Camp Morton
| Company type | Military training facility and prisoner-of-war camp |
|---|---|
| Industry | Military |
| Founded | April 17, 1861 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States |
| Fate | Sold and developed into Morton Place in 1891 |
| Headquarters | Indianapolis , United States |
Area served | Union Army (training); Confederate prisoners of war (detention) |
Camp Morton functioned as a military training facility and a Union prisoner-of-war detention site in Indianapolis, Indiana during the American Civil War. The camp was named in honor of Indiana's governor Oliver Morton and was originally the location of the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The initial Union soldiers arrived in April 1861. Following the Union victories at Fort Donelson and the Battle of Shiloh, the area was repurposed to detain prisoners of war. The first group of Confederate captives reached the camp on February 22, 1862, with the final prisoners being paroled on June 12, 1865. After the conflict ended, the grounds reverted to fair use until being sold in 1891 and subsequently developed into Morton Place, which is now part of the Herron-Morton Place Historic District.
The camp spanned a parcel bounded by what are now Central Avenue, Nineteenth Street, Twenty-second Street, and Talbott Street. It ranked among the largest of eight Union camps housing Confederate enlisted men and noncommissioned officers. Throughout its operation from 1862 to 1865, Camp Morton held an average prisoner population of 3,214, with roughly fifty fatalities occurring monthly; its highest recorded number was 4,999 inmates in July 1864. In total, more than 1,700 detainees died while confined there.
While no military structures from Camp Morton remain today, the remains of 1,616 Confederate soldiers who perished at the camp are buried at Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery. Commemorations include a bust honoring Richard Owen, a former camp commander, located at the Indiana Statehouse, alongside memorials dedicated to Confederate prisoners at Garfield Park and Crown Hill Cemetery. The monument at Garfield Park was removed on June 8, 2020.
Union training camp
From April 1861 until February 1862, Camp Morton served as a training site for Union troops. Just two days following the initial attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, Governor Morton committed to assembling and outfitting a force of 10,000 soldiers in response to President Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers to quell the Southern uprising. Together with his adjutant general, Lew Wallace, Morton chose the Indianapolis location formerly known as the Indiana State Fairgrounds as a mustering point.[1] This 36-acre area had previously been Henderson's Grove farmland situated north of downtown Indianapolis and was bordered by present-day Central Avenue and Nineteenth, Twenty-second, and Talbott Streets.[2]
The site was renamed Camp Morton in tribute to Governor Morton (who served from 1861 through 1867), with its first recruits arriving on April 17, 1861. Existing structures on the fairgrounds were adapted for military purposes: barracks were converted into stalls; the power hall was transformed into a hospital; dining facilities became commissaries; and administrative offices were repurposed for military use.[3] Additional bunkhouses were erected to house surplus soldiers, although bathing facilities required use of nearby Fall Creek. Despite initial difficulties managing personnel, supplies, tents, and provisions, organization was quickly achieved. The camp rapidly became a central hub for local Indianapolis citizens.[4][5]
Military Detention Facility
Camp Morton in Indianapolis ranked among the largest Union incarceration sites for Confederate enlisted men, alongside facilities such as Camp Douglas (Chicago, Illinois), Camp Chase (Columbus, Ohio), and Camp Butler (Springfield, Illinois). Confederate generals were confined at Fort Warren located in Boston Harbor, while junior commissioned officers were detained at Johnson's Island in Ohio.
Initially established in 1862 under state jurisdiction before transitioning to federal control, Camp Morton reopened in 1863 mainly to accommodate ill prisoners but also housed others. Between July 1863 and June 1865, the camp held an average of 3,214 inmates, with approximately fifty deaths occurring monthly. The population peaked at 4,999 prisoners in July 1864, coinciding with a monthly death toll of 133.
1862
Following the capture of Fort Donelson on February 17, 1862, Camp Morton was designated to hold up to three thousand Confederate captives. Captain James A. Ekin directed its transformation into a prison camp by converting horse stalls into dormitories and constructing barracks, latrines, and a wooden palisade featuring reinforced gates and guard walkways. Initially, no hospital was available on-site; prisoners received medical care within Indianapolis.
The first group of prisoners arrived by rail on February 22, quickly swelling to 3,700 within several days. Local citizens provided support through food donations, clothing, and nursing care. By April 1, the camp housed five thousand individuals including guards; numbers increased further with prisoners captured at battles like Shiloh. Confederate officers were initially quartered separately within the city before being transferred to camps in Ohio and Massachusetts; enlisted men and noncommissioned officers remained at Camp Morton. Many inmates suffered from illness caused by inadequate clothing, poor nutrition, and difficulty adapting to the climate.
Colonel Richard Owen assumed command until June 20, 1862. The guards were drawn from Indiana volunteer regiments stationed nearby but were insufficient in number—Owen reported that fewer than one regiment plus additional personnel guarded over four thousand prisoners, whereas two regiments secured around a thousand at Camp Chase. Owen implemented operational procedures focusing on firm yet humane discipline and encouraged prisoner self-administration, which occasionally sparked local controversy.
By mid-April 1862, a camp bakehouse was operational, enabling prisoners to work and purchase goods from the sutler. Recreational opportunities included musical ensembles, theatrical performances, concerts, ballgames, and whittling activities. Prisoners were permitted to send censored correspondence and receive inspected packages; escape attempts were infrequent during Owen’s tenure.
The camp’s hospital facilities were initially inadequate; supplementary medical spaces were established on Meridian Street and some inmates received care in private residences. Dysentery and typhoid fever were common ailments among prisoners.
David Garland Rose replaced Owen as commandant on June 19, 1862, enforcing stricter regulations with new Indiana military volunteers taking over guard duties. Prisoner exchanges commenced on August 22; remaining Confederate captives departed by September 1862 for exchanges conducted in Vicksburg. Subsequently, Camp Morton functioned as a training site for Union soldiers and paroled Indiana volunteers who guarded the facility until they returned to active duty.
1863–65
By 1863, the structures at Camp Morton were in need of maintenance, yet minimal funds were allocated for repairs. Command of the camp was assumed by Colonel James Biddle of the Seventy-first Indiana Volunteers. His regiment, having been captured at Muldraugh Hill, Kentucky, was paroled and awaited prisoner exchange within Camp Morton. Guard responsibilities were managed by soldiers from Biddle's unit along with personnel from other regiments. Between January and March 1863, new prisoners arrived; in April, some were transferred to City Point, Virginia, followed by additional arrivals from Gallatin, Tennessee in June.
In July of that year, Indianapolis residents were alarmed by Confederate general John Hunt Morgan’s raid, although he ultimately redirected his forces eastward. On July 23, approximately 1,100 of Morgan’s captured men reached Camp Morton, with further groups arriving in early August, boosting the prisoner population to nearly 3,000. By mid-August, over 1,100 prisoners had been moved to Camp Douglas in Chicago.
Following Owen’s tenure, escape attempts at the camp escalated—prisoners dug tunnels and instigated uprisings; roughly 35 men successfully fled between April and October 1863. Informers among the inmates were rewarded with extra rations as motivation.
Throughout 1863, the command shifted multiple times: Captain Albert J. Guthridge took control in July; David W. Hamilton briefly led until September; Guthridge resumed command until Colonel Ambrose A. Stevens arrived in October and remained until the war concluded.
When Stevens took over, Camp Morton housed 2,362 prisoners with a death rate exceeding 12%. Medical inspector Augustus M. Clark reported that while food and clothing supplies were adequate, the camp suffered from poor upkeep, ineffective drainage systems, weak discipline, and insufficient security measures. Stevens worked to enhance conditions by providing additional blankets, improved nutrition, and medical attention. Despite these improvements, the severe winter of 1863–64 resulted in 263 fatalities.
Late in 1863 brought prisoners from near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Those lacking proper clothing received blankets and garments; although rations met basic needs, fresh vegetables were scarce. Prisoners supplemented their diets by cooking meals and purchasing food within camp confines.
A new military prison facility with a capacity for sixty inmates was constructed late that year; by January 1864 it housed thirty prisoners. Despite punitive measures such as ration cuts, escape efforts continued unabated.
By July 1864, the inmate population swelled to 4,999. Overcrowding combined with summer heatwaves contributed to a rise in illnesses including malaria. Consumption of water from Fall Creek caused diarrhea due to its limestone content. While hospital wards saw modest expansion, barracks remained in poor condition.
Early 1865 witnessed significant reductions in prisoner numbers through exchanges: around two thousand departed between February and March; an additional six hundred left shortly thereafter. By April only 1,408 detainees remained; following General Robert E. Lee’s surrender on April 9, many prisoners were released. On June 1 just 308 inmates were left; the final Confederate captives were freed on June 12. Furthermore, seven Union deserters and forty Veteran Reserve Corps members held at the guardhouse were either discharged without pay or released dishonorably.
Confederate burials
Between 1862 and 1865 approximately 1,700 prisoners died at Camp Morton. The Confederate dead were interred in wooden coffins within trenches across five plots adjacent to the City Cemetery—later expanded into Greenlawn Cemetery. Graves were initially marked with wooden boards inscribed with identification numbers that gradually faded over time. While some remains were returned to families, a total of 1,616 Confederate prisoners stayed buried at Greenlawn. Burial records were lost in a fire during 1866.
In the 1870s, construction related to the Vandalia Railroad necessitated relocating these remains into a collective grave at Greenlawn. Colonel William Elliot was commissioned in 1906 to locate this burial site; subsequently in 1912 the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument was erected to commemorate the 1,616 interred individuals. The monument was moved to Garfield Park in 1928. In 1931 all remains were transferred to Section 32 ("Confederate Mound") at Crown Hill Cemetery. In 1993 bronze plaques bearing the names of every Confederate who died at Camp Morton were installed there.
Other site uses
Following the departure of the last detainees, the remaining Camp Morton property was auctioned publicly in July 1865; by August, the buildings stood empty. The city designated $3,000 for restoration efforts, while the federal government compensated the State Board of Agriculture with $9,816.56 for damages incurred.
The Indiana State Fair resumed activities at this location in 1868 and continued there until 1891. That year, the State Board of Agriculture sold the property to a trio of Indianapolis entrepreneurs for $275,100 and subsequently acquired new fairgrounds at a different site within the same year.
The former Camp Morton grounds were transformed into a residential district known as Morton Place, featuring newly established streets and improved drainage systems. After 1890, the Herron-Morton Place neighborhood gained prominence partly due to its connection with then-President Benjamin Harrison.
Memorials
A bronze bust honoring Colonel Richard Owen, sculpted by Belle Kinney Scholz, is exhibited on the main level of the Indiana Statehouse, commemorating his leadership as commandant of Camp Morton in 1862. Southern contributors donated $3,000 for this tribute, which was unveiled on June 9, 1913, acknowledging Owen’s humane treatment of Confederate captives. The plaque bears the inscription: "Tribute by Confederate prisoners of war and their friends for his courtesy and kindness."
In 1916, students and educators from Indianapolis Public School 45 erected a stone marker to designate the camp’s location at Alabama and Nineteenth Streets.
A monument dedicated to Confederate soldiers interred at Indianapolis’s Greenlawn Cemetery was moved to Garfield Park in 1928.
At Crown Hill Cemetery’s Confederate Mound (Section 32), a memorial alongside ten bronze plaques honors Confederate prisoners originally buried at Greenlawn. Their remains were reinterred there in 1931, with plaques listing 1,616 names.
In 1962, the Indiana Civil War Centennial Commission placed an official state historical marker near Camp Morton’s site on North Alabama Street.
See also
References
External links
- Camp Morton at Rootsweb – features images related to items mentioned in this article
- HORRORS OF CAMP MORTON – personal narrative by former prisoner Dr. Thomas E. Spotswood
- History of Camp Morton