Belle Isle Prison

During the Civil War, Belle Isle in the James River at Richmond served as a Confederate prison for captured Union enlisted men, while Libby Prison held Union officers. The first prisoners arrived from the battlefields in July 1862, and overcrowding quickly became the prison’s primary problem, with as many as 6,000 men at times confined in the section set aside for prisoners. Because there were no wooden buildings, the incarcerated soldiers endured especially harsh conditions, including poor sanitation, winter cold, summer heat and sun, malnutrition, and too few tents. By 1864, about 20,000 men had spent time on the island, and although the precise number of deaths is unknown, it may have approached 1,000.

Richmond, Virginia · United States