Camp Sorghum

Vickers spent a some time outside Columbia, SC at Camp Sorghum as Sherman's Army marched towards Savannah and then into South Carolina.  It was a temporary camp, not even having walls.  Rough planks were laid as a dead line manned by boys from the Armory & old men.  Many escaped, Vickers did not.  He signed a petition protesting the conditions there which were Spartan, to say the least; no shelter, sorghum and molasses for food, exposed to the weather with no relief. 

I went to the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum today [http://crr.sc.gov/] in the hopes of learning more about the camp. Nice museum, well done, if you are in Columbia I recommend a visit but unfortunately nothing on Camp Sorghum.  Just across the Saluda River is the approximate location of Camp Sorghum so it was my next stop.  It's exact location is lost to time, at this point but nestled in an older neighborhood of middle class houses is an abandoned radio station and antenna field just about where it should be.  The camp was positioned on a rise about 100 yards above the river.  The pictures are below.

Let the New Year Begin!

I just received word that AMU has, once again, approved my research grant for 2010!

So, David Vickers Jr. of Camden, NJ. Vickers is another interesting cadet from DMA, you are my project for this year! He was in the 3rd and 4th New Jersey Volunteers and was eventually captured at Spotsylvania Court House, take to Macon, GA and Camp Oglethorpe. When Sherman’s forces approached, he was moved to Camp Sorghum near Columbia, SC. He was brevetted to brigadier general in 1865 and after the war served as a diplomat in Cuba. During the Spanish American war he was an inspector general. Upon his death his will was contested by a second wife from Chile. He should make for a very interesting story.