Johnson's Island

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the island in Lake Erie. For the bar in Greenbrier River, see Johnson Island.

Johnson's Island was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War. The 300-acre (1.2 km²) island is in Sandusky Bay, located on the coast of Lake Erie, 3 miles (5 km) from the city of Sandusky, Ohio. It was the only Union prison exclusively for Southern officers.

[edit] Civil War years

In late 1861, Federal officials selected Johnson’s Island as the site for a prisoner of war camp to hold up to 2,500 captured Confederate officers. The island offered easy access by ship for supplies to construct and maintain a prison and its population. Sandusky Bay offered more protection from the elements than on other nearby islands, which were also closer to Canada in the event of a prison break. Woods of hickory and oak trees could provide lumber and fuel. The U.S. government leased half the island from private owner Leonard B. Johnson for $500 a year, and for the duration of the war carefully controlled access to the island.

The 16.5 acre prison opened in April 1862. A 15-foot-high (5 m) wooden stockade surrounded 12 two-story prisoner housing barracks, a hospital, latrines, sutler’s stand, three wells, a pest house, and two large mess halls (added in August 1864). More than 40 buildings stood outside the prison walls, including barns, stables, a limekiln, forts, barracks for officers, and a powder magazine. They were used by the 128th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which guarded the prison.

The cemetery at Johnson's Island

Among the prominent Confederate generals imprisoned on Johnson's Island were Isaac R. Trimble and James J. Archer (both captured at the Battle of Gettysburg), William Beall, Edward "Allegheny" Johnson and Missouri cavalryman M. Jeff Thompson. Prisoners had a lively community, with amateur theatrical performances, publishing, and crafts projects.

After the unraveling of a Confederate espionage ring which had been plotting the seizure of the Great Lakes warship USS Michigan and a mass breakout of prisoners, Forts Johnson and Hill were constructed over the winter of 1864–65, but were not operational until March 1865, in the war's final months, when the prisoner population peaked at 3,200. Over 10,000 different Confederates passed through Johnson’s Island until it was closed in September 1865. Only about 200 prisoners died as a result of the harsh Ohio winters, food and fuel shortages, and disease, making Johnson's Island one of the safer Civil War prisons by far. Nevertheless, there were many escape attempts, including efforts by some to walk across the frozen Lake Erie to freedom in Canada, and there were a handful of successful escapes.

[edit] Postbellum

After the war, the prison camp was abandoned and control reverted to the owner. Most of the buildings were auctioned off by the Army, and some were razed after falling into disrepair. Efforts in 1897 to turn the island into a resort (as with nearby Cedar Point) failed, and the land was used for farming and rock quarrying. Many lakeside homes have since been built, and is now quite developed with two subdivisions. Most of the Civil War-related sites have since been destroyed and built over.

Johnson’s Island was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1990. A causeway now connects it with the mainland. Only the Confederate cemetery is open to the public; ground-penetrating radar studies have proved that several graves lie outside its fence. Heidelberg College conducts yearly archeology digs on the prison site.