The listing below gives a brief summary of each document. To view the documents in their entirety, use the links on the left. New items are always being sought after and needed to include in the Library. If you or your family has a document or story involving the prison or a prisoner, I invite you to include it here. You can e-mail it as an attachment to me. (To submit general information on a soldier's life, use the form here. This information will be listed in the index.)

Summary
Recollections of a Confederate Soldier by Walter Addison
A lengthy discussion of the life of a soldier that survived both the prisons of Elmira and Point Lookout.

Buttons by Hudson Alexander
Confederates who survived the harsh conditions of Elmira Prison looked back fondly on one fellow inmate who did not: a good-natured man with an odd sense of style and a nickname to match .

Italian Sculpted Statue in 1875 by Timothy Cox
Broad Street monument honors ordinary soldier Civil War serviceman (Barry Benson) also chronicled adventures in accounts published in 1962.

Letter of Robert Crowell, November 29, 1864 by Robert Crowell
Short letter written to a lady asking for money or clothing.

Elmira: A Prison Horror for Confederates by Ellis Davis
His participation in the Battle of Marianna and detention in Elmira.

The Great Shohola Train Wreck by Frank Evans
Here is a first-person account of the Great Shohola train wreck, in which 52 Confederate prisoners of war died in Shohola, Pennsylvania. It was written by Frank Evans, a Union Guard.

The Diary of William Gramling by William Gramling
A 22 year old who survived the camp and wrote a moving description of an everyday soldier's life in Elmira.

Elmira: A City on a Prison Camp Contract by Michael P. Gray
A detailed look at the impact of the prison camp on the economics of the town.

Elmira Prison New York: The Shame of a Nation by William Hesseltine
Article by the editor of Civil War Prisons.

J.P. Putegnat and Fellow Confederates Daring Tunnel Escape by Clay Holmes
First hand account of the famed tunnel escape.

Letter of Mike Hunt, undated, by Mike Hunt
Short letter written to Hunt's father

Letter of D. Irvin, October 7, 1864 by D. Irvin
Short letter written to a sister asking for some personal things.

My Experiences in the Confederate Army and in Northern Prisons by John R. King
A short book that details a soldier's life from enlistment to release from Elmira.

Nine Months in a Northern Prison by G.W.D. Porter
Written in 1878 by a member of 44th Tenn Reg.

A Soldier's Story: Prison Life and Other Incidents by Miles O. Sherrill

Recollections of Washington B. Traweek: Escaping Elmira by Washington B. Traweek
Another account of the famed tunnel escape from Elmira.

The Civil War: One Man, His Company, His Family and His Community, Chapter 6: Elmira Prison by Wilford Murry Wilson, M.D.
Chapter from a book written in 1929 about a soldier in the Veteran's Reserve Corp.

Turned Inside Out: Recollections of a Private Soldier in The Army of the Potomac by Frank Wilkeson
Union soldier's account of life in the prison, including some artillery fire on Confederate prisoners to calm down a riot.