Civil War Delaware


Book Description

In the years preceding the Civil War, Delaware was essentially divided--as a slave state, it had many ties to the South, but as the first state to ratify the federal Constitution, it was fiercely loyal to the Union. With the outbreak of war, the First State rallied to Lincoln's call and sent proportionally more troops to fight for the Union than any free state. Yet even as the renowned Du Pont mills provided half of the Union gunpowder, Southern sympathizers transported war materiel to the Confederacy via the Nanticoke River. Author Michael Morgan deftly navigates this complex history. From Wilmington abolitionist Thomas Garrett, who helped 2,700 fugitive slaves flee north, to the prison camp at Fort Delaware that held thousands of captured Confederates and political prisoners, Morgan reveals the remarkable stories of the heroes and scoundrels of Civil War Delaware.




Delaware in the Civil War


Book Description




Delaware During the Civil War


Book Description

The emphasis is on politics, but includes the impact of the Civil War on the economic, social and religious life of the state.




Civil War Ghosts at Fort Delaware


Book Description

Ghosts at the Civil War island prison at Fort Delaware State Park.




Essays on Delaware During the Civil War


Book Description

This collection of articles addresses the lives and experiences of Delawareans during the mid-nineteenth century in general and the Civil War in particular. It examines the subject matter from three perspectives, political, military and social, that combined provide an understanding of the issues and circumstances that influenced the people of Delaware and their leaders during this traumatic period. The objective of this publication is to provide an understanding of Delaware's role during those stressful years in our country's history. The citizens of Delaware were not found wanting when Northern and, to a certain extent, Southern leadership called upon them for political support and military service. From a societal point of view, specifically regarding racial equality, however, it is important to recognize the slow progress that Delawareans made over the next century following the Civil War.




The Union Prison at Fort Delaware


Book Description

Located on Pea Patch Island at the entrance to the Delaware River, Fort Delaware was built to protect Wilmington and Philadelphia in case of an attack by sea. When the Civil War broke out, Fort Delaware's purpose changed dramatically--it became a prisoner of war camp. By the fall of 1863, about 12,000 soldiers, officers, and political prisoners were being held in an area designed to hold only 4,000--and known as the Andersonville of the North, a place where terrible sickness and deprivation were a way of life despite the commanding general's efforts to keep the prison clean and the prisoners fed. Many books have been written about the Confederacy's Andersonville and its terrible conditions, but comparatively little has been written about its counterparts in the North. The conditions at Fort Delaware are fully explored, contemplating what life was like for prisoners and guards alike.




Unlikely Allies


Book Description

Moving narrative of the harrowing ordeal of Civil War prisoners. Based on newly discovered primary sources.







Confederate Prisoners at Fort Delaware


Book Description

During the Civil War, each side accused the other of mistreating prisoners of war. Today, most historians believe that there was systemic and deliberate abuse of POWs by both sides yet many base their conclusions on anecdotal evidence, much of it from postwar writings. Drawing on both contemporaneous prisoner diaries and Union Army documents (some newly discovered), the author presents a fresh and detailed study of supposed mistreatment of prisoners at Fort Delaware--one of the largest Union prison camps--and draws surprising conclusions, some of which have implications for the entire Union prison system.