Most often, stories of soldiers incarcerated in prisoner-of-war camps—on both sides— during the American Civil War are grim at best, and unimaginably horrific at worst. So a recent local news story about a statue dedicated to the memory of the commandant of one of these camps caught my attention.
|Bronze bust of Colonel Richard Owen|
Even more remarkable than the fact that such a statue exists is that it was the man’s prisoners who requested that the statue—bust, to be accurate—be made in the first place.
Colonel Richard Owen held the position of commanding officer at
in , from February to May of 1862.
During those three short months he so endeared himself to the Confederate
soldiers he oversaw that fifty years later, those men petitioned the state of Indianapolis, Indiana for permission
to honor their former enemy with a bronze memorial. Indiana
to a prominent milling family, Owen immigrated with his family to ,
at the age of seventeen. His military career began in 1847 during the Mexican
War. On his return to New Harmony, Indiana Indiana after the war, he
joined his brother David in surveying the Northwest
Territory, work that earned Richard a chairmanship of Natural
Science in the U.S. Military Academy. In 1860, soon after he was appointed
Indiana State Geologist, he was asked by Governor Morton to serve as Lieutenant
Colonel of the 15th Indiana Volunteers. A year later, following the outbreak of
the Civil War, he was promoted to Colonel of the 60th Indiana Volunteers.
|Battle of Fort Donelson|
In February of 1862, Confederate Fort Donelson in
|Camp Morton, Indianapolis, Indiana|
These men were sent to
previously a training camp in
for Indiana Volunteers, and put under the command of Colonel Richard Owen.
Considering their situation, this proved a most fortunate turn of events for
the captured Confederate soldiers of Indianapolis . A humanitarian,
Colonel Owen’s stated goals as camp commandant was to treat prisoners in a way
“calculated to make them less restless in their confinement, and likely, when
they returned to their homes, to spread among their friends and acquaintances
the news that they had been deceived regarding northern men.” Fort
Up to this point, no rules concerning the treatment of prisoners in such camps existed so Owen took it upon himself to draw up a list of rules, under which,
would operate. The
list included what would constitute a crime and how those crimes would be
punished, general humane living conditions even including a provision for the
creation of a prisoners’ fund. Camp
Alarmed and dismayed at the news that their kind commandant would be leaving, a group of
petitioned Governor Morton to allow Colonel Owen to remain at the camp, but to
no avail. A few months later, Colonel Owen and his regiment were, themselves,
captured by Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s army. Fortunately, word of
Colonel Owen’s kindnesses to the prisoners at Camp
preceded him and, in turn, he and his men were treated well by their captors,
the Colonel even being allowed to keep his sidearms. Camp Morton
|An elderly Richard Owen|
In 1911, Archibald Cunningham, editor of Confederate Veteran Magazine and former
and received permission to honor Colonel Richard Owen’s service with a bronze
tablet. He solicited contributions from fellow ex-inmates of Camp Morton and
the response was so great—more than $1,100.00—that there were sufficient funds
to commission not a mere tablet, but a bronze bust of the revered commandant. Camp
This past June 10th, the 100th anniversary of the original dedication of the Owen bust, a rededication ceremony was held in the Indiana State House replete with Civil War re-enactors. This was the news story that caught my attention and caused me to research the remarkable story of Colonel Richard Owen.
The Civil War annals are rife with accounts of atrocities perpetrated by Americans on Americans during that bitter struggle. So on this weekend filled with patriotic celebrations of our country’s birthday, I find it a point of pride that the actions of a fellow Hoosier are among the rare examples of compassion and respect shown by one American enemy to another in that bloody conflict that pitted brother against brother.
Ramona K. Cecil is an award winning author of Christian historical fiction. A native Hoosier, most of her stories are set in her home state of Indiana.
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