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Above are the officers in charge of three
Federal prisons, the first two of which were a terror to the captured
Confederates. Students of physiognomy will be interested in comparing
the faces of the three men. B. F. Tracy entered the war as colonel of
the 109th New York Infantry, August 28, 1862. He was honorably
discharged May 10, 1864, and on September 10th of that year he was made
colonel of the 127th United States Colored Infantry, and placed in
charge of Elmira Prison, where the mortality was very high. he was
appointed brevet brigadier-general of volunteers ,March 13, 1865.
Brigadier-General Albin Schoepf, a Hungarian refugee, held the command
of Fort Delaware until he was mustered out, January 15, 1866. No prisonwas so dreaded in the South as this, where
the poorly constructed barracks, several feet below the level of high
water, were always damp and cold. Fort Warren, for the greater part of
the war, was under charge of Colonel (later Brigadier-General) Justin Dimick,
an officer who graduated from the Military Academy October 18, 1814,
served in the war against the Florida Indians and in the Mexican War,
and received promotions for gallant and meritorious conduct in both.
This kind-hearted veteran was able to preserve discipline by kindness,
and Fort Warren bears the unique distinction of being the only one which
all inmates praised. The Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis, shown
below, was commanded during the last year of the war by an able officer,
Captain R. C. Allen.
Gratiot Street
Prison, St Louis, Missouri
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