African Americans in Burke County, Georgia: 1800-1865 presented by Torrey Long: Camp Lawton

Camp Lawton was a Civil War-era prison camp built to house Union prisoners of war. Its purpose was to relieve the overcrowding at the Andersonville prison camp. 

The Confederate Government rented approximately 500 local enslaved African Americans to build Camp Lawton. Unfortunately, their exact names are unknown. See Julia Garlick, "Reminiscences of Federal Prison at Lawtonville," The True Citizen (Waynesboro), June 4, 1924, 10. 

Though most of its 10,229 prisoners were white, some African Americans were confined there.

• Robert Knox Sneden, a white prisoner from the 40th New York Infantry, wrote that Black mule drivers, also known as teamsters, supplied the prison camp. These mule drivers were most likely local enslaved peoples rented by Confederates to work around the prison. Page 31 of Disease, Death, and Starvation: Personal Accounts of Camp Lawton by William Giles
• The Andersonville Departure Lists include many teamsters who were transferred to Camp Lawton. One is J. B. Catlett. He was most likely an African American and likely performed labor around Camp Lawton. Georgia, Andersonville Prison Records, 1862-1865, vol. 2 Register of Departures 1864-Feb 1865, A-K, page 171

The trial of Henry Wirz is invaluable because it includes testimony from four Black former POWs at Andersonville prison camp. These four men: Frank Mardix, William H. Jennings, John Fisher, and Lewis Dyer, had the opportunity to share their own personal experiences as prisoners of war, without having their experiences filtered through the perspective of a white person. Though these four men never spent time at Camp Lawton, they do provide an interesting point of comparison between the two prison camps. White POW memoirs from Camp Lawton mention that USCT soldiers there faced verbal abuse, but they do not mention whippings or any other forms of torture. Mardix, Jennings, Fisher, and Dyer's accounts, as well as the accounts of numerous white POWs at Andersonville, all recount the whippings that Black POWs faced. For the trial transcript see, Wirz, Henry, 1823?-1865, and United States Congress ). House. Trial of Henry Wirz letter from the secretary of war ad interim, in answer to a resolution of the House of , transmitting a summary of the trial of Henry Wirz. [Washington, D.C.: G.P.O, 1868] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2011525460/

Private John Mackey of the 45th United States Colored Troops was sent to Camp Lawton on November 11, 1864. According to his pension file, he deserted his regiment on June 27, 1864. It is possible that he deserted and was then somehow captured by Confederate troops and then sent to Camp Lawton, although that does not explain why he was sent to Lawton and not enslaved. It is also possible that he never actually deserted and was instead captured by Confederate soldiers, but that does not explain how he was captured. The 45th USCT was guarding Washington, D.C. in June 1864 and had not fought any battles yet. There are many mysteries surrounding Private Mackey, which is a common theme in African American research. More research often yields more questions than answers. See Wallsmith, Deborah. 2018. "Camp Lawton Prisoner Database." Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Unpublished Database, and Jack and Carol Lundquist's Civil War Prisons database. Also, see The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops: Infantry Organizations, 41st through 46th; Microfilm Serial: M1994; Microfilm Roll: 93

Private Shadrack Chrisden (also spelled Shadrach Chrisden, Sharack Chrisden, and Shadrack Chisden) of the 8th USCT was also possibly imprisoned at Camp Lawton. Deborah Wallsmith's unpublished database as well as Jack and Carol Lundquist's Civil War Prisons database support his imprisonment at Camp Lawton. The Lundquist database indicates that Private Chrisden was sent to Camp Lawton on February 2, 1865, which is impossible because the Confederacy evacuated Lawton in early December 1864. It also states that Chrisden was in the 8th Connecticut, but this is most likely a transcription error as CT for Connecticut is very close to USCT. The Andersonville Departure Lists as well as Chrisden's military service record indicates that he was sent to Columbia, S.C. on February 2, 1865. This also makes no sense as the only prison camps in Columbia at that time were Camp Sorghum and Camp Asylum, which were both officer's prisons. Similar to Private Mackey, more research yields more questions. For Chrisden's military service record see, The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops: Infantry Organizations, 8th through 13th, including the 11th (new); Microfilm Serial: M1821; Microfilm Roll: 3

Private William B. Smith, a white soldier in the 14th Illinois Infantry, wrote in his diary that Tony and Oliver, African American cooks, were imprisoned at Camp Lawton. Tony and Oliver were not USCT soldiers. They were most likely contraband of war, i.e. former enslaved peoples who escaped into Union hands and worked for the 14th Illinois as cooks. Page 238 of On Wheels: And How I Came There by William B. Smith. Also see "Slaves Declared Contraband of War," American Antiquarian Society and WARTMAN, MICHELLE. “CONTRABAND, RUNAWAYS, FREEMEN: NEW DEFINITIONS OF RECONSTRUCTION CREATED BY THE CIVIL WAR.” International Social Science Review 76, no. 3/4 (2001): 122–29. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41887072.