Biographical/Historical Sketch
Processed by
Barbara Quigley
6 October 2003
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
3 folders |
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COLLECTION |
Ca. 1864–65 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Wally Fesler, Las Cruces, New Mexico, 8 January 2002; Joan E. Hostetler, Heritage Photo Services, Indianapolis, 8 January 2002. |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
None |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
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RELATED |
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ACCESSION |
2002.0143, 2002.0201 |
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NOTES: |
Eugene F. Drake was a Union soldier in the Civil War. It appears that he had been a farmer from Sharon, Massachusetts, but other details of his life are uncertain. Written on the back of one of the four Camp Morton photographs that comprise this collection is the following: “Actual pictures of Civil War scenes brought home by Eugene Drake who enlisted when 16. Died at age of 21 from disease contracted in service. Mr. Drake was a schoolmate of mothers & these pictures given to her by his folks.” The note is signed “W. L. Castilo (By mother 11/9/29).”
Research indicates that a Eugene Drake, a farmer from Sharon, Massachusetts, enlisted as a private on 21 July 1864 at the age of 18 into Company I, 60th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. This regiment was employed for guard and garrison duty, and in August 1864 was ordered to Indianapolis where “danger was apprehended from disloyal secret organizations.” This regiment remained in the Indianapolis area until being mustered out on 30 November 1864. Surely, Drake came into possession of the four photographs of Camp Morton during his service in Indianapolis.
However, correspondence from the donor of the two portraits of Eugene F. Drake tells that he was in Company K of the Ninth Massachusetts Cavalry, and that his address at one point during the war was at Gallops Island in Boston Harbor. “Gallop’s Island” is stamped on the back of the two portraits; one is dated 30 December 1864, and the other 6 January 1865. “Eugene F. Drake” is written in pencil on the back of the latter. Research does show that there was a Eugene Drake in Company K, a farmer from Sharon, Massachusetts, who enlisted as a private on 17 December 1864 at the age of 20. This regiment fought in Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida, and was mustered out on 14 November 1865. Then it returned to Boston, where the men were paid and finally discharged at Gallops Island on 26 November 1865.
Although there is a discrepancy in the age given—16, 18, and 20, it is possible that this could all be the same Eugene F. Drake. He could have left Indianapolis, returned to Massachusetts, and enlisted in Company K of the Ninth Massachusetts Cavalry just two and a half weeks after being mustered out from Company I of the 60th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. The age issue could be due to clerical error, or possibly to uncertainty on the part of W. L. Castilo and/or Drake himself as to when he was born.
An alternative possibility is that there were two Eugene Drakes who were farmers from Sharon, Massachusetts, who entered the Civil War: one in Company I of the 60th Infantry, and the other in Company K of the Ninth Cavalry. If this was the case, then the soldier in the portraits would not be the same man who served at Camp Morton.
Correspondence in 2001 from the donor of the portraits relates that Miss Lucretia Weld, daughter of Fredrick Weld, was the classmate of Eugene F. Drake. Further correspondence from the donor in 2003 states that the photographs came from the “Horace Weld family girls,” and that one of them married a William Castilo, owner of an ice company in Foxboro, Massachusetts. William Castilo, Jr., moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, in the late 1940s, where his father’s belongings were put into storage in the early 1950s.
Sources:
Items in the collection.
American Civil War Regiments (http://www.gale.ancestry.com). Accessed 24 September 2003.
American Civil War Soldiers (http://www.gale.ancestry.com). Accessed 24 September 2003.
Fesler, Wally. Personal correspondence, 6 December 2001.
Fesler, Wally. Personal correspondence, 1 October 2003.
Soon after the beginning of the Civil War, Indianapolis’s new State Fairgrounds were converted to a military training camp. It was named Camp Morton after then governor of Indiana, Oliver P. Morton. The thirty-six-acre area was located between what are now 19th and 22nd Streets, and between Central Avenue and Talbott Street. The fairground buildings were turned into offices, sleeping quarters, a guardhouse, and a hospital, among other things. Animal stalls each held bunks for six men. The first troops arrived for training on 17 April 1861. Men and boys from around the state came and were formed into companies and regiments as quickly as they assembled. Patriotic societies around the state provided items such as food, soap, candles, bedding, towels, and clothing. Different regiments wore various uniforms—whatever they could get—before the arrival of government uniforms. The camp even became a destination for outings for many Indianapolis residents.
Early in 1862, facilities were needed to house Confederate prisoners of war. At first there were political prisoners “arrested on suspicion” for various reasons, such as having a southern accent. After the Union victory at Fort Donelson in February of that year, approximately 4,000 Confederate prisoners arrived at Camp Morton. From then on, the camp was a prison. Most of the men were farmers or squatters from Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee. They were nearly famished and ill-clothed, and great numbers of them soon became sick. Blankets were issued to prisoners who had none, but a sudden drop in temperature caused extreme suffering among the men unaccustomed to a more northern climate. Indianapolis residents contributed much-needed food, clothing, and volunteer nursing services, and several public buildings were converted into temporary hospitals. Overworked physicians with few supplies gave what help they could. Over 1,700 Confederates died at Camp Morton.
In the summer of 1864, the prisoner population at Camp Morton reached nearly 5,000. Early in 1865, General Grant implemented a mass exchange of prisoners throughout the country. At Camp Morton, many of the prisoners did not want to be exchanged and sent back to the Confederate Army. Weary of fighting, many wanted instead to stay in prison until they could be released by taking the oath of allegiance to the United States Constitution and to the Union, according to Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction of 8 December 1863. The number of prisoners remaining at Camp Morton on 1 April 1865 was 1,408, including seven who had deserted from the Union Army and joined the cause of the Confederacy, only to be captured by their former comrades. In June, the last of the Confederate prisoners were released, and in the following month the seven Union Army deserters also took the oath of allegiance and were released.
After the war, the camp was retransformed into fairgrounds, and in 1868 the State Fair returned to this location, where it continued to be held until 1892.
Sources:
Holliday, John H. “Indianapolis and the Civil War.” In Indiana Historical Society Publications 4(9): 523-95. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1911. Reference Room Collection: F521 .I41
Hunter, Lloyd A. “Camp Morton.” In The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, edited by Bodenhamer, David J. and Robert G. Barrows. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1994: 381-82. General Collection: F534 .I55 E4 1994
Winslow, Hattie Lou and Joseph R. H. Moore. “Camp Morton, 1861-1865: Indianapolis Prison Camp.” In Indiana Historical Society Publications 13(3): 229-383. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1940. Reference Room Collection: F521 .I41
This collection consists of six Civil War photographs: four of Camp Morton and two of Union soldier Eugene F. Drake.
There are four mounted albumen photographs of the Camp Morton prison camp in Indianapolis. Each shows a large number of men wearing coats, with bare trees in the background. One photograph shows the entrance gate with the words “Military Prison Camp Morton.” Buildings, tents, blankets and other laundry hanging, and a ravine possibly containing a stream are seen in the photographs.
There are two portraits of Eugene F. Drake, both marked on the back with a stamp from Gallops Island, Massachusetts. One is a tintype stamped on the back with the date 30 December 1864. The other is a carte de visite, with the date 6 January 1865 stamped on the back.
A 2002 article in the Indiana Historical Society’s newsletter, The Bridge (vol. 8, no. 2, March/April), announced the acquisition of this collection. The article included three of the Camp Morton photographs and one of the portraits of Eugene F. Drake. Research done after that publication indicates that the pictured soldier may or may not be the same Eugene Drake who served at Camp Morton and returned home with the four photographs of the prison.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Photograph shows men standing or seated around an area by an entrance gate that bears the words “Military Prison Camp Morton.” The gate appears to be an opening within a walled area. The men are wearing coats, and there are bare trees in the background. There is a building with a chimney on the right. The number C8923 is written on the back of the mounted photo. |
Folder 1 |
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Photograph shows men standing in the distance, wearing coats or wrapped in blankets. Trees in the background are bare. A series of buildings is behind the men, and some tents are on the right. Blankets are hanging on lines in the right foreground. The number C8924 is written on the back of the mounted photo. Also on the back is written the following note: “Actual pictures of Civil War scenes brought home by Eugene Drake who enlisted when 16. Died at age of 21 from disease contracted in service. Mr. Drake was a schoolmate of mothers & these pictures given to her by his folks.” The note is signed “W. L. Castilo (By mother 11/9/29).” |
Folder 1 |
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Photograph shows a large number of men standing between a row of buildings and a ravine that might include a stream. Many men are wearing coats or are wrapped in blankets. Bare trees are in the background. Clothing is hanging on laundry lines on the right. Some men are standing in the left foreground, on the other side of the ravine, and a few men are right down in the ravine. The number C8925 is written on the back of the mounted photo. |
Folder 1 |
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Photograph shows a large number of men, many of whom are wearing coats or are wrapped in blankets, on both sides of a ravine. Bare trees are in the background. A couple of men in the foreground on the right are pushing wheelbarrows loaded with perhaps dirt or coal. There are buildings on both sides of the ravine, and laundry is hanging outside. There is a structure shaped like an upside-down funnel, surrounded by a wooden fence, near the center of the photo. Smoke appears in a couple areas of the photo. The number C8926 is written on the back of the mounted photo. |
Folder 1 |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Carte de visite of Eugene F. Drake in uniform, standing. His jacket is fastened at the top, and he is wearing a hat and boots. He has one hand resting on a handrail, and the other on the handle of a saber that he is holding vertically, with the tip on the carpet by his boots. Stuck to the back is one stamp printed in green, with a portrait of George Washington, the numeral 3, and the words “U.S. Inter. Revenue” at the top, “Proprietary” on the bottom, “Three” on the left side, and “Cents” on the right side. The stamp is cancelled with a stamp in black ink that reads “A. K. Jossel” at the top, “Jan 6 1865” in the center, and “Gallop’s Island” at the bottom |
Folder 2 |
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Tintype of Eugene F. Drake in uniform, seated with his legs crossed. The tops of his boots are visible. His jacket is open, and he is wearing a hat. Stuck to the back are three stamps printed in red, each with a portrait of George Washington, the numeral 5, and the words “U.S. Inter. Revenue” at the top, “Playing Cards” at the bottom, “Five” on the left side, and “Cents” on the right side. Each of these stamps is cancelled with a stamp in black ink that reads “A. K. Jossel” at the top, “Dec 30 1864” in the center, and “Gallop’s Island” at the bottom. |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://157.91.92.2/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, P 0388).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.