Prisoner-of-War Camp

This was the site of a Confederate training camp and Union prisoner-of-war camp during the Civil War. Before Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861, the population of Lynchburg doubledwith the influx of soldiers fromother parts of the state, as wellas from throughout the Confederacy. Virginians were housed at Camp Davis in Lynchburg,while other soldiers bivouackedhere at the fairgrounds justoutside the city.

At first, all prisoners-of-war are to be detained inRichmond, the Confederatecapital, but the jails and warehouses there quickly filled. Auxiliary facilitieswere established elsewhere. Lynchburg was anobvious choice for a prisoner-of-war camp becauseof its superior rail system and its remotenessfrom the front lines.

Located on part of the fairgrounds, thecamp was for Federal prisoners waiting to beexchanged. No medical services were available, and many deaths occurred in the camp before the autumn of 1862, whenthe sick and woundedwere moved to hospitalsin Lynchburg. Afterthe exchange cartelceased operating in thesummer of 1863, thecamp quickly becameovercrowded. The onlypermanent structures inside the enclosure wereopen stalls that had been used for livestock, sothe prisoners were forced to livein them or in tents. Most of theUnion dead were buried in theCity Cemetery by the firm ofGeorge Diuguid and then, inOctober 1866, were re-interredat Poplar grove National Cemetery in Petersburg. E.C. GlassHigh School now stands on thesite of the prison camp.

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Show me all markers in:  Lynchburg, VA  |  24501  |  Virginia  |  United States of America

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Lynchburg's First Public Hanging, 1830
Lynchburg, Virginia, 1864
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When Lynchburg Was "Lunchburg"

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