Johnston County, OK

Family History

Alexander Valentine Pvt Co H, 36th AR Inf, CSA

Submitted by: Wendy Gayle Walkup-Barry

This is my 3rd Great-grandfather's Oath of Allegiance, he was a resident of White County as the letter states. He was captured in Helena, AR and died in the Alton, Illinois prison. He contracted smallpox and pneumonia. He survived the smallpox only to die of the pneumonia. He was buried in a mass grave where they have now built a monument. His name is listed on the monument.

He was Alexander Valentine, a reluctant soldier of the Civil War, a husband to Margaret Coffey, and father to Dora, Charles, and David. Alex died February 1, 1864.

Captured 4 Jul 1863 at Helena, AR and sent to Memphis, TN on the steamer "Tycoon" (captured 04/27/1864; the Tycoon was captured and destroyed by the CSS Alabama) on the 5th of July 1863 he was sent to Military Prison at Alton, IL on the steamer "Silver Moon" (I have found nothing on a Silver Moon and have seen many other records containing this steamer, did find information on a Silver Lake, if you have information on the Silver Moon Steamer, please contact me ).
 

Name: VALENTINE, ALEX
Rank/Company: PVT, Company H, 2ND ARKANSAS (36th)
Captured: 07/04/63 HELENA, ARK
Died/Cause: 02/01/64 PNEUMONIA Buried: STATE GROUND

Below is a recent letter I received from the Department of the Army.

Col. Kincaid
Comdg. Alton Prison
Sir:
Wishing to take the oath of allegiance to the United States I take this
method of sending in my petition explaining why I think my claims entitle me
to take it. I was conscripted in the Confederate Army from White County
Arkansas about 12 months ago, but have done but little duty. I have never
had any affentisity? for giving myself up to the union forces who occupied
the country where I lived, as I was at Little Rock when we (conscripts)
were guarded as closely as if we had been prisoners. The first
engagement I was in I gave myself up. It was against my will that I entered
the ?????? ???? If I am allowed to take the oath and return home I will be
a loyal citizen and do all in my power to firmate the interest of the United
States Government.
Signed: Alex Valentine
Military Prison September 15, 1863

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More information on the prison:
The Alton prison opened in 1833 as the first Illinois State Penitentiary and was closed in 1860, when the last prisoners were moved to a new facility at Joliet. By late in 1861 an urgent need arose to relieve the overcrowding at 2 St. Louis prisons. On December 31, 1861, Major General Henry Halleck, Commander of the Department of the Missouri, ordered Lieutenant-Colonel James B. McPherson to Alton for an inspection of the closed penitentiary. Colonel McPherson reported that the prison could be made into a military prison and house up to 1,750 prisoners with improvements estimated to cost $2,415.
The first prisoners arrived at the Alton Federal Military Prison on February 9, 1862 and members of the 13 th U.S. Infantry were assigned as guards, with Colonel Sidney Burbank commanding.
During the next three years over 11,764 Confederate prisoners would pass through the gates of the Alton Prison. Of the four different classes of prisoners housed at Alton, Confederate soldiers made up most of the population. Citizens, including several women, were imprisoned here for treasonable actions, making anti-Union statements, aiding an escaped Confederate, etc. Others, classified as bushwhackers or guerillas, were imprisoned for acts against the government such as bridge burning and railroad vandalism.
Conditions in the prison were harsh and the mortality rate was above average for a Union prison. Hot, humid summers and cold Midwestern winters took a heavy toll on prisoners already weakened by poor nourishment and inadequate clothing. The prison was overcrowded much of the time and sanitary facilities were inadequate. Pneumonia and dysentery were common killers but contagious diseases such as smallpox and rubella were the most feared. When smallpox infection became alarmingly high in the winter of 1862 and spring of 1863, a quarantine hospital was located on an island across the Mississippi River from the prison.
Up to 300 prisoners and soldiers died and are buried on the island, now under water. A cemetery in North Alton that belonged to the State of Illinois was used for most that died. A monument there lists 1,534 names of Confederate soldiers that are known to have died. An additional number of civilians and Union soldiers were victims of disease and illness.
During the war several different units were assigned to serve as guards at Alton. The Thirteenth U.S. Infantry was followed by the Seventy-seventh Ohio Infantry, the Thirty-seventh Iowa Infantry, the Tenth Kansas Infantry and the One Hundred Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry. Formed at Alton specifically to serve as prison guards, the Illinois 144th was almost completely made up of Alton area residents.
The prison closed July 7, 1865 when the last prisoners were released or sent to St. Louis. The buildings were torn down over the next decades and the land was eventually used by the city as a park named after the Joel Chandler Harris character, "Uncle Remus," from Song of the South. Stone from the prison buildings is found in walls and other structures all over the Alton area.