george, there is a group that wants to erect a monument at camp moore to the immortal 600. dont know much about it, just heard a little talk of it. dont know if anything will come of it.
Randy we have a new member who is discussing a monument to the same at Morris Island. I think that is where the Immortal 600 were. I am doing some fact finding and letter writing at this time trying to collect information and such. Will try to update as I can.
In 1864, the fortunes of the South were declining steadily, and six hundred Confederate prisoners of war were forced to represent their dying country's desperation. President Lincoln's war council had decided to stop all prisoner exchanges, leaving countless Confederate soldiers in Union hands. Despite the number of prisoners denied freedom, none suffered so much as the six hundred Confederate officers who were made to serve as examples to their countrymen. Here, their own words describe the cruelties and deprivations they experienced at the hands of their Union captors. In Charleston Harbor, fifty officers were used as human shields against artillery fire from their own armies and comrades. Elsewhere, Confederate officers were held in deliberately inhumane conditions, in unheated quarters, given a food ration so low that they gradually starved, and were denied medicinal care. Slowly, the soldiers died from malnutrition, exposure, and disease. Courageous and heroic, all six hundred of these men served their country just as proudly as their allies on the battlefield and fought for the ideals they held so dear. About the Author: Author Mauriel Phillips Joslyn recreates a story of the undeniable horrors of Lincoln's policy and the mistreatment of the prisoners in his power
Great post Mark. It is my understanding that there are to be monuments and so forth to the Yankees who served on the island but nothing of the 600. Can you find out that information?
Never received a reply to this letter. Do we have any member willing to take the time to try and find out exactly what the project involving Morris Island consists of. all it takes is one letter to the right person.
If you are willing to take on this project please let me know.
