Abstract of Units and Prisoners at Camp Ford, Texas from August 1863 - May 1865

The following abstract was compiled from a reconstructed list of prisoners at Camp Ford. The list was built from several sources. All of the exchange or parole lists were identified and obtained from the National Archives. Additionally an abstract of Prisoners of War who escaped from Captivity and Returned to Union Lines was located in the Archives, and searched for Camp Ford escapees. The Quartermaster Department prepared a number of "Rolls of Honor" of deceased Union Soldiers, and two large listings of deceased Camp Ford Prisoners were found there. All of the dead were reinterred in 1867 to the National Cemetery in Pineville, Louisiana.

A database was created from the information, and this gave a complete listing of military organizations with prisoners held at Tyler. A computer reference search was then made for anything in print relating to the numerous units, and as additional material was located, it was used to add to or correct the database. Testing by random inquiry by descendants of Camp Ford prisoners indicates that the compiled database is accurate. The Quartermaster lists were very poor, with many misspellings and seemingly unidentified prisoners. However, an additional list of deceased prisoners was located in a GAR newspaper that purported to have been kept by a prison nurse. This, along with information from regimental histories and unit rosters enabled the compilers to reduce the number of "unknowns" to a handful. The "Civilians" were primarily teamsters who were captured in Arkansas.

The list is felt to be reasonably complete, and includes 300 of the 500 prisoners who were transferred to Camp Groce and paroled at Galveston in December of 1864. However, nearly 200 of these died and the records of their identities and units are lost. As they were at Camp Ford for several months, they should be counted in the total. There were some men who escaped and disappeared, although a number of successful escapes are documented. It is felt that an accurate number of total prisoners should be slightly more than 5,500.

There are probably some errors. Units having a single deceased prisoner are possibly suspect, but these are difficult to identify. Confederate record keeping was relatively good, but not perfect. Any corrections or additions to the list would be greatly appreciated.

NOTES

There are 5,444 names in the database. The total number of deceased prisoners is 436. Of whom 316 died at Camp Ford. There are 105 persons who died at Camp Groce who were at Ford at one time. There are three prisoners who died at Shreveport who were also at Ford at one time. Twelve names are listed as questionable deaths, either because they appear to be duplicates on the QM Department lists, or for some other reason.

Seventy-six prisoners can be documented as having escaped from Ford, four from Camp Groce, and thirty-two from Shreveport. I have listed an additional 15 possible escapes from names of men who were clearly at Camp Ford, but either show as escaped on the exchange lists, or do not show on the exchange lists. There are an additional forty-one names who were clearly at Camp Ford, but who do not show on the exchange lists. It is not known if they were left of the lists by clerical error or if they are additional escapees.

Keeping track of these prisoners is difficult. If you notice any errors in this account, please notify us and they will be corrected.