Oliver Hazard Perry KIRK

Other Events:

• _UID: 4927784DFB8C421CB792CF7921E31416D902

Notes:

He was the oldest half brother. Younger than myself has complexion like John and James, Grace and Jane such that his eyes are dark and his hair unusually red. He is about five feet 11 inches high, very stout considerably rounded about the shoulders - rather fickle very lively - talks a great deal - works hard - energetic, but wants economy - rather fractious at times.

Oliver went through the war without being hurt - was captured once and kept in prison at Camp Chase Ohio for 7 months.,


CIVIL WAR INFORMATION

Source:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wb4kdi/Military%20Service/Confederates/index.html

Sergeant, Co. B, 38th Alabama Infantry, Captured near Atlanta, July 22, 1864; held as POW at Camp Chase Ohio for 7 months.

CAMP CHASE INFORMATION

Camp Chase, named for Sec. of the Treasury and former Ohio governor Salmon P. Chase, began as a training camp for Union volunteers, housing a few political and military prisoners from Kentucky and western Virginia. The camp received its first large influx of captured Confederates from western campaigns, including enlisted men, officers, and a few of the latter's black servants. On oath of honor, Confederate officers were permitted to wander through Columbus, register in hotels, and receive gifts of money and food. The public paid for camp tours, and Chase became a tourist attraction. Complaints over such lax discipline and the camp's state administration provoked investigation, and the situation changed.

As the war wore on, conditions became worse. Shoddy barracks, low muddy ground, open latrines, above ground open cisterns, and a brief smallpox outbreak excited U.S. Sanitary Commission agents who were already demanding reform. Original facilities for 3,500-4,000 men were jammed with close to 7,000. Since parole strictures prohibited service against the Confederacy, many Federals had surrendered believing they would be paroled and sent home. Some parolees, assigned to guard duty at Federal prison camps, were bitter, and rumors increased of maltreatment of prisoners at Camp Chase and elsewhere.

Before the end of hostilities, Union parolee guards were transferred to service in the Indian Wars, some sewage modifications were made, and prisoners were put to work improving barracks and facilities. Prisoner laborers also built larger, stronger fences for their own confinement, a questionable assignment under international law governing prisoners of war. Barracks rebuilt for 7,000 soon overflowed, and crowding and health conditions were never resolved. As many as 10,000 prisoners were reputedly confined there by the time of the Confederate surrender.

(Source: "Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War)

Buried:
Grave location:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=kirk&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=3&GScnty=91&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=59509070&df=all&