Confederate POW Brothers Escape Union Custody: 52 Ancestors 2023 Prompt “Flew the Coop”

 

Vanlandingham Brothers Among Mass Escape from Union Press Prison in New Orleans

Oliver Cromwell Vanlandingham: 1826-1905 (Maternal First Cousin 4x Removed)
Ezekiel Posey Vanlandingham: 1827-1895 (Maternal First Cousin 4x Removed)

 

The Vanlandingham brothers did nearly everything together, from running the cotton plantation their father bought near Baton Rouge, to enlisting in the Confederate Cavalry when the Civil War broke out. They served together, and both were captured by Union troops in 1864, and were sent to the same prison in New Orleans. But perhaps their most interesting and exciting shared adventure was breaking out of that prison along with nearly forty other Confederate POWs.

Oliver Cromwell “O.C.II” and Ezekiel “E.P.” Vanlandingham joined the 14^th Confederate Cavalry Regiment in 1862. They were privates in Company G under the command of Captain John B. Cage. The researchonline website describes the unit as follows:

“This unit was comprised of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama companies. It appears that this regiment did not serve together, but each company saw separate service….However, Co. A of Miles' Louisiana Legion refused to recognize its assignment to the new regiment as Co. E and maintained its independence; in fact, all the companies from Miles’ Legion tended to act separately from the rest of the new regiment."

Another site explained the Regiment was part of a group called Miles’ Legion, and was one of three cavalry regiments combined with six or seven infantry companies that served independently from the rest of the Confederate army. John Cage seems to have assumed command of the regiment in 1863, and at that time the Regiment was comprised of 250 cavalrymen.

It appears from the records that Company G spent most of the war in Louisiana and Mississippi, skirmishing with Union Troops led by Sheridan and Grant. In spring 1863, they were patrolling near Port Hudson north of Baton Rouge along the Mississippi River, and then moved into Mississippi to fight in the battle of Champion Hill and Big Black in mid-May, which the Confederates lost. The 14^th Regiment helped cover the Confederate retreat.

Louisiana 3rd Cavalry Regiment members--gives an idea of uniforms the brothers wore

Following that campaign, Company G and other Miles’ Legion cavalry companies apparently moved back and forth between the Meridian area and the site of the Big Black River Bridge battle just to the east of Vicksburg. In February 1864, Company G was patrolling along the Comite River as Sherman’s troops headed towards Meridian, Mississippi. Oliver Vanlandingham was captured during that campaign. His muster record cards contain two conflicting capture dates: February 1, 1864 and March 24. Both cards state “Comite River” as the location of his capture.

Just weeks afterwards, Ezekiel was also captured. Like O.C., Ezekiel’s muster cards show two conflicting dates of capture: March 30 and April 14, 1864. His location of capture was “Baker Farm”, which probably refers to the area near Baker, Louisiana. This area is not far from the Comite River, so obviously Company G was skirmishing slightly northeast of Baton Rouge. 

Comite River and Baker area where brothers were captured in 1864

The brothers were probably fortunate to have been captured when they were, as their unit went further east to fight in the Battle of Harrisburg near Tupelo in July 1864. The regiment suffered heavy losses, and commanding officer Lt. Col. John Cage was killed in battle.

The two brothers were sent to New Orleans and were imprisoned in one of the city’s several POW facilities run by the Union Army. Some soldiers were held at the old Parish Prison, while others were held at various warehouse-type facilities, including a “cotton press” and a Customs House where many Confederate officers were held. An illustration of that facility was published in Harpers’ Weekly. The reporter found the conditions to be reasonable if not comfortable, noting that the nearly 250 officers were decently fed and had plenty of space to move around and socialize. I expect conditions for privates like the Vanlandingham brothers were not as decent, especially during the hot, muggy summer days in New Orleans. The enlisted men’s prisons were more crowded.

Customs House Prison for Confederate Officers; Illustration from Harpers' Bazaar

 Oliver and Ezekiel’s service records include a quite extraordinary muster card. The cards read as follows:

“Roll of Prisoners of War who escaped from military prison, New Orleans, La., Aug. 14, 1864.

Roll dated N. Orleans La. Aug. 15, 1864.”

Below was another passage with some incredible details:

“REMARK: ‘The prisoners borne on this Roll escaped from one of the prisons in this City on the night of the 14 inst. Their escape was effected through a vault in the room where they were confined.”

I immediately noticed that the information on the form was printed rather than handwritten. Typesetting in the 19^th century was done by hand, making it an expensive, time-intensive proposition. So to have printed these cards, there had to have been a large number of soldiers to whom the card would apply—a large prison break, in other words.

I tried to find mention of the event in historical records, but information on smaller Union prisons is difficult to find. However, I was able to find reports written by the Union Commissary of Prisons in New Orleans, and found a lengthy letter to his superiors that includes his report of escapes during the month of August 1864. I have transcribed the letter as best as I could as follows:

 “I ____ to report that of the 68 Prisoners of War who escaped during the month of August, 40 of the number escaped from the Camdelot (or Earndelot or Rampart?) St Prison and before I entered upon the duties of Commissary of Prisoners. The Majority of the others escaped from the Union Press by cutting through one of the brick walls.

At the time of their escape I had made repeated applications for the Guards at that Prison to be relieved as they had been on duty for eight (?) consecutive days and nights and although I attributed their escape to the negligence of the Guard I could not expect men to be as vigilant and watchful whose labors had been so severe as the nature of the service demanded.”

I am unsure which of these two prison breaks involved the Vanlandingham brothers. I have determined that the “Union Press” was a Cotton Press building (sort of a cotton warehouse) that was pressed into service as a temporary prison. The detail in the letter about cutting through the wall sounds similar to the Confederate Army record that referred to escaping through a “vault”. Either way, the brothers were among the boldest and bravest prisoners who were willing to risk death to escape.

I found no further muster cards indicating the two brothers had returned to service following the prison break. Records from the Louisiana Soldiers Military Index show that both Oliver and Ezekiel were paroled in Gainesville, Ala., May 12, 1865, which means that following the final surrender of the Confederate armies, the Vanlandinghams, like all other Confederate troops, were required to sign a parole slip that read:

“May ________, 1865. In accordance with the terms of the Military Convention, entered into the twenty-sixth day of April, 1865, between General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate army, and Major-General W. T. Sherman, commanding the United States Army in North Carolina, [soldier's name] has given his solemn obligation not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly released from this obligation, and is permitted to return to his home, not to be disturbed by the United States authorities so long as he observes this obligation and obeys the laws in force where he may reside.”

It is unclear if the Vanlandinghams actually travelled to Gainesville to sign these documents, or if the paperwork was signed in Baton Rouge and sent to Gainesville for Union signatures.

What we do know is that once the paroles were signed, Oliver and Ezekiel were free to go home and try to pick up their lives.

After so many years of working and living side by side, the brothers elected to part ways. Oliver collected his family and moved to Vanlandingham land in Kentucky. Ezekiel moved his family west to Rains, Texas. I have no idea if the two brothers ever saw each after they parted, or if they ever visited their two sisters who remained in Louisiana with their husbands and children. However, I am sure that Oliver and Ezekiel shared one last thing:  regaling their families with the tale about the day they flew the coop from a Union prison in New Orleans—the one victory they could claim against the Union.

Sources:

Miles’ Legion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles%27_Legion#Organization

Letter from Capt. Duffy, Commissary of Prisons. https://archive.org/details/selectedrecordso0104unit/page/n162/mode/1up?view=theater

Conditions at the Customs House where POW officers were held. Picture/drawing in file Harpers Weekly, Aug 29 1863. Pg 551. THE REBEL PRISON IN NEW ORLEANS.

https://laahgp.genealogyvillage.com/MilitaryIndex/louisianasoldiersv1.html

Selected records of the War Department relating to Confederate prisoners of war, 1861-1865 [microform] (Volume Reel 0001 -SELECTED RECORDS OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT RELATING TO CONFEDERATE PRISONERS OF WAR 1861-65 -Registers of Prisoners, Compiled by the Office of the Commissary General of Prisoners: 1 OCGP 1 1863-65) -United States. National Archives and Records Service. Accessed via https://www.ahgp.org/military/confederate-prisoners-of-war.html

https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/louisiana.htm