Opened about the Civil War's start, New York County Jail -- better known as the Ludlow Street Jail -- stood at the corner of Ludlow Street and Essex Market Place, near what is now the Manhattan side of the Williamsburgh Bridge that was erected 40 years later.

The only other New York facility that came into use [early on] was the Ludlow Street Jail, which primarily held prisoners of state before Fort Lafayette came into use.

Until the Gettysburg battle, David's Island had served as a medical facility for only Union troops. Being a previously established and equipped facility surrounded by water, Union authorities saw it as an excellent place to hold extremely ill prisoners or those who were still suffering from battle wounds.

Located in Long Island Sound just off the coast of what is today the New York suburb of New Rochelle, this eighty-acre site would eventually hold more than 2,500 Confederate prisoners at a time. The isle was a long, narrow stretch of land that contained twenty-two temporary structures extending nearly the entire length of the island. Each building was divided into four wards that contained up to twenty cots each. A doctor's office was located in the front of each building and a toilet was at the rear. Mess halls were located between every two buildings. Whenever the population increased to more than 1,800 prisoners, tents were used for the overflow.

"Upon our arrival," reported prisoner Samuel Hankins of Gulfport, Mississippi, "we were at once divested of all wearing apparel, which was burned, and each one given a bath. Then a hospital suit was provided ... the whole island was at our disposal. When the tide went out, we gathered clams for bait and fished.... Many sympathizers from New York visited us every day and brought things.""'

Hankins was fortunate to be confined in one of the buildings while he was there. The population at that time was up to 2,500 and many were housed in tents. When U.S. Surgeon Charles Crane inspected David's Island the following August, the population was at 2,538, but a total of 84 had died over the previous four-week period. According to Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, the population rose to nearly 3,000 soon afterward.

Conditions were similar at New York's other prison locations. The facilities were gradually growing more crowded and accommodations eroded further. Not wanting to bury deceased POWs on Governors Island, Federal authorities leased Deer Island in Boston Harbor, nearly two hundred miles away, to use as a burial site.

As prison populations steadily increased after the Battle of Gettysburg, it became apparent to Federal officials that the combination of original and reactivated prison facilities was unable to hold the number of captives coming into Union hands….In the meantime, a number of eastern state penitentiaries were pressed into use. These places seemed ideal for a number of reasons: they were close to a recent battlefield, they had the additional space available, and in some cases, they had the additional security that was necessary. Some of the major locations used were the Allegheny Penitentiary at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Moyamensing Penitentiary at Philadelphia; the Albany Penitentiary in New York; and the Ohio State Penitentiary at Columbus…

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