah) had several children and Andrew served as the Justice of the Peace for Leesville Township for 20 years and taught school.
McQueen used his home as a meeting place for the Dan McCook Post #312 of the Grand Army of the Republic and continued to do so until there were no longer any Veterans of the war to meet there.
