Imprisonment of the "Plymouth Pilgrims" Enlisted Soldiers
with information provided by
Edward Boots, President & 101st PA Historian
Civil War Plymouth Pilgrims Descendants Society
On April 20th, 1864 the entire Union garrison was captured at the Battle of Plymouth, NC. After the battle, the captured "Plymouth Pilgrims" spent the night of the 20th in an open field just outside of the town of Plymouth. The next day, under guard of the 35th NC, they began their march for Tarboro, NC where they would be loaded on boxcars and sent to prison.
Tarboro, NC Train Station before its destruction in Dec 1996
After arriving at Tarboro, NC, all of the prisoners from Plymouth, including the officers, boarded railroad box-cars for Andersonville, GA. The trip to Andersonville made its way through the towns of Goldsboro & Wilmington, NC. Then through Florence & Charleston, SC. And finally through Savannah & Macon, GA. When they arrived at Andersonville the officers were separated from the enlisted men. The enlisted men were taken directly into the stockade. Capt Wirz, the prison camp commander, argued with the guards who had accompanied the prisoners that he had no facilities for officers and that they would have to take them somewhere else. They were sent to Camp Oglethorpe in Macon, GA.
ANDERSONVILLE, GA
The "Plymouth Pilgrims" prisoners began to arrive at Andersonville on the 1st of May, 1864, with a total of 2,364 prisoners arriving from Plymouth. When they entered Andersonville, it is obvious that they made a big impression. John McElroy describes them in his book Andersonville: A story of Rebel Prisons, pg. 168: "They were attired in stylish new uniforms, with fancy hats and shoes; the Sergeants and Corporals wore patent leather or silk chevrons, and each man had a large well-filled knapsack, of the kind new recruits usually carried on coming first to the front, and which the older soldiers spoke of humorously as 'bureaus'. They were the snuggest, nattiest lot of soldiers we had ever seen, outside of the 'paper collar' fellows forming the headquarter guard of some General in a large City. As one of my companions surveyed them, he said: 'Hulloa! I'm blanked if the Jonnies haven't caught a regiment of Brigadier Generals, somewhere'." It's obvious that the Plymouth Pilgrims were a distinct group of soldiers, much different than the average soldier.
The Pilgrims stayed at Andersonville throughout the summer months. It was feared by the Confederates that Sherman would liberate the prisoners, so it was decided to move the prisoners to a better location. Towards the end of August and the first of September 1864, thousands of prisoners were transferred to Charleston, SC & Savannah, GA. These prisoners, however, only included the soldiers who were able to walk with or without the use of a cane. Those that couldn't, were left behind. The prisoners were told that they were being transferred to the coast for parole. This, of course, was simply done to keep the prisoners from trying to escape.
Charleston, SC City Jail as seen today.
Charleston & Savannah were holding areas until a stockade could be built at Florence, SC. While in Charleston, the prisoners were held at the Charleston Race Course, the City Jailyard and the Workhouse. Those that died while in Charleston were buried in either the Charleston Race Course Cemetery or Potter's Field. After the war, the soldiers buried in these two cemeteries were reinterred at the Beaufort National Cemetery, Beaufort, SC.
Towards the middle of September 1864, prisoners began to be transferred to the new Florence Stockade located in Florence, SC.
During the first part of December, sick & wounded prisoners at Florence were sent to Charleston for parole. The other prisoners would remain at Florence until February of 1865 when the stockade was finally closed. Those that were sick or wounded were sent to N. E. Ferry, Wilmington, NC for parole and the others were sent to Goldsboro, NC.
Not all of the Plymouth Pilgrims went to Florence, escpecially some of those that were taken to Savannah from Andersonville. They were sent to Camp Lawton in Millen, GA, Blackshear, Thomasville and then finally back to Andersonville. These soldiers who spent their final days of captivity in Andersonville, would later be paroled at Jacksonville, FL & Vicksburg, MS.
Most, if not all of the paroled soldiers ended up at Camp Parole, Annapolis, Maryland before being sent home on furloughs; many being returned to active duty after their furloughs.