Brother Against Brother
I grew up with a healthy diet of American Civil War History. When I was young, my family took a thorough vacation to Gettysburg. The kids were bought blue and grey kepi hats (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepi#North_American_usage), and fake riffles. I could reenact the 20th Maine’s bayonet charge down Little Round Top (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL-5uyp44WA). And this was all before I was 13 years old.
So, I don 't think it is surprising that I often peruse the latest in American Civil War gossip and news. And what I found this time is very cool.
An Important Piece Of History
The fourth excavation of former Camp Douglas (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/thayer/e/gazetteer/places/america/united_states/illinois/_Texts/journals/JIllSHS/53/1/Chicagos_Camp_Douglas*.html),
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Throw in starvation and bitter Chicago winters, and the modern day estimate is 6,000 dead between 1862 and 1865. Many of them are still interred in Confederate Mound (http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/national_cemeteries/Illinois/Confederate_Mound_Oak_Woods_Cemetery.html)—the mass grave on site.
And that’s just an general synopsis.
Preserving For The Future
The fourth dig at the cite is being led by Dr. Michael Gregory and the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation (http://www.campdouglas.org/), and will only last till the 30th. These short excavations have been held twice a year since 2013, and every dig brings up small personal items that belonged to the prisoners of war. And with my love of Civil War History, I am very eager to hear what Dr. Michael Gregory and his team discover this time around.
Today, the original barracks are gone. There isn’t much left of the original camp, but as The Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation continues forward with their excavations there appears to be hope! The foundation hopes to eventually mark the site with a Camp Douglas museum. And with it, a proper memorial for the confederate men who suffered through the