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Pvt George Washington Turpin

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Pvt George Washington Turpin Veteran

Birth
Fancy Hill, Amherst County, Virginia, USA
Death
15 Sep 1863 (aged 20–21)
Fort Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, USA
Burial
Pennsville, Salem County, New Jersey, USA Add to Map
Plot
Section CM Site ,2273
Memorial ID
View Source
Private, Company G, 2nd Calvary Regiment, Virginia
Shown as 1861 Age 19.

Died while a Prisoner of War in Delaware.






**************************************************************
2,435 other Confederate prisoners of war that died while being held in captivity at Fort Delaware, Peapatch Island in the Delaware River. The granite obelisk is 85 feet tall, the names are inscribed on bronze tablets that ring the base. All of the over 2,000 Confederate prisoner of war that died in Finn's Point National Cemetery, Salem County, New Jersey lay in unmarked graves.

Confederate Monument was erected by the U.S. government in 1910 to memorialize Confederate soldiers buried at the cemetery.

Finn's Point National Cemetery is located about six miles northwest of Salem, N.J., at the north end of what was Fort Mott Military Reservation.


United States purchased the land for the construction of the Finn's Point Battery to protect the Port of Philadelphia. By 1863, however, the grounds increasingly served as a burial site for Confederate prisoners of war who died while imprisoned at Fort Delaware.

This island was mostly unaffected by humanity with one exception. Dr. Henry Gale, a New Jersey resident, used Pea Patch as a private hunting ground.Dr. Henry Gale was offered USD $30,000 for the island by the US military, but he flatly refused. The US military was determined to get the island, so they appealed to the Delaware state legislature, which seized the island from Dr. Gale on May 27, 1813.

In 1838, Joseph T. Hudson of New Jersey (descendent of Dr. Henry Gale) sent legal representation to the island, claiming he had legal rights to the island. Captain Delafield's fort was never built due to this decade long legal battle over island ownership. The suit was eventually decided in Hudson's favor; the government was obligated to pay him $1,005.00 for the island.

Fort Delaware was on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River, one mile east of Delaware City. The island was named after a colonial-era tale that a boat loaded with peas ran aground on a river shoal, and the peas sprouted in the sandy loam. In 1847, Congress appropriated $1 million to construct the largest modern coastal defense fort in the nation here, surpassing Fort Sumter in size, to protect the ports of Wilmington, De, and Philadelphia, Pa.. In April 1862, Fort Delaware received its first POWs—358 Confederate soldiers from the Battle of Kernstown, Va. By January 1866 when the prison closed, approximately 22,773 men occupied the fort, including soldiers, officers and other prisoners.

An estimated total of 2,502 men died while imprisoned at Fort Delaware. Even prior to its designation as a national cemetery, the remains of POWs were transported to Finn's Point across the river for burial. When weather or ice made trips to the mainland hazardous, it was necessary to bury the bodies on Pea Patch Island. On May 12, 1875, Virginia Gov. James L. Kemper wrote to the secretary of war concerning the neglected Confederate graves on Pea Patch Island. In response, Gen. E.D. Townsend advised the governor that Finn's Point would be made a national cemetery and the remains of soldiers—both Union and Confederate—would be reinterred there. Finn's Point was official declared a national cemetery Oct. 3, 1875.


The death toll among prisoners of war and the guards was high, especially in the latter part of 1863 and throughout 1864. By July 1863, there were 12,595 prisoners on the island at nearby Fort Delaware which was only about 75 acres in size. Disease was rampant and nearly 2,700 prisoners died from malnutrition or neglect. Confederate prisoners interred at the cemetery totaled 2,436 and all are in general unmarked graves.

Officially made a National Cemetery on October 3, 1875 by request of Virginia Governor James L. Kemper, who criticized the poor maintenance of the Confederate grave sites.


The first Confederate prisoner to die at Fort Delaware was Captain L. P. Halloway of the 27th Virginia Infantry. He was captured at Winchester, Va. on March 23, 1862, dying on April 9th. Captain Halloway, a 32nd Degree Freemason, was given a full Masonic funeral by Jackson Lodge in Delaware City. The funeral procession was led by fort's commander, Captain Augustus A. Gibson, from the town's lock on Clinton Street, and ending in the cemetery on Jefferson Street. According to church records, Halloway's body was reclaimed by family after the war.

By August 1863, there were more than 11,000 prisoners on the island; by war's end, it had held almost 33,000 men. The conditions were deplorable, but about 2,500 prisoners died on Pea Patch Island. Statistically, the overall death rate for prisoners was about 7.6 percent. Half of the total number of deaths occurred during a smallpox epidemic in 1863. Inflammation of the lungs (243 deaths), various forms of diarrhea (315 deaths) and smallpox (272 deaths) were the leading killer amongst the prison population. About 215 prisoners died as a result of Typhoid and/or Malaria, according to records in the National Archives. Other causes of death include scurvy (70 deaths), pneumonia (61 deaths) and erysipelas (47 deaths). Five prisoners drowned, and seven died from gunshot wounds escaping.


Immortal 600!

On August 20, 1864, six-hundred Confederate officers boarded the Crescent bound for Morris Island, S.C., "for the purpose I believe of being placed under the fire of the Confederate batteries in retaliation for an equal number of Federal officers who have been placed in the city of Charleston, and are said to be exposed to the shelling of their own guns. I am glad of this move as it will be a diversion to the monotonous life led in prison," said Capt. Leon Jastremski of the 10th Louisiana Infantry. This group of prisoners was later known as the Immortal Six Hundred.

( May GOD so bless them 600 all!")





454 Ft. Mott Road
Pennsville, N.J. 08070

Phone: (215) 504-5610
FAX: (215) 504-5611

Size 115 acres
Number of graves 3,033
Private, Company G, 2nd Calvary Regiment, Virginia
Shown as 1861 Age 19.

Died while a Prisoner of War in Delaware.






**************************************************************
2,435 other Confederate prisoners of war that died while being held in captivity at Fort Delaware, Peapatch Island in the Delaware River. The granite obelisk is 85 feet tall, the names are inscribed on bronze tablets that ring the base. All of the over 2,000 Confederate prisoner of war that died in Finn's Point National Cemetery, Salem County, New Jersey lay in unmarked graves.

Confederate Monument was erected by the U.S. government in 1910 to memorialize Confederate soldiers buried at the cemetery.

Finn's Point National Cemetery is located about six miles northwest of Salem, N.J., at the north end of what was Fort Mott Military Reservation.


United States purchased the land for the construction of the Finn's Point Battery to protect the Port of Philadelphia. By 1863, however, the grounds increasingly served as a burial site for Confederate prisoners of war who died while imprisoned at Fort Delaware.

This island was mostly unaffected by humanity with one exception. Dr. Henry Gale, a New Jersey resident, used Pea Patch as a private hunting ground.Dr. Henry Gale was offered USD $30,000 for the island by the US military, but he flatly refused. The US military was determined to get the island, so they appealed to the Delaware state legislature, which seized the island from Dr. Gale on May 27, 1813.

In 1838, Joseph T. Hudson of New Jersey (descendent of Dr. Henry Gale) sent legal representation to the island, claiming he had legal rights to the island. Captain Delafield's fort was never built due to this decade long legal battle over island ownership. The suit was eventually decided in Hudson's favor; the government was obligated to pay him $1,005.00 for the island.

Fort Delaware was on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River, one mile east of Delaware City. The island was named after a colonial-era tale that a boat loaded with peas ran aground on a river shoal, and the peas sprouted in the sandy loam. In 1847, Congress appropriated $1 million to construct the largest modern coastal defense fort in the nation here, surpassing Fort Sumter in size, to protect the ports of Wilmington, De, and Philadelphia, Pa.. In April 1862, Fort Delaware received its first POWs—358 Confederate soldiers from the Battle of Kernstown, Va. By January 1866 when the prison closed, approximately 22,773 men occupied the fort, including soldiers, officers and other prisoners.

An estimated total of 2,502 men died while imprisoned at Fort Delaware. Even prior to its designation as a national cemetery, the remains of POWs were transported to Finn's Point across the river for burial. When weather or ice made trips to the mainland hazardous, it was necessary to bury the bodies on Pea Patch Island. On May 12, 1875, Virginia Gov. James L. Kemper wrote to the secretary of war concerning the neglected Confederate graves on Pea Patch Island. In response, Gen. E.D. Townsend advised the governor that Finn's Point would be made a national cemetery and the remains of soldiers—both Union and Confederate—would be reinterred there. Finn's Point was official declared a national cemetery Oct. 3, 1875.


The death toll among prisoners of war and the guards was high, especially in the latter part of 1863 and throughout 1864. By July 1863, there were 12,595 prisoners on the island at nearby Fort Delaware which was only about 75 acres in size. Disease was rampant and nearly 2,700 prisoners died from malnutrition or neglect. Confederate prisoners interred at the cemetery totaled 2,436 and all are in general unmarked graves.

Officially made a National Cemetery on October 3, 1875 by request of Virginia Governor James L. Kemper, who criticized the poor maintenance of the Confederate grave sites.


The first Confederate prisoner to die at Fort Delaware was Captain L. P. Halloway of the 27th Virginia Infantry. He was captured at Winchester, Va. on March 23, 1862, dying on April 9th. Captain Halloway, a 32nd Degree Freemason, was given a full Masonic funeral by Jackson Lodge in Delaware City. The funeral procession was led by fort's commander, Captain Augustus A. Gibson, from the town's lock on Clinton Street, and ending in the cemetery on Jefferson Street. According to church records, Halloway's body was reclaimed by family after the war.

By August 1863, there were more than 11,000 prisoners on the island; by war's end, it had held almost 33,000 men. The conditions were deplorable, but about 2,500 prisoners died on Pea Patch Island. Statistically, the overall death rate for prisoners was about 7.6 percent. Half of the total number of deaths occurred during a smallpox epidemic in 1863. Inflammation of the lungs (243 deaths), various forms of diarrhea (315 deaths) and smallpox (272 deaths) were the leading killer amongst the prison population. About 215 prisoners died as a result of Typhoid and/or Malaria, according to records in the National Archives. Other causes of death include scurvy (70 deaths), pneumonia (61 deaths) and erysipelas (47 deaths). Five prisoners drowned, and seven died from gunshot wounds escaping.


Immortal 600!

On August 20, 1864, six-hundred Confederate officers boarded the Crescent bound for Morris Island, S.C., "for the purpose I believe of being placed under the fire of the Confederate batteries in retaliation for an equal number of Federal officers who have been placed in the city of Charleston, and are said to be exposed to the shelling of their own guns. I am glad of this move as it will be a diversion to the monotonous life led in prison," said Capt. Leon Jastremski of the 10th Louisiana Infantry. This group of prisoners was later known as the Immortal Six Hundred.

( May GOD so bless them 600 all!")





454 Ft. Mott Road
Pennsville, N.J. 08070

Phone: (215) 504-5610
FAX: (215) 504-5611

Size 115 acres
Number of graves 3,033

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