Robert Arnold
Missouri Division
Heritage Defense
Committee Chairman

     Federal prison Camp Chase, near Columbus, OH, was not a bad place to be incarcerated, comparatively speaking.  Over 9,000 prisoners were held there at various times over the war's duration, and until 1864 the death rate was only 4 in 100.  But following General Hood's Tennessee campaign, Camp Chase's prison population swelled out of control, and of the total approx. 2,200 prisoner deaths at Chase, over 800 of them occurred during 1865 alone.  During the following decades, many southern mothers and widows visited the Camp Chase Confederate burial ground, leaving flowers among the rapidly deteriorating wooden grave markers and weedy, snake and varmint infested grounds.  But one such visitor was different.  She was local. She left flowers among the Confederate markers on the average of once/week for a half century or more.  Her name was Louisiana Briggs of Franklin Co., OH, and her story hints strongly of being preordained.

     In 1917, the SCV held its annual reunion in Washington, DC - the first to be held outside of the Confederacy.  President W. Wilson gave a remarkable welcoming speech and the U. S. Marine band played Dixie as Confederate flags decorated the Mall.  During the awards banquet, SCV President George P. Harrison recognized Louisiana Briggs for her years of devotion, and she was granted the honorary title of "Confederate Angel of Camp Chase".  There followed an SCV sponsored cleanup of the cemetery, including new regulation (stone) Confederate headstones and a new stone fence surrounding the grounds.  Today the cemetery is properly maintained and occasionally a visitor reports seeing the image of a veiled lady wearing gray, walking among the graves, who fades from sight if approached.
 
     Identifying our Confederate ancestors' graves is part of our heritage duty.  Graves so identified and preserved will stir the memories of the Confederacy to generations yet unborn, long after we ourselves are gone.
It's a most important aspect of honoring our Charge. 

Bob Arnold,
Heritage Defense Chairman

Email your thoughts or comments to Bob at  rsa.sma2@juno.com



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