Confederate Prisoners at Point Lookout

The forty-two color ink drawings presented here were made in 1864 by a Confederate prisoner of war at Point Lookout, Maryland, the Unions largest Civil War prison camp. The drawings highlight the concerns and experiences of prisoners of war; most scenes show prisoners playing cards, buying food, or engaging in barter with food vendors. All of the prison guards depicted are African American, and encounters are recorded between these guards and the Confederate prisoners. The album into which these sketches were pasted also includes photographs of commanding officers at Point Lookout, printed orders to prison guards about the treatment of prisoners, and letters from prisoners to President Lincoln asking to be released. The volume is part of the Naval History Society Collection, which was donated to the New-York Historical Society in 1925 by James Barnes. James Barnes was the son of the Naval History Societys founder, John S. Barnes, whose own father, Brigadier General James Barnes, commanded the Point Lookout prison. John S. Barnes found the album among his fathers papers after his death in 1869. Photo in album -- The closing scene of the Rebellion-- The administering the Oath of Allegiance to the Rebel prisoners of war at Point Lookout June 230, 1865