Fort Delaware Fort Delaware, was a defensive point that many felt would be perfect to protect ports and anyone trying to attack from the river. It was said from many officials that this Island was an ideal defensive point. This is because it’s a medium to high ground in the Delaware river this was perfect to protect Philadelphia’s ports. Fort Delaware is located on Pea Patch island, this island is called this due to the Pea Patches that grew around it and made up a lot of the island. Fort Delaware later served as a U.S. prisoner of war facility, holding more than 30,000 Confederate prisoners (Unlikely Allies 1). This prison was very rough due to its cold climate and conditions such as food and disease some would say maybe
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It was a small prison at the time and was only supposed to house 1,300. The United States used it to hold political and naval prisoners. In the spring of 1862, to handle the growing number of Confederate army prisoners, the Federals built barracks inside the fort intended for two thousand men. During the period of exchange under the alliance of July 22, 1862, the fort often served as a rest station for officers and enlisted men in route to City Point, Virginia. With the breakdown of exchange in 1863, the Federal authorities declared Fort Delaware to be a regular prison depot and built outside the walls of the original fort additional barracks intended to hold five thousand prisoners (Encyclopedia of Confederacy). With the Expansion of the prison this meant many more prisoners of war would be coming in. This meant the conditions of the prison would start to lessen and become very fatal. The temperatures in Delaware were cold at the time and this meant many prisoners would die from hypothermia if they could not find warmth. This also was due to the fact of the location on the river and the muddy conditions in the prison. Also with more prisoners coming in this meant the less food each prisoner would have many would lose extraordinary amounts of pounds due to the lack of …show more content…
This complaint was sent to a government official but it was shot down for any type of help. Even though this did breakout, not as many died as was expected and even the death toll declined in 1864 (Encyclopedia of Confederacy).
As the war was coming to an end Fort Delaware was no longer needed to hold prisoners of war. Fort Delaware's location convenient guaranteed that it would continue to be used when exchange continued in 1865, and it was not finally abandoned as a military prison until August 1865.
Kale Vanlandingham 6 Many died in Fort Delaware prison a total of 2,436 (Encyclopedia of Confederacy). This was mainly due to diseases and weather conditions the prisoners had to go through while staying in this prison. Other reasons are overcrowding which led to less food which could cause death. Many that were lucky survived and went to continue their life. In conclusion Fort Delaware was a very useful prison that was used for many purposes and is remembered throughout history. It was very defensive point for Delaware and Philadelphia and is very interesting to learn
It was a small prison at the time and was only supposed to house 1,300. The United States used it to hold political and naval prisoners. In the spring of 1862, to handle the growing number of Confederate army prisoners, the Federals built barracks inside the fort intended for two thousand men. During the period of exchange under the alliance of July 22, 1862, the fort often served as a rest station for officers and enlisted men in route to City Point, Virginia. With the breakdown of exchange in 1863, the Federal authorities declared Fort Delaware to be a regular prison depot and built outside the walls of the original fort additional barracks intended to hold five thousand prisoners (Encyclopedia of Confederacy). With the Expansion of the prison this meant many more prisoners of war would be coming in. This meant the conditions of the prison would start to lessen and become very fatal. The temperatures in Delaware were cold at the time and this meant many prisoners would die from hypothermia if they could not find warmth. This also was due to the fact of the location on the river and the muddy conditions in the prison. Also with more prisoners coming in this meant the less food each prisoner would have many would lose extraordinary amounts of pounds due to the lack of …show more content…
This complaint was sent to a government official but it was shot down for any type of help. Even though this did breakout, not as many died as was expected and even the death toll declined in 1864 (Encyclopedia of Confederacy).
As the war was coming to an end Fort Delaware was no longer needed to hold prisoners of war. Fort Delaware's location convenient guaranteed that it would continue to be used when exchange continued in 1865, and it was not finally abandoned as a military prison until August 1865.
Kale Vanlandingham 6 Many died in Fort Delaware prison a total of 2,436 (Encyclopedia of Confederacy). This was mainly due to diseases and weather conditions the prisoners had to go through while staying in this prison. Other reasons are overcrowding which led to less food which could cause death. Many that were lucky survived and went to continue their life. In conclusion Fort Delaware was a very useful prison that was used for many purposes and is remembered throughout history. It was very defensive point for Delaware and Philadelphia and is very interesting to learn