A fateful journey during Civil War
Sunday, January 29, 201
By John Punola
For the Salisbury Post
On July 15, 1864, a train carrying more than 800 Confederate prisoners of war destined for the Union camp at Elmira, N.Y., was involved in a head-on crash near the sleepy town of Shohola, Pa.
The collision of the two trains on the Erie Railroad along the bank of the Delaware River resulted in the deaths of a large number of Confederate prisoners and Union guards.
As a historian and writer from Madison, N.J., I visited the site after learning of this tragic piece of history. There, I found out about two Confederate lads who died in the crash and were buried in a nearby cemetery.
With a great deal of research, their stories emerged, and the long hidden graves were found. As a result the train wreck becomes a personal story about two soldiers named Johnson, one from Anson County, N.C., and the other from Petersburg, Va. Both served in N.C. regiments, the 8th and 31st. To pay respect to them, my wife, Nancy, and I have taken the role of caretakers and faithfully place the Confederate flag on the gravesites.
The story begins two years earlier, in 1862, when it became apparent the war was going to last longer than anticipated, and both sides were faced with the problem of housing an increased number of prisoners. The Union and Confederacy decided to work out a prisoner exchange plan.
On July 22, 1862, Union Colonel John Dix met with Confederate Colonel Daniel Hill at Haxalls Landing, Va. They signed the prisoner exchange called the Dix–Hill Cartel. Under the terms, exchanges would take place after a battle and could involve the transport of prisoners to a temporary holding camp. The agreement stipulated the exchanged troops would be pardoned and eventually sent home; they were not supposed to return to duty with their former units.
From the beginning, the agreement was flawed. Southern troops, upon release, were eager to rejoin the fight and promptly headed back to their units, while Union troops languished in holding camps awaiting paperwork to send them home.
The Dix-Hill Cartel remained in effect until April 17, 1863, when President Lincoln under the advice of General Grant and Secretary of War Stanton canceled the plan, believing the war could end sooner if the Dix-Hill Cartel was rescinded.
Grant felt that by holding large numbers of Confederates, it would create a problem for General Robert E. Lee to replace them. Grant also felt the Union could afford to lose more men as casualties and prisoners than the South.
Lincoln also believed the South would not be able to care for and feed the Union prisoners. Grant and Lincoln proved to be correct.
As the war continued, the Confederacy made repeated pleas to reinstate the prisoner exchange but Lincoln steadfastly refused. In the end, the “total war” concept did hasten the end but at a horrible cost in human lives, both military and civilian.
During 1864, the Union Army under Grant went on the offensive, waging a ruthless “war of attrition” in hopes of shortening the conflict. This resulted in a high casualty rate plus a large number of prisoners taken by both armies. Neither side had sufficient prisoner camps to handle the volume of prisoners.
The Union camp at Elmira, N.Y., a former induction center, had been converted to a holding camp, and the flow of Confederate prisoners to the camp commenced in July 1864. Recent heavy fighting at the battle of Cold Harbor, Va., killed a huge number of Union soldiers, and a large number of Confederates were taken prisoner. The Confederates, mostly new recruits, were destined for delivery to the new Elmira camp, traveling via rail from Maryland to Harrisburg, Pa., then to Jersey City, N.J., and finally to Elmira.
Many of the prisoners arrived at Point Lookout, Md, early on the morning of July 15, 1864, where they were transferred to the Erie Railroad, destined for Port Jervis, N.Y., and the final stop, Elmira.
The train bearing the prisoners, Locomotive 171, was designated as a special “extra,” meaning it was to run behind a regular passenger Train 23, which would display warning flags giving the right of way to Locomotive 171 and its load of prisoners. The train consisted of l7 cars, a mix of passenger and freight cars, plus locomotive and caboose. All told, it carried 833 Confederate prisoners and 128 Union guards, with some of the latter stationed at each end of the cars.
The westbound Train 23 left that morning on time. But because of a faulty drawbridge, there was a delay in the prisoner train’s departure, and Locomotive 171 was four hours behind schedule when it arrived in Port Jervis.
On that sunny July 15, Locomotive 171 departed Port Jervis at 1 p.m. It looked like a routine trip as it headed into Pennsylvania, with the train moving along at about 20 mph along a single track section that contained sharp curves as it ran along the Delaware River.
Ahead at Lackawaxen, Pa., was a junction with the Hawley branch, a spur line connection to Honesdale, Pa. At this junction was a telegraph operator named Douglas “Duff” Kent. Earlier that day, Kent had noted the regular West 23 train passing by, going west, with the warning flags indicating an extra train was following behind.
At approximately 2:30 p.m., coal train Erie 237 arrived at the Lackawaxen junction pulling 50 cars laden with coal from Hawley, Pa., destined for Jersey City. Kent mistakenly gave the all clear sign, and the switch was thrown. The Erie coal train then sped eastward for its fateful collision with the trainload of Confederate prisoners.
The trains collided at “King and Fuller’s Cut.” This section of track included a blind curve, with only 50 feet of forward visibility. The collision was a scene of horror, death and destruction. Union guards and Confederate prisoners alike died on the spot or soon after. Both groups were hastily buried there in a shallow grave between the track and the Delaware River.
The Confederates were buried four per casket, crudely constructed with wood from the wreckage. Coffins arrived the following morning for each of the 17 dead Union guards. Overall, 48 Confederates perished in the wreck. Five Confederate prisoners managed to escape during the early hours after the wreck. Despite extensive searches, they were never found, having melted into the countryside.
The surviving prisoners were taken to Shohola, Pa., and housed in local railroad buildings. The injured were taken to homes of local citizens for care and medical attention. Two of the prisoners, John Johnson and Michael Johnson (no relation), were taken in by the Hickock family. Both soldiers died soon afterward.
It was said the Hickocks — reminded of their own sons in the Union Army — took a liking to the young Confederate soldiers and decided to give them a Christian burial. The two bodies were taken across the Delaware River to the Congregational Church in Barryville, N.Y. They were buried in unmarked graves so the Union guards would not find them.
Later, when Union officers came to take the Johnsons, they demanded to know the location of the graves, but the Hickocks refused to divulge it.
Despite many years of visits from Union officials, the Hickocks never revealed the grave site. Once the Union officers stopped their inquiry, a single stone grave marker was erected, and it’s still in good condition.
On June 11, 1911, the guards and prisoners buried at the scene of the crash were disinterred and taken to the cemetery at Elmira Woodlawn National Cemetery. A single monument marks the burial site. It contains two bronze plaques, one facing North for the Union troops and one facing South for the Confederates.
Regarding the two Johnsons still buried at Barryville, they are visited each year on or close to the July 15 anniversary. There is a brief ceremony at the gravesites with both Union and Confederate re-enactors present, and occasionally, an ancestor of the Johnson boys.
When we learned of the two young Confederates buried in the nearby country cemetery, we set out to find the gravesites. This proved a real challenge since the original Congregational Church had been abandoned for decades. In fact, the Barryville, N.Y., post office could not tell us where the church was located.
Finally, we visited the old United Methodist Church in Barryville, and while talking to some ladies there, we asked about the old Congregational Church. One of the ladies pointed to a structure hidden in the trees on a gentle hill. We walked to the old building, and right behind it was the old cemetery. After a close search of the grounds, we found the Johnsons buried under shade trees along the edge of the cemetery. My wife Nancy said we must pay respect to the young Confederates and decided to decorate the gravesite.
Days later, we purchased a dozen Confederate flags and placed two of them at the gravesite. We kept the remaining flags in reserve, and every time we are in the area, we plant new flags. We have been doing this for the past seven years and will continue as honored caretakers of the gravesites as long as possible.
Further research revealed that the two Johsons buried at Barryville are not related. John D Johnson was from Anson County, N.C., and served with Company B, NC 31st infantry Regiment. Michael Johnson was from Petersburg, Va., and was with Company I, NC 8th Regiment. Both held the rank of private when captured on June 1, 1864 at the battle of Cold Harbor.
During this period of honoring the memories, heroes and sacrifices of the military men of the War Between the States, both Union and Confederate, my wife and I are honored and proud to have contributed our time and thoughts toward the rememberance of two young Confederates buried so far from home and friends, and we will continue to honor them. They are Americans just like us.
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Editor’s note: An official inquest jury in Pike County was impaneled to investigate the accident and found Douglas Kent negligent (and, in some accounts, inebriated). However, Kent had apparently fled the area the day after the collision.
