Portals To Hell

PORTALS TO HELL, the Military Prisons of the Civil War, by Lonnie R. Speer, is the first conprehensive study of all Civil War military prisons ever presented. It is a complete reference, listing prisons and their dates of operation written in a chronological order of development. It has become a modern-day Civil War classic itself, spawning many individal prison studies since its publication in 1997.
PORTALS TO HELL gives new insight into the logistical and political problems involved in holding prisoners of war, as humane ideals in the beginning often gave way to ever-burgeoning prison populations, local opinion, and vindictive commanders and guards. This ultimate work on Civil War prisons and prisoners covers all aspects of prison life for soldiers on both sides: the lack of adequate shelter; the prisoner exchange program; escapes and escape attempts; the women and black prisoners; political prisoners; and the developing problems of food, vermin, illness, and death within each institution.

The holding of prisoners of war has always been both a political and a military enterprise, yet the military prisons of the Civil War, which held more than four hundred thousand soldiers and caused the deaths of fifty-six thousand men, remained nearly forgotten in the years after the conflict. Recognizing this, Speer set out to bring back to life these least-known participants in this great struggle between the Union and the Confederacy, using their own words and observations as they endured a true “hell on earth.” Drawing on scores of previously unpublished firsthand accounts, PORTALS TO HELL presents the prisoners’ experiences in great detail and from an impartial perspective while seeking to analyze the many complexities in the relationships among prisoners, guards, commandants, and government leaders.

According to Civil War Times Illustrated, PORTALS TO HELL is "An excellent work; a full and excellent treatment of Civil War prisons. Based on prodigious research in governmental records and manuscript collections, the book offers a judicious and balanced study of a controversial subject. Speer's writing is thorough, detailed, and unblinking. He spares neither side, offering solid evidence to support his critical assessments."

(Stackpole Books, HB 1997, 410 pp., notes, bib., index, illus; PB, 2005, Bison Books, Nebraska University Press) HB: $35, PB:$25 postpaid.

War of Vengeance

WAR OF VENGEANCE, Acts of Retaliation Against Civil War POWs by Lonnie R. Speer. The violent retaliation between both sides in the American Civil War was perhaps most apparent in the taking of prisoners. Often, these retaliatory measures were enacted against the innocent-prisoners who were unfortunate enough to be in wrong place at the wrong time. Each chapter of this book undertakes to describe a specific event of retaliatory action one side took against the other. Speer takes no sides as he points an accusing finger at both the Union and the Confederacy for their equal parts in treating the prisoners poorly and sometimes with just plain vengeance. Speer points out that this war was a vicious conflict that developed an intense hatred between the opposing sides, despite some historians' assertions that this was history's last great "gentleman's war," and that the conflict was anything but civil. There is ample evidence to suggest that both sides quite commonly retaliated against one another throughout the conflict, often in chillingly inhumane ways.

Speer explores this little-known wartime violence against the POWs, focusing on the most notorious and well-documented cases. (Stackpole Books, 2002, 190 pp., Notes, Bibliog., Index, Illus.) HB: $20 postpaid