Having
spent
over
thirty
years
collecting
information
on
the
prison
and
its
garrison
at
Point
Lookout
and
close
to
ten
to
write
this
book,
author
Robert
E.
Crickenberger,
Jr.
goes
above
and
beyond
including
interviews
with
local
citizens
and
historians
pertinent
to
Point
Lookout
and
its
history.
It
also
contains
site
visits
to
several
of
the
key
locations
that
affected
the
lives
of
the
inhabitants
of
Point
Lookout
before,
during,
and
immediately
after
the
war
and
numerous
unpublished
primary
sources,
diaries, letters, and recollections of Confederate prisoners and Union guards.
Robert
E.
Crickenberger's
new
book,
Point
Lookout,
Maryland:
The
Largest
Civil
War
Prison
takes
a
fresh
and
scholarly
look
at
this
Federal
Civil
War
Prison
Camp
in
Scotland, Maryland.
Point
Lookout
Prison
Camp
was
a
massive
Civil
War
prison
(1863-1865)
located
in
southern
Maryland
situated
on
a
peninsula
bordered
by
the
Potomac
River
on
the
east
and
the
Chesapeake
Bay
on
its
western
shore.
It
was
constructed
in
the
wake
of
the
Battle
of
Gettysburg
incarcerating
many
of
the
recently
captured
Confederate
prisoners.
Officially
called
Camp
Hoffmann,
it
would
eventually
grow
to
become
a
45-
acre
prison
compound
surrounded
by
a
12-foot-tall
wooden
fence
that
provided
a
catwalk
from
which
guards
could
monitor
the
activities
of
the
prison
population
within
the
confines
of
the
prison
stockade.
The
prison
depot
included
mess halls/cookhouses, sutler store, and hospital.
This
new
thought
provoking
book
will
offer
detailed
and
recently
discovered
research
that
will
assist
scholars
and
casual
readers
alike
in
understanding
the
significance
that
Point
Lookout
had
upon
both
the
war
and
the prisoner-of-war system that would be passed on to future 19th-century American wars.
Copyright © 2025 Robert E Crickenberger
In
this
meticulous
and
groundbreaking
study
Point
Lookout,
Maryland:
The
Largest
Civil
War
Prison
,
author
Robert
Crickenberger
reexamines
Point
Lookout
with
fresh
eyes,
peeling
back
layers
of
myth
to
reveal
a
more
nuanced
truth.
While
prison
camps
often
fade
into
the
background
of
Civil
War
narratives,
overshadowed
by
the
battles
that
filled
them,
Crickenberger
brings
Point
Lookout
into
sharp
focus.
Challenging
the
traditional
portrayal
of
guards
as
uniformly
brutal
and
prisoners
as
mere
victims,
he
draws
on
extensive,
previously
unpublished
research
to
explore
the
complex
experiences
of
both.
Postwar
accounts,
steeped
in
survivor
bias
and
“Lost
Cause”
rhetoric,
have
long
dominated
the story—until now.
Pre Order NOW for a Fall 2025 Release
CLICK ON LINK TO PRE-ORDER FROM
SAVAS BEATIE PUBLISHERS
https://www.savasbeatie.com/point-lookout-maryland-the-
largest-civil-war-prison/
$32.95
Publication Release Date: Fall 2025
ISBN: 978-1-61121-755-1
EISBN: 978-1-61121-756-8
Hardcover with Dust Jacket
20 Images, 2 maps, 384 pages
Bookplates: Available
Point Lookout, Maryland:
The Largest Civil War Prison
By Robert E. Crickenberger
A Groundbreaking Book That Rewrites the Legacy
of the Union’s Most Infamous POW Camp
July 1863 – August 1865
