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Camp Bartley: A History of Imprisonment

Camp Bartley: A History of Imprisonment
Hallie Statham October 05, 2017

               

                 In the years prior to OSR’s construction, the land it now occupies had a different purpose: an Army camp during the Civil War. However, it wasn’t only soldiers who spent time here… and it wasn’t always voluntary.

                Just after the attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina (and the start of the war), President Lincoln issued a call for volunteers to help quell the rebellion. Ohio men responded in force and quickly filled up the training camp in Columbus. Soon enough, more camps were established, including Camp Bartley here in Mansfield.

                Camp Bartley was a popular place to watch the soldiers train. So popular, in fact (among young women), that a warning was published in the newspaper that no unaccompanied young women would be allowed into camp.

                Many of the regiments that trained here went on to see action in some of the war’s most famous battles including the Siege of Atlanta.

                But beyond the enlisted men, there were a few other residents of what newspapers dubbed “Camp Mansfield”.

                Not everyone in the northern Union states was in favor of the war, let alone in favor of the draft. There were protests across the country, many very close to home.

                In 1862, citing public morale, Habeas Corpus was rescinded.

                This allowed for those who’d protested or made public statements opposing the war or the draft to be arrested, at times without cause or warrant. Some of those men found themselves imprisoned on the land that would someday become the Ohio State Reformatory.

                The Commandant of Camp Bartley was a man named Charles T. Sherman, the oldest brother of William Tecumseh Sherman. Like his brother, Col. Sherman was no-nonsense and followed orders to the letter. When disgruntled citizens (and a few judges) of Ohio demanded that he release those who’d been arrested without a warrant, Sherman simply replied: “I shall disregard this writ, and will not obey its requirements.”

                In a rather foreboding turn of events, men remained here imprisoned for the duration of the war. And, just 34 years later, another group of men would arrive and start their own sentences. This time, though, they’d have had their day in court.

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The Ohio State Reformatory
100 Reformatory Rd, Mansfield, OH 44905
Phone: (419) 522-2644 • Email: info@mrps.org

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The Ohio State Reformatory is open 11am-4pm daily.

$19 per person for self-guided tours (Labor Day-November 17th), $35 per person for guided tours.

The tour route is adjusted Labor Day-November 17th due to the Blood Prison Haunted House setup. A $6 discount will be offered on self-guided tickets during this time. Guided tours will still be 90-minutes long and are still full-price, but the tour visits different areas than normal. There is no access to solitary confinement, the ground floor of the cell blocks, the showers, or the bullpen. If you want full access to the tour route, please plan to attend outside of this window.

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