County of marker: St. Charles County
Location of monument: Lock & Dam Rd., Lincoln Shields Recreation Area, (N. off US-67), West Alton
Monument erected: April 2002
Monument text:
The Alton Prison was originally opened in 1833 as the first Illinois State Penitentiary. It remained in service until 1860 when a new facility was built in Joliet. On February 9, 1862, the vacant structure reopened as the Alton Federal Military Prison. During the next three years, at least 11,764 Confederate soldiers were held in this facility.
By all objective accounts, conditions in the prison were substandard, the mortality rate was high. Hot, humid summers and cold, damp winters undoubtedly contributed to the high death rate. Overcrowding, inadequate food and clothing, and unsanitary conditions further compounded the prisoners misery pneumonia and dysentery were common killers, but contagious diseases like smallpox and rubella were the most feared. The small pox epidemic that began in late 1862, ultimately prompted prison officials to transfer the contagious prisoners to a temporary quarantine facility, a safe distance from civilian residents of Alton.
Listed here are the names of the officers, enlisted men, and conscripts of the Armies of the Confederate States of America who died of smallpox near this spot between Aug 1, 1863 and mar 31, 1865. These soldiers had each contracted the disease while being held as prisoners of war at the Federal Military Prison located across the Mississippi River in Alton, Illinois.
Once infected with this highly contagious disease, prisoners were transported to a temporary hospital located on a small island formerly located immediately upstream of this monument. There, each of these men stoically succumbed to the effects of the disease. For 70 years following the war between the states, the precise location of these soldiers' graves was unknown. Then, in 1935, a portion of the cemetery was inadvertently discovered during construction of the original locks and dam 26. Today, the remains of these southern patriots rest beneath the regulation pool of the Melvin Price Locks and Dam. This monument is dedicated to the their sacrifice and memory.
"In April of 2002, a new memorial containing the names of the of the Confederate prisoners who died of smallpox was dedicated. Located across the Mississippi River at the Lincoln Shields Recreation Area, any area of the Riverlands Environmental Demonstration Area managed by the Corps of Engineers. The area is named after a famous duel between Abraham Lincoln and a man named James Shields who was offended by what Lincoln and his wife had written in their "Rebecca" letters. The duel was called off after Shields realized Lincoln possessed a clear advantage because of his stature." The Great River Road
"During the Civil War, a temporary tented area and wooden hospital on a Missouri island named Sunflower Island comprised the first hospital for patients of smallpox from the military prison at Alton. Patients who died of smallpox were buried on the island in the vicinity of the hospital. Today, a monument marks the grave site of the 260 Confederate prisoners buried near this site. The site also marks the location of the infamous "Lincoln-Shields Duel" of 1842." ~ Alton Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau