On 20 August 1864, a chosen group of 600 Confederate Officers left Ft.
Delaware, as prisoners of war, bound for the Union Army base at Hilton
Head, SC.  They were to be placed in a stockade in front of Union
batteries at the seige of Charleston.  They were placed on Morris
Island, at the mouth of the harbor in an open 1 1/2 acre pen, under
shelling of friendly artillery fire.  This was in retaliation for the
conditions of Union prisoners at Andersonville, GA. and Salisbury, NC.

On Oct 21, after 45 days under fire, the weakened survivors were removed
to Ft. Pulaski, Ga., here crowded into  the cold, damp casemates of the
fort.  On 19 Nov.,  197 of the men were sent back to Hilton Head to
relieve the overcrowding.  Here they spend another 45 days on starvation
rations. 13 died at Ft. Pulaski and 5 more at Hilton Head.

On 12 March, 1865, the remaining members of this group were returned to
Ft. Delaware where an additional 25 died., thus leaving their numbers
about one-third what it began.  They were not released until July 1865.

This group of men became known throught the south as The Immortal Six-
Hundred.  Several books have been written about them.

If you think one of your Confederate Officer ancestors might have been
in this group, I'd be happy to look them up for you.  Please give me a
complete name if it's a common one, i.e., Smith, Brown, etc.

Doris

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