An illustration of the Rock Island Prison Barracks. While Rock Island was initially established as an arsenal for the Union Army in 1862, it became a prison barracks the following year when Captain Charles A. Reynolds, under the orders of Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs, began to survey and construct a camp to accommodate 10,080 POWs. The first prisoners arrived in December 1863 and the camp would eventually house 12,192 prisoners during its two years of operations.

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Size: 3331px × 2688px
Photo credit: © Operation 2022 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: .., army, arsenal, civil, command, history, island, ria, rock, sustainment, war