Rebels at Rock Island: the Story of a Civil War Prison

Abstract

Rebels at Rock Island: The Story of a Civil War Prison. By Benton McAdams. (DeKalb: Northern Illinois UNiversity Press, 2000. P;. xiv, 260. Illustrations, maps, index. Cloth, $32.00) In Rebels at Rock Island, Benton McAdams seeks to dispel the of this Civil War prison as the Andersonville of the North. Originated during the war and perpetuated Margaret Mitchell in Gone with the Wind, this legend shrouds the true history of Rock Island Prison, McAdams believes, and he seeks to reduce the myth without shrinking the truth. (xiii) While debunking, especially of Gone with the Wind, is an admirable pursuit, McAdams often simply sets up new heroes and villains. McAdams's story proceeds mostly as a chronological narrative of events on the island, from the earliest planning of the facility to its eventual closure at the end of the war. Along the way, several key figures come in for part of the blame. Federal Commissary General of Prisoners William Hoffman appears as a man bent on monetary savings to the detriment of the prisoners. Joseph Baker Danforth, Jr. plays the role of the sinister Copperhead editor bent on destroying or at least defaming all that is good on the Island. Major Charles Kingsbury, commander of the federal arsenal on Rock Island, is a petty, though largely incompetent, meddler. Even the average citizens of the Quad Cities come off as little more than avaricious hucksters looking to make a buck off the U.S. Army. On this sea of incompetence and treachery sails the camp's commandant, Colonel Adolphus J. Johnson, who calmly runs the prison despite all hazards until, responding to Danforth's criticism, he tragically helps create his own legend lashing out at the editor. McAdams's account is a tale of drama, suspense, and turmoil, and as such it is an interesting story to read. Unfortunately, the book is frequently short on historical explanation. The central figures appear motivated mainly good or bad character traits, rather than forces that can be accounted for historically. Danforth comes in for the most pointed censure. Describing Danforth's smugness, (21), McAdams avers that J.B. spent the late summer and autumn of 1863 happily lashing out at everyone around him. (22) By simply reporting the conditions on the island, Danforth by implication attacked Johnson. (99) Despite this tendency to overdramatize the story, much that is worthwhile still appears in this book. McAdams does prove, for instance, that the smallpox epidemic behind the horrific death rate in the winter of 1863/4 resulted from an incompetent commander in Kentucky sending prisoners he knew to be infected. …