00:01 - Ok.

00:02 - My name is Hugh Simmons.

00:03 - I'm with the Fort Delaware society,

00:06 - member of the board of directors

00:08 - and the webmaster for the

00:10 - society and we're doing a lot of

00:11 - historical look up for

00:14 - individuals who were prisoners

00:15 - of war at the camp.

00:19 - We are here at Manor College as

00:21 - our annual presentation on the

00:23 - history of the fort. Fort

00:25 - Delaware as it exists today is

00:29 - called Fort Delaware State Park

00:32 - managed by the state of

00:34 - Delaware.

00:35 - They've done a wonderful job

00:37 - restoring the fort to how it

00:39 - appeared in 1864.

00:41 - It was a major prison camp here

00:43 - in the civil war with a strong

00:45 - Pennsylvania connection.

00:47 - The two main heavy artillery

00:49 - batteries, the Garrison, the

00:50 - fort during the war were from

00:53 - Pennsylvania. Battery came from

00:55 - Philadelphia, battery came from

00:57 - Pittsburgh, and they placed

01:00 - officers and staff at Fort

01:02 - throughout its duration.

01:04 - The fort was selected to be a

01:05 - prison camp because of its

01:07 - location in the transportation

01:09 - hub.

01:10 - Without water connections to

01:12 - Philadelphia it is located on

01:15 - Peapatch island at the mouth of

01:17 - the Delta. The canal which was a

01:19 - shortcut by water to Baltimore

01:22 - ocean going vessels could come

01:24 - up near the fort and load and

01:26 - offload prisoners and the

01:28 - Philadelphia gave a connection

01:31 - to the railroads all over the

01:33 - world.

01:36 - Most of the Gettysburg POWs who

01:40 - were able bodied were captured

01:42 - and came to Fort Delaware before

01:47 - they went elsewhere.

01:49 - Most people tend to think of the

01:51 - Gettysburg prisoners going to

01:52 - Point Lookout. Point Lookout did

01:53 - not open until September of 63.

01:57 - At that time the excess of

01:59 - surplus of prisoners at Fort

02:01 - Delaware were transferred to

02:03 - Point Lookout.

02:05 - The prison pen was designed to

02:06 - hold 10000 prisoners.

02:08 - And the aftermath of Gettysburg

02:12 - was as high as twelve thousand

02:13 - five hundred.

02:15 - By the end of September that was

02:17 - reduced to about 9000 prisoners

02:19 - and the headcount stayed about

02:21 - that level for the duration of

02:23 - the war.

02:24 - The prisoners lived in wooden

02:25 - barracks out on Peapatch island

02:28 - that were relatively

02:30 - comfortable.

02:31 - When you consider some of the

02:32 - other work camps that civil war

02:36 - prisoners has suffered through.