Knife, Fork, and Plate from Libby Prison
date: label: date made
content: 1862
label: associated date
content: 1861 - 1865
name: label: user
content: Crocker, John S.
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description
label: Description
content: Metal-and-bone knife and fork and a metal plate.
label: Description
content: Specific History
label: Description
content: This knife, fork, and plate was issued to prisoner of war Colonel John S. Crocker, 93rd Infantry Regiment, New York Volunteers, by the commandant of Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, and used by him at Libby and Salisbury prisons, 1862.
label: Description
content: General History
label: Description
content: Libby Prison's three buildings were designed and built as a warehouse by John Enders, who died before putting them to use. Following his death, the warehouse sold to Luther Libby from Maine, who erected a sign "L. Libby & Son, Chip Chandlers". At the beginning of the war, Libby was given 48 hours to vacate the building so it could be used as a prison. The only thing Libby left behind was his sign; the building became Libby Prison. During the war, Libby held over 125,000 men, mostly Union officers. On February 9, 1864, the most bold and daring of prison escapes happened at Libby. One hundred nine Union army officers managed to escape by crawling through a fireplace, sliding down a chimney, and slithering through a 53-foot-long tunnel. The escape came after months of digging with tools smuggled into the prison by a Northern sympathizer, Elizabeth Van Wert, a.k.a. Crazybet. Libby was vacated just before the Union army captured Richmond, and spent the rest of the war empty.
place: label: used at
content: United States: Virginia, Libby Prison
label: used at
content: United States: Virginia, Richmond
topic: label: Subject
content: POWs
label: related event
content: Civil War
label: related event
content: Civil War and Reconstruction
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, General
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: ThinkFinity
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Mrs. Nelson Head
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.75529M
label: catalog number
content: 75529M
label: accession number
content: 296035
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plate
label: Object Type
content: plate
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: tin (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 21.844 cm x 21.844 cm x 1.905 cm; 8 5/8 in x 8 5/8 in x 3/4 in