Martial Law
Information about Martial Law in Richmond VA during the Civil War and the Provost Marshal General John Henry Winder

Written Accounts

1900-09-16, National Tribune; Part one of Silas Crocker's serialized account of life in Libby - relates the stock story of money stealing by Dick Turner and mentions a sergeant beating a man who would not give up his ring.
1901-09-19, National Tribune; brief article describing the author's reception at Libby, and being bayonetted by a guard while there
1902-01-25, Richmond Times; former Union spy, once held in Castle Thunder, and member of a plot to kidnap Jefferson Davis, is here in Richmond doing Civil War research
1902-08-25, St. Albans (VT) Daily Messenger; Libby Prison flag has been mutilated by a souvenir hunter at Rutland Memorial Hall. Description of other artifcats on display there
1902-10-10, Richmond Times; prisoner in Libby Prison is paroled to work for the Richmond Whig, setting type, in 1863
1902-10-23, National Tribune; notes from a former Libby Prisoner, who commanded the prison after the occupation of Richmond; mentions Dick Turner being imprisoned there.
1903-04-30, National Tribune; soldier corroborates account of breaking open the doors of Libby upon the evacuation of Richmond; also relates his imprisonment in Libby and Belle Isle; cruelty of the doctor on Belle Isle, kindness of another
1903-12-31, National Tribune; author asks some leading questions: Why was the cook house on Belle Isle below the sinks? Where are the Germans [emphasis] who ate the Lieutenant's Dog?
1904-08-11, National Tribune; letter of a Gettysburg prisoner who spent six weeks in Belle Isle. Mentions a soldier taking the oath of allegiance to the CSA, and that a large party escaped on Aug. 12
1905-02-17, Richmond Times-Dispatch; former Libby Prison guard dies at the age of 95

Page 90 of 92

Go to top