Camp Ford

Camp Ford

Company type	Prisoner-of-war camp
Industry	Military
Founded	1862
Defunct	1865
Headquarters	Tyler, Texas , United States
Area served	Confederate States

Camp Ford functioned as a POW facility situated near Tyler, Texas during the period of the American Civil War. It held the distinction of being the largest Confederate detention center located west of the Mississippi River.

History

Originally created in the spring of 1862, Camp Ford served as a training ground for Confederate soldiers and was named in honor of Col. John Salmon Ford, a Texas Ranger who also acted as Superintendent of Conscripts for Texas. The arrival of Union captives began in August 1863, comprising officers taken prisoner in Louisiana and naval members captured by Confederate naval forces. At first, detainees were confined outdoors until a surge of over 800 new prisoners in November 1863 led to widespread alarm and the subsequent erection of a military stockade covering four acres.

After the battles at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill in April 1864, more than 2,000 additional captives were brought to Camp Ford, necessitating an expansion of the stockade to four times its original size. Among these prisoners were 17 soldiers from the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, marking the sole Pennsylvania unit captured at this location during the Union’s 1864 Red River Campaign. With further captures from Arkansas, the inmate population reached its peak near 5,000 by July 1864. A series of prisoner exchanges conducted in July and October 1864, followed by another in February 1865, gradually decreased the number of detainees; the final group of 1,761 prisoners was exchanged on May 22, 1865.

Camp layout

Numerous Union prisoners interned at Camp Ford kept diaries documenting their experiences. A prominent example is James S. McClain, who was captured on May 3, 1864, and remained imprisoned until the concluding exchange on May 27, 1865; he produced comprehensive drawings illustrating the camp’s structures and key features.

Camp today

The site where the original stockade stood has been transformed into a public historical park under the ownership of Smith County, Texas and is overseen by the Smith County Historical Society, a nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) established in 1959 by local residents and businesses committed to preserving regional heritage. Visitors can find amenities such as an informational kiosk, paved walking trail, interpretive signage, a reconstructed cabin, and picnic facilities. Positioned along US Highway 271, approximately 0.7 miles north of Loop 323 in Tyler, Texas, this property benefits from exemption from county property taxation. Coordinates: 32°23'44.13"N - 95°16'7.28"W.

External links

• Camp Ford Civil War Prison (video). Washington, D.C.: C-SPAN, March 12, 2018.
• Camp Ford Historic Park, C.S.A., Texas Forest Trail Region and Texas Historical Commission.
• Camp Ford Historic Site and Park, American Battlefield Trust.
• Texas Beyond History: Camp Ford, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin.
• Civil War Prisons, CensusDiggins.com.
• The American Civil War; Prisoner of War Camps