2023-03 HCA Auctions
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/7/2023
Manuscript book, titled "Autograph Book of US Officers, Prisons of War, Columbia, South Carolina," string bound, 93 pp., very legible. Transferred from POW camps in Macon, GA, and Charleston, SC, among other places, the prisoners were kept in an empty 5-acre field surrounded by a line of planks that denoted a "kill zone." Any prisoner that crossed the line was immediately shot. The prisoners' diet consisted of raw cornmeal and sorghum molasses, providing the unofficial name of "Camp Sorghum" to their prison. The men had no shelter or sanitary facilities of any sort, and were forced to dig holes in the open field or gather brush from a nearby stand of pine trees when allowed, in order to have any sort of protection from the cold and rain. Among the hundreds of autographs in this album are many officers taken prisoner at Chickamauga and Gettysburg and the Weldon Railroad at Petersburg, as well as several who took part in the Libby Prison Break of February 9, 1864, but were recaptured. The officer corps of the famous Iron Brigade is also well-represented; unsurprising, given their penchant for close combat. Some notable officers whose autographs are included are Major David Vickers of the 4th New Jersey, who rose from private to brevet Brigadier General. Lieutenant Colonel Allyne Litchfield of the 7th Michigan Cavalry, who was taken prisoner while leading 100 hand-picked men of the 7th on Kilpatrick's cavalry raid on Richmond on March 1, 1864, and also rose to brevet Brigadier General. William McGinnis of the 19th Massachusetts was wounded in action at Antietam, and wounded twice at Gettysburg on July 2 and 3, before earning a commission as Lieutenant and finally being captured at Petersburg. The autographs of five officers of the US Colored Troops are also featured: Captain Daniel Scott and Lieutenants Oliver Hill, Merritt Case, and William Baird of the 23rd USCT, as well as Lieutenant Jacob Shull of the 28th USCT, who were all captured in the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg. Major David Schooley of the Pennsylvania 2nd Heavy Artillery was captured at Petersburg, and also served as an officer of the 25th US Infantry (Buffalo Soldiers) for 20 years in the Indian Wars.
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