Rebels at Rock Island
The Story of a Civil War Prison

Benton McAdams (Author)

9780875802671

Hardback, published 1 September 2000

274 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.907 kg

"The best treatment of any Northern camp.... Sweeps away many of the myths and exaggerations regarding Rock Island."—Gary W. Gallagher, University of Virginia
"A meticulously researched and extraordinarily detailed account of the prison.... A tale of drama, suspense, and turmoil."—Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
"Captivating.... The author has dug deeply into every aspect of life at Rock Island."—Civil War Book Review

Ashley Wilkes of Gone with the Wind helped to seal Rock Island's reputation as the "Andersonville of the North." McAdams separates truth from fiction about the Rock Island Barracks, the prison that held tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers. Revealing that Rock Island was not without its problems-ignominious punishments, inadequate facilities, malnutrition, and lack of basic supplies-McAdams shows how Union officers sought to maintain humane conditions in the face of a war that raged on longer than anyone anticipated. Two dozen rare photographs round out the unflinching descriptions of prison life.

Table of Contents
Introduction
One: "That is the Way You Do Here, is It?"
Two: "They are Dying Off Very Fast"
Three: "A Disagreeable Place to Be"
Four: "Such Reckless Conduct"
Five: "The Glare of Wolfish Hunger"
Six: "Had I the Power"
Seven: "All of the Prisoners Have Left This Island"
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index