13. The Confederates established a Military Prison Hospital outside of the stockade
According to Dr. Jones, from the opening of Camp Sumter until late May 1864, the sick and prisoners arriving at the camp wounded were confined together within the stockade. By July, a separate stockade, outside the camp on a small rise, held the Military Hospital. At its peak, fifteen physicians worked there, though usually there were fewer. Men were admitted based on available space, according to one physician they could only admit new patients when a vacancy occurred. Most vacancies occurred via prisoners passing away, few men entered the hospital and returned to health. By July 1864, more than 2,000 patients crowded the hospital. Men lay upon the ground, or on planks, there were no mattresses or even straw to cushion them. They were attended by the doctors and nurses, most of the latter paroled prisoners.
Dr. Jones observed that most of the parolees were better fed and clothed than the other prisoners, and in overall better health than even some of the Confederate guards. He did not speculate as to the cause of such a discrepancy. Other parolees were allowed exit from the stockade as well. They worked as clerks, loaded and unloaded trains, and other such duties. They too, appeared to Dr. Jones to be in better health, indicating supplies meant for the prison, which the doctor claimed to be in abundance in the area, were accessed by the Confederates and parolees before they ever reached Camp Sumter itself. On August 5, 1864, the Inspector General wrote to the authorities recommending Brigadier General John Winder, commander of all Confederate prisons, be relieved of his post. In the letter, the Inspector General referred to the prison as a “disgrace to civilization“.
