On April 16 1862, ten days after Shiloh, prisoners taken at the Hornet's Nest spent a few days in Mobile on their way to Macon. They arrived by train. They were kept in a long cotton shed surrounded by a 12 foot brick wall. The shed was roofed along both sides (like two long open sheds facing each other) but open in the middle for wagons to pass through gates on either end. They were guarded by hired Prussian soldiers, and were treated kindly for the most part. They were issued rations and dutch ovens and a few eating utensils. Three days later they were marched to a steamer on the river and taken away toward Cahaba, their next stop.
Some of the men were too sick to be moved onward with the rest. They were taken to a hospital the same day the others left on the steamer. Some of those left behind died soon after. My question is this: does anyone know what hospital that might have been where they were taken? Would there be any records from that hospital still available in an archive somewhere? What would have become of the bodies of the POWs who died there? Is there any way to find out where such cases would typically have been buried? Where would someone search in Alabama to find out if any records survive?
For example, one Iowa POW soldier's NARA record lists a specific death date and gives the place of death as Mobile, so his death as a POW was noted by name by someone at the Mobile hospital it seems. If this soldier had died anonymously as an unknown POW, how would this record have been created by the Feds? Where would the source of the information be if not from Southern records? Someone had to have supplied the Feds with the date and name of the deceased. It is possible of course that the source of information came from other Union POWs who survived to tell their units who had died, but if Southern records of these men's deaths existed at the time, do they still? Would not good and accurate records of POWs, and deaths of POWs, especially early in the war, have been kept by both sides for exchange purposes, to prove how many, and who, is being held for a fair and equal exchange?
Does any one know of a place to look for any records from the hospital side of things, that might shed some more light or for local records of deaths and burials of Union POW soldiers in Mobile in April-May 1862?
About those who ended up in Ogelthorpe:
Also, for the other healthy POWs who went on to Macon and who were later paroled: they filled out roster lists for the POW camp officials, giving their rank, hometown, unit and physical descriptions and they then signed oaths not to fight until officially exchanged. Officers were not included and were seperated out. The privates signed the oaths and were released. The lists gave their personal information to be given to the Southern officers in charge of the exchange.
Does anyone know if any these rosters lists, the descriptive lists for POW's to be paroled, and the oath papers they signed still exist somewhere in a Georgia archive? Where would be a good place to look to start to find out?