Facts About Camp Chase

Fact # 1

The current Camp Chase Cemetery is made up of at least three separate graveyards.

A) The Southeast City Cemetery containing the remains of Confederate dead were reinterred in May of 1869 to the Camp Chase Cemetery (Note the Southeast Cemetery also contained Union and Confederate dead)

B) The Camp Dennison graveyard aka Waldschmidt Cemetery, 31 of the Confederate dead were reinterred to the Camp Chase Cemetery in May of 1869 (Note the Camp Dennison cemetery also contained both Union and Confederate dead) All of the Confederate dead buried at the Dennison cemetery died of wounds received from the battle of Shiloh. At least 8 Confederate dead were left behind at the Dennison graveyard when the 31 Confederates were reinterred to Camp Chase. In July of 1869 those remaining Confederates were reinterred to the Spring Grove Cemetery near Cincinnati, Ohio

C) The Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery

Fact # 2
The Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery was established on August 1, 1863

Fact # 3
The first soldier buried at the Camp Chase Cemetery was Private John R. HORTON

Grave # 1 at the Camp Chase Cemetery reads: J.R. HORTON Company F 9th Alabama Cavarly CSA
Grave # 1 at the Camp Chase Cemetery could read: Private John R. HORTON Company F 9th Alabama Cavarly (Malone's) CSA

Private Horton was captured on July 3, 1863 at Elk River, Tennessee. He was sent from Louisville, Kentucky on July 20, 1863 to the Camp Chase Prison. He would die of Typhoid Fever on August 4, 1863 and was the first prisoner to be buried at the newly created Camp Chase Cemetery. Additional Information: There was also a J.N. Horton from Company F 9th Alabama Cavarly. He may or may not be related to John R. Horton. There was also a J.R. Horton in Co. H 7th Alabama Infantry however this is a different soldier.

Facts: Private Horton was the 1st Confederate soldier buried at the Camp Chase Cemetery with a tombstone
He was the 1st Cavarly soldier to be buried at the CCCC with a tombstone
He was the 1st soldier to die of typhoid fever to be buried at the CCCC with a tombstone
He was the 1st Private to be buried at CCCC with a tombstone
He was the 1st Confederate from Alabama to be buried at CCCC with a tombstone
He was the 1st Confederate soldier to die in August of 1863 and buried at CCCC with a tombstone
He was the 1st Confederate soldier to be buried at the CCCC with a tombstone that was captured in the State of Tennessee

Fact # 4
There is a difference between those Confederates who died at Camp Chase and those who are buried there.

Fact # 5
There are Confederates who were buried at Camp Chase who do not have a tombstone

Fact # 6
There are at least five tombstones whose bodies are not at the Camp Chase Cemetery

Fact # 7 The first stones at the Camp Chase Cemetery were made by the Blue Ridge Marble Company from Nelson, Georgia

Fact # 8 The first stones were laid at the Camp Chase Cemetery in 1908

Fact # 9 At least 5 Confederate bodies were stolen from their graves on November 24, 1864

Fact #10 The men arrested for the stealing the bodies were Doctor Joab R. Flowers, Joseph Sterling, and Mr. Carpenter

Fact #11 The United States Government bought the Camp Chase Cemetery on April 23, 1879

Fact #12 The iron fence on top of the stone wall at Camp Chase was built in 1911

Fact #13 The last Confederate died at Camp Chase on August 20, 1865

Fact #14 The first Confederate civilian to be buried at the Camp Chase Cemetery was Wilson Adkins from (W) Virginia

Fact #15 There are at least 6 Union Soldiers buried at the Camp Chase Cemetery

Fact #16 Four blacks and one native American Indian died at Camp Chase

Fact #17 The early burials at Camp Chase were done at the North Graveyard.

Fact #18 Almost 25% of all Confederate deaths occured in February of 1865

Fact #19 There are not 2260 Confederates buried at the Camp Chase Cemetery

Fact #20 Stone 334 at the Camp Chase Cemetery marks the grave of a Confederate Civilian named Geroge Burgess. He was from Ohio

Fact #21 Almost 50% of all Confederate deaths occured in 1865

Fact #22 The State with the most Confederate dead is Alabama

Fact #23 33 Confederates who are buried at the Camp Chase Cemetery died of their wounds due to the battle of Shiloh

Fact #24 The only two soldiers hanged at the Camp Chase Prison were two Union Soldiers and they are not buried in the Chase Cemetery

Fact #25 By the end of the War Camp Chase had 3 prisons

Fact #26 Prison number 2 was built over the lowest point at Camp Chase

Fact #27 The winter of 64-65 was one of the worst in Ohio's history

Fact #28 Only the Confederate Civilians who died after August 1, 1863 have stones at Camp Chase

Fact #29 The highest ranking Confederate soldier to die at Camp Chase was Major Casseday and although he has a stone at Camp Chase his body was taken back to Kentucky and buried at the Cave Hill Cemetery on April 4, 1862 in Louisville

Fact #30 The large boulder at the Camp Chase Cemetery weighs about 32,000 pounds

Fact #31 At least two women, a mother and daugter from Tennessee were held at the Camp Chase Prison for a brief period in 1863

Fact #32 Amoung some of the guards at Camp Chase were some of the soldiers of the 31st Iowa known as the "Greybeards" They were some of the oldest soldiers in the Union Army

Fact #33 The 88th Ohio Infantry were the main guards at the Camp Chase Prison

Fact #34 The 80th Ohio and 74th Ohio Infantries also had guard duty at Chase along with the 12th Ohio Cavarly

Fact #35 Former Confederates who took the oath in late May and early June of 1863 formed Company F of the 12th Ohio Cavarly and were stationed near Fort Larimie, Wyoming

Fact #36 The Dix-Hill Cartel cleared the military prisoners from Camp Chase by September of 1862

Fact #37 According to the Compiled Military Service Records William H. Kanouse/Knauss entered and left the Union Army as a private. Knauss was with the 2nd New Jersey Infantry and the 2nd Veteran Reserve Corps

Fact #38 Chaplain David W. Tolford was the chaplain for the 10th Iowa Infantry and was at the battle of Shiloh. Tolford is buried at the Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio

Fact #39 The first Morgan Raider to die at Camp Chase and to have a stone was Private Thomas L. Carter.

Grave # 2 at the Camp Chase Cemetery reads: Thomas L. CARTER Company D 8th Kentucky Cavarly CSA
Grave # 2 at the Camp Chase Cemetery could read: Private Thomas L. CARTER Company D 8th Kentucky Cavarly CSA /Private Carter enlisted on September 10, 1862 at Lexington, Kentucky in the above unit. He was the first (MORGAN RAIDER) to die at the Camp Chase Prison. He was captured on July 20, 1863 at Cheshire, Ohio after his unit had been seperated from Morgan's main force. He was taken by steam ship to Cincinnati, Ohio and from there forwarded to Camp Chase by train. He would arrive at Chase on July 26, 1863 the same day the Morgan's entire command surrendered. He died on August 16, 1863.

Additional Information: There were two (2) Carters from Company D of the 8th Kentucky Cavarly (Confederate) William S. Carter. He may or may not be related to Private Thomas L. Carter. (Although all information indicates that Carter died on August 16, 1863 it would seem more likely he may have died on August 6, 1863)

Facts: Private Carter would be the 2nd Confederate to be buried at CCCC with a tombstone
He was the 1st Confederate soldier from Kentucky to be buried at CCCC with a tom
bstone He was the 1st MORGAN RAIDER to be buried at CCCC with a tombstone
He was the 1st soldier to have had no reason for his death buried at CCCC with a tom
bstone He was the 2nd Private to be buried at CCCC with a tombstone
He was the 2nd Cavarly soldier to be buried at CCCC with a tombstone
He was the 2nd Confederate who died in August 1863 to be buried at CCCC with a tombstone
He was the 1st Confederate soldier to be buried at the CCCC with a tombstone that was captured in the State of Ohio

Fact #40 During the war years Ohio had three governors. 1) 24th Ohio Governor William Dennison Junior January 9, 1860 to January 13, 1862. He would later become the 21st United States Postmaster General in the Lincoln Administration on September 13, 1864 and serve in the Johnson Administration until 1866. 2) 25th Ohio Governor David Tod January 13, 1862 to January 11, 1864. A reporter once asked Governor Tod how he spelled his surname with one D or two D’s like Mary Todd Lincoln? Governor Tod replied “God spells his name with one D and if it’s good enough for God it’s good enough for Tod”. 3) 26th Ohio Governor John Brough January 11, 1864 to August 29, 1865. He died of gangrene while in office. It is also interesting to note that the 23rd Governor of Ohio was Salmon P. Chase the namesake of Camp Chase. He was Governor from January 14, 1856 to January 9, 1860. And it is also worth noting that the 7th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio was Charles Anderson January 11, 1864 to August 29th 1865 when he then became the 27th Governor of Ohio from August 29, 1865 to January 8, 1866. His brother in April of 1861 was Major Robert Anderson who had surrendered Fort Sumter after being fired upon.

Fact #41 Better than one third of the Confederate dead at the Camp Chase Cemetery having units in the Virginia military were actually Confederates from the present day State of West Virginia.he three leading causes for death at Camp Chase were: 1) Pneumonia = 989 for 45.59% 2) Small-Pox = 372 for 17.15% 3) Diarrhea = 236 for 10.88%. These numbers were based on 2,169 tombstone inscriptions currently at the Chase Cemetery and note some of the tombstones have double inscriptions.Compare this to Andersonville, Georgia where 12,920 POW’s died. According to a NPS Park Ranger their three leading causes of death were: 1) Diarrhea = 5,492 for 45.50% 2) Scurvy = 3,661 for 28.33% 3) Dysentery = 1,305 for 10.10%.And note the causes for death at Andersonville for Small-Pox was 63 for almost a half of one percent. We can now see where Federal authorities at Camp Chase had a 34 times higher rate of death due to Small-Pox as did Andersonville.

Fact #42 There are sixteen sets of brothers buried at the Chase Cemetary.

Fact #43 One of the first if not the first Georgia Confederate prisoner of war at Camp Chase was Private David Pierce Young from Forsyth, Georgia (Located in Monroe County) with Company K of the 1st Georgia Infantry (Ramsey's) He was captured prior to the Battle of 1st Manassas and brought to Camp Chase.

Sources:

Compliled Military Service Records
Camp Chase Records

See: R1-R21 Sources