Editing Libby Prison (section)

==History==
[[File:Bracelets carved from beef bones in Libby Prison - Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium - DSC04258.JPG|thumb|upright=1|Bracelets carved from beef bones in Libby Prison]]
The prison was located in a three-story brick tobacco warehouse on two levels on [[Tobacco Row]] at the waterfront of the [[James River]]. In 1861 was leased by Capt. Luther Libby and his son George W. Libby. They operated a ship's chandlery and grocery business.<ref name="VA">[http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Libby_Prison "Libby Prison"], ''Encyclopedia Virginia'', accessed 21 April 2012</ref>

The Confederate government started to use the facility as a hospital and prison in late 1861. In 1862 they reserved it to hold [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] [[Union Army|officers]] because of the influx of prisoners.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2954671 Byrne, Frank L., "Libby Prison: A Study in Emotions"], ''Journal of Southern History'' 1958 24(4): 430-444 JSTOR, accessed 21 April 2012</ref> It contained eight low-ceilinged rooms, each 103 by 42 feet (31.4 by 12.5 metres). The second and third floors were used to house prisoners.  Windows were barred and open to the elements, increasing the discomfort of occupants.<ref name="VA"/>  Lack of [[sanitation]] and overcrowding caused diseases.  From holding 700 prisoners in 1862, by 1863 the facility far exceeded the maximum capacity of 1,000.<ref name="VA"/>  Mortality rates were high in 1863 and 1864, aggravated by Confederate shortages of food and supplies. Because of the high death toll, Libby Prison is generally regarded as second only in notoriety to [[Andersonville Prison]] in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].

In 1863, ''[[The New York Times]]'' published a description of "the Libby" from a purported prisoner diary entry.<ref>{{cite news |title=OUR PRISONERS IN THE SOUTH.; Complete Official List of Union Officers Held by the Rebels. AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT. Inhuman Treatment of Prisoners of War in Richmond. WHERE THE BLAME RESTS. Names and Description of the Rebel Officers Commanding at the Libby Prison. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1863/11/06/archives/our-prisoners-in-the-south-complete-official-list-of-union-officers.html |access-date=8 June 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=6 November 1863}}</ref> The next year, [[6th Kentucky Infantry Regiment (Union)|Kentucky Volunteer Infantry]] Captain I.N. Johnston, who [[Libby Prison escape|escaped from Libby Prison]], attempted to corroborate the article. (He testified that "...an African slave...did all in his power to restore us to freedom and home."<ref name="johnston"/>

He wrote <blockquote>"...the building is of brick, with a front of near one hundred and forty feet, and one hundred feet deep. It is divided into nine rooms; the ceilings are low, and ventilation imperfect; the windows are barred, through which the windings of [[James River]] and the tents of Belle Isle may be seen. Its immediate surroundings are far from being agreeable; the sentinels pacing the streets constantly are unpleasant reminders that your stay is not a matter of choice; and were it so, few would choose it long as a boarding-house."<ref name="johnston">{{cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=Isaac N. |title=Four Months In Libby, and the Campaign against Atlanta |date=1864 |publisher=Methodist Book Concern |page=48 and 112}}</ref></blockquote>

In March 1864, Union worries about the safety of Richmond and related security of the prisons, and the scarcity of resources peaked. The next month, Union officer Harland Richardson pleaded "once more" for a "Mr. Reilly," presumably on behalf of the U.S. War Department, to send provisions to Libby.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brockman |first1=Paul |title=A Civil War Letter from Libby Prison |url=https://indianahistory.org/blog/a-civil-war-letter-from-libby-prison/ |website=Indiana Historical Society |access-date=8 June 2020 |date=15 May 2020}}</ref> Such requests were either delayed by Libby commandants or ignored, as the U.S. War Department funneled supplies into active Union lines. 

Confederates permitted a one-time Union shipment as their own provisions dwindled. During the late spring and summer, they evacuated most prisoners-of-war from Richmond to [[Macon, Georgia]]. Enlisted men were transferred  to Andersonville while the officers housed at Libby would transfer to a new prison in Macon. From April to August 1864, Libby continued to be used, mostly as a place for temporary confinement of Union officers and a small number of Confederate military criminals. On September 18, ''The New York Times'' reported that approximately 230 Union officers remained in Libby Prison.<ref>{{cite news |title=THE REBEL PRISONS.; Names of Union Officers in Libby Prison. |url=https://nyti.ms/1Ltyv78 |access-date=8 June 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=21 September 1864}}</ref> 

Due to the [[Siege of Petersburg]] and the transfer of more prisoners-of-war, the number of inmates (officers and non-officers alike) surged. In autumn 1864, as the ''New York Times'' published President Lincoln's endorsement of the U.S. Sanitary Commission's "inquiry" into Confederate prison conditions and Union officer "martyrdom," Richmond dailies continued to report a resurgence of incarcerated numbers at Libby Prison.<ref>{{cite news |title=THE SOUTHERN MILITARY PRISONS.; Inquiry by the United States Sanitary Commission Confirmatory Account of the Martyrdom of our Soldiers in the South. THE RETURNED PRISONERS. LIBBY PRISON. BELLE ISLE. THE HOSPITALS. PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE REBELS THE PRISONS IN THE NORTH. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1864/09/25/archives/the-southern-military-prisons-inquiry-by-the-united-states-sanitary.html |access-date=8 June 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=25 September 1864}}</ref> On October 10, 1864, the ''Richmond Sentinel'' reported on the arrival of "one thousand five hundred and fifty two Yankee prisoners" at Libby, 1114 of which "were sent to Salisbury, North Carolina, yesterday, in order to make room for other prisoners expected to arrive here" (438 of these prisoners remained in Libby).<ref>{{cite news |title=1500 Yankee POWs (including 58 officers) arrive at Libby; 1114 POWs sent to Salisbury yesterday |url=https://civilwarrichmond.com/prisons/libby-prison/3133-1864-10-04-richmond-sentinel-1500-yankee-pows-including-58-officers-arrive-at-libby-1114-pows-sent-to-salisbury-yesterday |access-date=8 June 2020 |work=Richmond Sentinel |date=4 October 1864}}</ref> 

On October 14, according to Confederate prison records, officers corresponded on the fate of 82 out of 148 "Colored Troops" recently arrived at Libby Prison, bringing the total number of Union inmates to almost one thousand. Lieutenant-General [[Richard Stoddert Ewell|Ewell]] ordered "all negroes on hand not employed about the prison" turned over to "Brigadier-General [[Seth Barton|Barton]] for work on the fortifications." The commandant believed that the troops "seemed pleased at being released from prison to be put to work," joining an additional "sixty-eight negro soldiers [who] were sent to the works on the 2d instant. These negroes were captured at Petersburg July 30, 1864. Eleven of them are free; the rest are slaves." The remainder of the "U.S. Colored Troops," 66 in total, either had perished or could not physically depart from Libby Prison due to ailments and wounds. Any wages for black prisoners "employed about the prison" and additional wages for fortification construction, aside from "a day's rations," remain subjects of scholarly inquiry.<ref>{{cite web |title=Union & Confederate Correspondence, Orders, Etc., Relating to Prisoners of War and State from April 1, 1864, to December 31, 1864 (#40) |url=https://civilwarrichmond.com/prisons/libby-prison/4393-1864-10-14-official-records-ser-ii-vol-vii-pp-987-988-turner-reports-on-negro-soldiers-at-libby-prison-and-castle-thunder}}</ref>

Union officer petitions for assistance, written in advance of [[prisoner exchange]]s or before the officers died, indicated mass suffering and deteriorating conditions within the already deplorable Libby.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Libby Prison Inmate U.S. Civil War letter |url=https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/21726 |journal=Libby Prison Inmate U.S. Civil War Letter, 1864, Ms 113, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University. (Preferred Citation) Woodson@Rice.edu |access-date=8 June 2020 |language=en |date=1864|hdl=1911/21726 }}</ref> Newspapers on both sides of the war denounced atrocities ostensibly committed against prisoners by oppositional governments and prison commandants.<ref>https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5278&context=etd {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> Impulses and goals for these Richmond dailies' Union prisoner-of-war tallies remain subjects of scholarly inquiry.<ref>https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5787&context=etd {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> On March 30, 1865, ''[[The New York Times]]'' published a summation of Union captive numbers in Libby Prison, as well as the conditions of confinement, less than two weeks before the [[Battle of Appomattox Court House]]. The New York newspaper based its findings on the foregoing Richmond dailies and additional testimony.<ref>{{cite news |title=SOUTHERN NEWS.; The Libby Prison Attempted Justification of the Barbarous Treatment of Prisoners of War at the South Confession that the Libby was Mined. THE LIBBY PRISON. CONFESSION THAT THE PRISON WAS MINED. DEPARTURE OF GEN. SINGLETON. ILLNESS OF MR. DANIEL. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1865/03/30/archives/southern-news-the-libby-prison-attempted-justification-of-the.html |work=The New York Times |date=30 March 1865}}</ref>

After the occupation of Richmond in 1865, Union authorities used Libby Prison for detention of former Confederate officers. They reportedly improved conditions over those that had been common for Union officers, or prisoners of war on both sides generally during the war.

In April 1865, U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] visited Richmond, Virginia and toured the city on foot. When he came across Libby Prison, a crowd of onlookers stated "We will tear it down", to which Lincoln replied, "No, leave it as a monument."<ref>{{cite book|author-link=David Dixon Porter|url=https://archive.org/download/incidentsanecdot00port/incidentsanecdot00port.pdf|title=Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War|year=1885|first=David Dixon|last=Porter|page=299|access-date=January 26, 2014}}</ref>

In 1880, the building was purchased by Southern Fertilizer Company. In 1889 , it was bought by [[Charles F. Gunther]], a candymaker. He had the building disassembled, and moved to downtown [[Chicago]].  There it was rebuilt to serve as a war museum.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bridge |first1=Jennifer R. |title=A Shrine of Patriotic Memories |journal=Chicago History |date=2003 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=4–23}}</ref> In 1899, after the museum failed to draw enough crowds, the building was dismantled and was sold in pieces as scrap.<ref> John Neff, "A Simple Business Speculation: The Selling of a Civil War Prison,"  in James Alan Marten, and Caroline E. Janney,  eds. ''Buying and Selling Civil War Memory in Gilded Age America''(University of Georgia Press, 2021) pp. 13–30. [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=lTsxEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=%3Cref%3E+John+Neff,+in+James+Alan+Marten,+and+Caroline+E.+Janney,++eds.+%27%27Buying+and+Selling+Civil+War+Memory+in+Gilded+Age+America%27%27(University+of+Georgia+Press,+2021).%3C/ref%3E&ots=MYPSwsdCVR&sig=QxmQ2vbx7RuC8UKtcrJVldbi6sw#v=onepage&q&f=false online].</ref>