Entrance to Camp Morton

Description:	Guns are stacked together near the center of the image. Bare trees are in the background. Guards for the camp had to be provided on short notice. Colonel Richard Owen and the 60th Regiment arrived within a few days. As commandant, Owen tempered his rulings with sympathy. However, the need for experienced troops required Owen be sent into active service after only a few months. Men wearing coats are standing near the entrance to the prison camp. There is a sentrys walk built approximately four feet down from the top of the wooden fence. Camp Morton contained approximateely 36 acres of land. Today that land is borderd by Nineteenth Street, Talbott Avenue, Twenty-second Street, and Central Avenue. The fence around the prison was made of 2 inch thick oak planks. A ditch ran through the property to accomodate the overflow from Fall Creek during spring rains. It was called the State Ditch. The prisoners called it the Potomac. (Information from Camp Morton 1861-1865: Indianapolis Prison Camp, by Hattie Lou Winslow and Joseph R. H. Moore, Indiana Historical Society, 1995. IHS Call Number: E616.M8 W56 1995.)
Origin:	Circa 1864-1865
Created By:	Eugene F. Drake of Company I, 60th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, employed for guard and garrison duty in Indianapolis, Indiana, August 1864.
Publisher:	Digital image 2004 Indiana Historical Society. All Rights Reserved.
Source:	http://images.indianahistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/dc008/id/0
Collection:	Civil War Materials
Copyright:	This image may be printed or downloaded by individuals, schools or libraries for study, research or classroom teaching without permission. For other uses contact: mailto:visualcollections@indianahistory.org
Geography:	Indiana--Indianapolis
Subjects:	Prisons Prisoners of war Prisoners Camp Morton (Ind.) Indianapolis (Ind.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisoners and prisons United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisoners and prisons

Further information on this record can be found at its source.