John. L. Ligon's Tobacco Warehouse was confiscated during the early part of
1861 and was used as a prison for Federal soldiers. This building later became
General Hospital #23. This building was at times used as a hospital for Libby
Prison, and for baggage storage.
Also called: Ligon’s Factory Hospital, Liggon Factory Hospital, Ligion
Factory Hospital, Prison Depot,Prison No. 1. Formerly tobacco factory of John L.
Ligon. Employees 45. Location: southeast corner of 25th and Main
Streets.
Richmond
Dispatch |
7/1/1861; two POWs arrive and are taken to the prison depot (Ligon's prison) |
Richmond
Dispatch |
7/2/1861; prison depot is located two blocks from the Henrico Court House,
and contains 75-100 prisoners |
Richmond
Dispatch |
7/16/1861; POWs from Yorktown
arrive, and are taken to the prison depot; some are from the "scum of
Baltimore," and one a spy |
Richmond
Dispatch |
7/18/1861; some prisoners removed
from the Prison depot to parts unknown |
Richmond
Dispatch |
7/22/1861; 56 prisoners arrived
yesterday and were taken to the prison depot on Main street |
Richmond
Dispatch |
7/24/1861; 631 prisoners arrive
from Manassas and are taken to the prison depot - six hundred more are
expected soon |
Richmond
Dispatch |
7/25/1861; trains arrive from Manassas bearing
wounded, who are taken to private homes for treatment; 500-600 POWs are set
to arrive; the prison depot is already full; notes that General Corcoran
arrived in Richmond two days ago |
Richmond
Dispatch |
7/31/1861; 78 wounded POWs brought
to Richmond, including a Richmonder in exile |
Richmond
Dispatch |
8/5/1861; 74 new Yankee POWs arrive
- housed at prison in Jefferson Ward |
Richmond
Dispatch |
8/15/1861; a dozen Manassas POWs
arrive, and taken to the prison on Main Street |
Richmond
Dispatch |
8/26/1861; member of CS guard at
Ligon's factory shoots his officer |
Richmond Enquirer |
8/28/1861; prisoner at Liggon's factory kills
his guard and attempts to escape |
Richmond
Whig |
9/3/1861; great description of the Richmond
prisons and some of the prisoners; notes that there are 1725 prisoners in
Richmond |
Richmond
Whig |
9/17/1861; references to recent POW escapes,
says guards are more interested in keeping citizens out than prisoners in |
Richmond
Enquirer |
10/5/1861; statistics and praise of
the “Confederate States Prison Hospital, at Rocketts.” Notes 41 deaths have
occurred, and praises Dr. E. G. Higginbotham at length. |
Richmond
Dispatch |
10/7/1861;
Congressman Ely
presented with a wooden sword in prison |
Richmond
Examiner |
10/7/1861; Hon. Alfred Ely (US Congressman)
presented with a mock sword in prison |
Richmond
Enquirer |
11/18/1861; great description of the prison
system in Richmond with list of employees (included Wirz and Higginbotham).
Notes that over 2000 POWs now in Richmond |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
11/30/1861;
$100.00 paid for “Rent of Factory for use of Prisoners from 1st
to 30th
Nov.” |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
12/31/1861;
$100.00 paid for “Rent of Factory for Prison from 1st to 31st
Dec.” |
Richmond
Enquirer |
1/4/1862; "Humors of Prison Life;" details
about the Richmond Prison Association and their song |
Richmond Dispatch |
1/7/1862; Alfred Ely’s lengthy account of time in Richmond. |
Richmond Dispatch |
1/13/1862; Capt. Gibbs promoted to Major & leaves for Salisbury. Lt.
Hairston, 19th Miss., to be his replacement. Prisons will be kept as a
prison depot. |
Richmond
Enquirer |
1/20/1862; Lt. Hairston relieved of command of
C. S. Military Prison by Capt. Godwin |
Richmond
Dispatch |
1/24/1862;
3 POWs arrive escorted by Capt. Griffin, 6th
Ga., and are lodged in "the military prison" |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
1/31/1862;
$150.00 paid for “Rent of Factory for Prison from 1st to 31st
Jan. 1 mo.” |
Richmond
Dispatch |
2/6/1862;
Yankee POW arrives - a German |
Richmond
Dispatch |
2/6/1862;
small fire at Ligon Factory prison, 25th st |
Richmond
Enquirer |
2/6/1862; Fire at Liggon's prison; no one
injured |
Summary of William Liggan file, M346, National Archives |
2/10/1862; carpentry done to "Main Factory for
Prisoners," probably Ligon's factory. |
Richmond
Dispatch |
2/13/1862;
3 POW deaths (named) |
Richmond
Enquirer |
2/20/1862; description of the chain of command
in the prison system, list of some of the higher ranking officers now in the
"tobacco warehouses" in Richmond; 3,000 prisoners are being paroled. |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
2/28/1862;
$150.00 paid for “Rent of Factory for ____ from 1st to 28th.
1 mo.” |
Richmond Dispatch |
4/18/1862; boy named Ligon, from Church Hill, breaks his leg in horse
accident at 21st and Main. |
Richmond
Enquirer |
4/18/1862; son of Mr. Ligon is thrown from
horse and breaks one of his legs |
Richmond Dispatch |
4/24/1862; Lt. R. M. Booker has become one of the Assistant Provost Marshals
of the city – he had previously been one of the officers in charge of the
C.S. Military Prison on Main street |
Richmond Dispatch |
4/29/1862; hung jury in the case of a man who shot the “Sergeant of the
Guard at the C. S. Military Prison” last summer |
Summary of William Liggan file, M346, National Archives |
5/20-21/1862; extensive carpentry done at Ligon
Hospital. |
Richmond
Enquirer |
6/6/1862; casualty list from Seven Pines,
listing the hospitals where wounded were taken. |
Richmond Dispatch |
6/20/1862; W.
Otho Hill, Asst. Surg., at Battery #7, adv for 2 runaway slaves, from Liggon
Hosp |
Richmond Dispatch |
6/28/1862;
Enormous list of wounded by hospital: Central Depot; Third Georgia; Royster;
First Alabama; St. Charles; Keen, Baldwin & Williams; Kent; Christian &
Lea’s; Ligon; Globe; Third Alabama; Institute; Fourth Georgia |
Richmond Dispatch |
7/1/1862; list of
patients at Moore Hospital, Ligon Hospital, Second Georgia Hospital, Third
Georgia Hospital, Howard’s Grove, & Fourth Georgia Hospital |
Richmond Dispatch |
7/3/1862;
provisions for wounded should be sent to hospital at 25th and
Main |
National Archives, RG 109, Ch. IV |
8/1/1862; order from F. Sorrel, re-designating
existing hospitals into Gen. Hosps. with numbers. |
Ledger
of Confederate Hospital Practice |
no date; Rules and Regulations for General
Hospital #23 |
Ledger of
Confederate Hospital Practice |
no date; list of Surgeons at General Hospital
#23 |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
8/15/1862;
$210.00 paid for “Scaffold taken down in rear of my factory for prisoners
(150.00),” |
Richmond
Enquirer |
9/30/1862; tabular report of sick & wounded
soldiers in the Hospitals in Richmond |
Library of Congress |
10/6/1862; reports on the capacities of
Richmond Hospitals and empty beds |
Library of Congress |
10/16/1862; reports on the capacities of
Richmond Hospitals, empty beds, and Patients in them |
Library of Congress |
11/1/1862; reports on the capacities of
Richmond Hospitals, empty beds, and Patients in them |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
12/15/1862;
$5474.00 paid for “238 Bbls Flour @ 23 per. For use C. S. Mil. Prisons.” |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
12/18/1862;
$417.00 paid for “Five Hundred Fifty Six (556) pounds of Bacon @ .75 per
pound. For use of C. S. Mil. Prison Hospital & Guard.” |
Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War |
1863; prisoner's account of harsh treatment in
Richmond. Notes that while at the General Hospital (GH#1) he was
well-treated; at the tobacco warehouse he was not. Also notes that "a lady
named Van Lew" helped provide for him while in prison until she was stopped
by prison authorities |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
2/28/1863;
$250.00 paid for “Rent of Factory for Hospital from the 1st Jany
to 28th Feby. 2 Mos @ 125.” |
RG 109, Ch. 6, Vol. 151, p. 30 |
9/1862 - 6/1863; Statistics of General Hospital
#23 - hospital closed after June, 1863 |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
9/30/1863;
$375.00 paid for “Rent of Building on Main St. for storage of Baggage from
the 1st
July to 30th Sept. 3 mos [@] 125” |
Official Records, Ser. II, Vol. VI, pp. 852-853 |
11/10/1863 - 1/18/1864; statement of clothing
issued to prisoners in Richmond. |
Official Records, Ser. II, Vol. VI, p. 1050 |
11/20/1863; Mentioned. GH #23 is needed to
handle overflow from GH#21. |
Official Records, Series II, Vol VI, page 1086. |
11/23/1863; Carrington reiterates Texas
Hospital not fit for prison use, and requests that GHs #20 & #23 be used as
prison hospitals. |
Official Records, Ser. II, Vol. VI, p. 1086-87 |
12/18/1863; Medical Director Carrington directs
GH #10 closed as a hospital; baggage stored in Liggon's factory (GH#23) can
be moved elsewhere |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
12/31/1863;
$375.00 paid for “Rent of Warehouse from 1st Oct. to 31 Dec.
1863. 3 mos @ $125.” |
VHS 1/23/1864 |
1/23/1864; Letter from Jno. L. Ligon, Clerk at
Castle Thunder, writing on behalf of a man whom Ligon was accosted by and
later shot. Ligon believes the man accosted him because the man thought that
Ligon was a Yankee deserter. Ligon appeals for his immediate discharge from
prison |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
1/31/1864;
$125.00 paid for “Rent of Factory on Main & 25th streets from 1st
Jany to the 31 Jany 1864 being one month @ 125 per month.” |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
3/1/1864;
$200.00 paid for “Rent of Ligons Factory from the 1st Feby to the
29th
of Feby, 1864 @ two hundred dollars per month.” |
Surgeon
G. W. Semple CSR, M331 |
5/30/1864; Semple orders that Liggon's factory
be vacated for use as a prison hospital |
Richmond
Examiner |
6/2/1864; 700 Yankees in GH21; "Ligon's
factory" opened to handle the excess numbers |
Richmond
Whig |
6/2/1864; tobacco factories on Main
and Franklin near Church Hill have been re-occupied as prisons, and the
guards are forcing people off the sidewalk. Major Turner puts a stop to this
practice |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
6/30/1864;
$225.00 paid for “Rent of Factory used by C. S. States as Prison Hospital
for Federal Prisoners, from 1st June to 30th June 1864
at $225 per month. |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
7/31/1864;
$225.00 paid for “Rent of Factory corner of Main & 25th Street
used by C. S. Government as a Hospital (for Libby Prison) for one month from
1 July 1864 @ $225 per month. |
Summary of John L. Ligon file, M346, National Archives |
12/31/1864;
$1225.00 paid for “Rent of Factory corner 25th & Main Streets
used by C. S. as Genl Hospital No. 21 [sic]. Five months from Aug. 1st
to 31 Dec. 1864 @ $225 per month. |
National Tribune |
8/20/1891; good account of life in Richmond
prisons in 1861 |
New England Magazine |
4/1895; good description of life in Prison No.
1 (Ligon's Prison) during 1861. Comments on Henry Wirz as an employee there. |