If your are interested in how I came to develop this web page and links to other prison camp web pages go to the civil war history page.

Largest Northern Prison Camp

A federal prison camp for Confederates was built on Point Lookout, Maryland, at the extreme tip of St. Mary's County, on the barren peninsula where the Potomac River joins Chesapeake Bay. The camp was convenient to the battlefields in the East and therefore became the largest Union prison. The camp was established after the Battle of Gettysburg to incarcerate Confederate prisoners. The camp was in operation two years, July, 1863-June, 1865.

The prison consisted of "two enclosures of flat sand, one about thirty and the other about ten acres, each surrounded by a fence fifteen feet high, without tree or shrub. The camp was only about 5' above sea level.

Because of the topography, drainage was poor, and the area was subject to extreme heat in the summer and cold in the winter. This exacerbated the problems created by inadequate food, clothing, fuel, housing, and medical care. As a result, approximately 3,000 prisoners died there over 22 months.

It is estimated that a total of 52,264 (WOR) prisoners, both military and civilian, were held prisoner there. Although it was designed for 10,000 prisoners, during most of its existence it held 12,600 to 20,000 inmates.

The camp's Provost Marchall was Mjr. Brady assisted by Mjr. Gen. Benjamin Butler.

The following picture is believed to be a print, drawn in ink, and then type-set added. According to the picture, there were two camps: one larger camp entitled "rebel camp", and a smaller enclosure roughly 1/3 in size entitled "camp for rebel officers." The original is approx. 2' x 1.5' in size, and entitled "Point Lookout Md.--View of Hammond Gen.L Hospital & U.S. Gen.L Depot For Prisoners of War."

The creation date is not know and the internet provider of this picture would like to know if anyone can provide information on it origin. The owner's Grandparents lived about 1.5 miles up the Chesapeake Bay from Point Lookout and had gotten this picture somewhere in Md(?) If you know more about its origin, please drop us an e-mail note.

We have an answer kindly provided by an internet browser. "In reference to the point lookout print, you will find that that print was made about 1863 as a piece to place "above the fireplace " sold by the local Saint Mary's newspaper." According to Mr. Edwin W. Beitzell's book this picture is a lithograph of Point Lookout made between July 1863 - Feb. 1864.

Today there are monuments erected to the men who died while held at Point Lookout. A common marker contains an alphabetized list of those who died. The marker was erected by the State of Maryland in the 1930s.
Civil War Monument St. Mary's County, Maryland	Prisoners Project Listing

Over the years much of the Point Lookout site and grave yards were lost to the waters and sands of the bay. The grave sites were move several times after 1866. The present cemetery site is Scotland. There are two monuments at Scotland in memory of the Confederate dead, one by the state of Maryland and the other by the Federal Government. The Maryland monument was moved to its present site in the cemetary at Scotland in 1938. The State of Maryland made an effort to reduce further loss by lining the shore with large boulders in later years.

There is a visitor center that contains displays on the Chesapeake Bay, some books and material on the prison camp and a small museum. The museum contains pictures of former prisoners, a couple of uniforms and a small number of weapons.

Reference Resources: A large list of reading material can be found at the Point Lookout P.L.P.O.W. Org. web page.

1. "Photographic History of The Civil War", Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, New York, edited by William C. Davis & Dell I. Wiley.
2. "Point Lookout Prison Camp for Confederates", by Edwin W. Beitzell of St. Mary's County, Maryland. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 72-85750.

Internet Links to information about Point Lookout:

• Point Lookout State Park
• Point Lookout P.L.P.O.W. Org. http://members.tripod.com/~PLPOW/plpow.htm