I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island: Life in a Civil War Prison
Johnson’s Island, in Sandusky, Ohio, was built in 1862 specifically to house captured Confederate officers. In part because of the educational background and access to money enjoyed by those individuals, a distinctive prison culture developed.
          David Bush has spent more than two decades leading archaeological investigations at the site, and has uncovered a wealth of material culture that demonstrates the magnitude of POW craft jewelry manufacture, especially rings created by officer-prisoners for loved ones back home.
          In I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island Bush pairs these discoveries with a deep reading of extant letters, including a rich trove of correspondence between Captain Wesley Makely, captured shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg, and his wife, Kate, at home in Alexandria, Virginia.
          Bush captures in compelling detail the physical challenges and emotional toll of prison life and offers fascinating insights into the daily lives of prisoners, guards, and the homefront.
          No other collection of Civil War letters offers such a rich context; no other archaeological investigation of Civil War prisons provides such a human story.

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I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island: Life in a Civil War Prison
Johnson’s Island, in Sandusky, Ohio, was built in 1862 specifically to house captured Confederate officers. In part because of the educational background and access to money enjoyed by those individuals, a distinctive prison culture developed.
          David Bush has spent more than two decades leading archaeological investigations at the site, and has uncovered a wealth of material culture that demonstrates the magnitude of POW craft jewelry manufacture, especially rings created by officer-prisoners for loved ones back home.
          In I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island Bush pairs these discoveries with a deep reading of extant letters, including a rich trove of correspondence between Captain Wesley Makely, captured shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg, and his wife, Kate, at home in Alexandria, Virginia.
          Bush captures in compelling detail the physical challenges and emotional toll of prison life and offers fascinating insights into the daily lives of prisoners, guards, and the homefront.
          No other collection of Civil War letters offers such a rich context; no other archaeological investigation of Civil War prisons provides such a human story.

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I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island: Life in a Civil War Prison

I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island: Life in a Civil War Prison

by David R. Bush
I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island: Life in a Civil War Prison

I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island: Life in a Civil War Prison

by David R. Bush

Paperback(Reprint)

$19.95 
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Overview

Johnson’s Island, in Sandusky, Ohio, was built in 1862 specifically to house captured Confederate officers. In part because of the educational background and access to money enjoyed by those individuals, a distinctive prison culture developed.
          David Bush has spent more than two decades leading archaeological investigations at the site, and has uncovered a wealth of material culture that demonstrates the magnitude of POW craft jewelry manufacture, especially rings created by officer-prisoners for loved ones back home.
          In I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island Bush pairs these discoveries with a deep reading of extant letters, including a rich trove of correspondence between Captain Wesley Makely, captured shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg, and his wife, Kate, at home in Alexandria, Virginia.
          Bush captures in compelling detail the physical challenges and emotional toll of prison life and offers fascinating insights into the daily lives of prisoners, guards, and the homefront.
          No other collection of Civil War letters offers such a rich context; no other archaeological investigation of Civil War prisons provides such a human story.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780813044088
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Publication date: 09/23/2012
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

David R. Bush (1951-2022) was professor of anthropology at Heidelberg University in Ohio and chairman of the Friends and Descendants of Johnson's Island Civil War Prison.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Preface xi

1 Introduction 1

2 Johnson's Island Prison 7

3 Where Is Your Letter? (August 16-December 13, 1863) 17

4 Thoughts of Exchange (December 24, 1863-May 8, 1864) 31

5 Sending Images (May 11-September 15, 1864) 70

6 Hard Rubber and Hard Times (September 19, 1864-March 12, 1865) 124

7 Going Home (March 21-April 29, 1865) 207

8 The Prisoner-of-War Experience 225

Acknowledgments 239

Notes 241

Bibliography 249

Index 253

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