With so many men being sent to the camp-there would be more than 4,400 by the end of July, and 9,600 by the end of August-the water quickly became fouled. Meanwhile, inside the camp, a peril just as lethal, although slower in its effect, was taking shape.Ī stagnant body of water, called Foster’s Pond, was within the fences of the prison. Many of the wooden cars were reduced to kindling in the accident, which killed 49 prisoners and 17 guards.įive prisoners escaped during the chaos, and it took three days for some of the wounded to receive medical treatment. On July 15, a train loaded with 844 Confederates and 128 Union guards bound for Elmira smashed head-on with a coal train near Shohola, Pa. Things went wrong at the prison camp almost from the beginning. Some prisoners wore only shirts and underwear. Elmirans noted that their ragtag uniforms hardly made the men look like members of the same army. Most had been captured during the grinding battles of the Wilderness in Virginia. On July 6, 1864, a train pulled into Elmira with the first 399-man contingent of prisoners on board.
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