Prisoners in front of Andersonville's gates (National Archives)

Former Underground Railroad 'Conductor' Recorded and Endured the Hardships of Andersonville

By Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Military.com Contributing Writer

Cpl. Charles Fern Hopkins arrived at Andersonville, Ga., on May 22, 1865, and kept a daily record of the time he passed there. Of course, "passed" is not the correct word, since Hopkins and 35,000 other men were crowded against their will into this military prison of the Confederate States of America. Set amid scrub oak and pine trees, Andersonville was less a military prison than a stockade. Hopkins and the men captured with him at the Battle of Wilderness were greeted by "hoards of gaunt men blackened by pine smoke and clad in vermin-covered rags," according to one account.

It was a dismal existence, but "where others can live," Hopkins wrote, "we will not die!" His indefatigable spirit was nurtured by his upbringing in a family of ardent abolitionists in Hope, N.J. Their house was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and the teen-aged Charles often drove "passengers" to freedom. Although Hopkins trained under his father as a harness maker, his patriotic dedication and belief in the Union cause led him to join the Civil War almost as soon as guns had fired upon Fort Sumter.

While in the 1st New Jersey Regiment, Hopkins learned much under Gen. Philip Kearny's command. In 1862, the regiment was placed under Brig. Gen. George W. Taylor and battled the enemy at Gaines's Mill, Chickahominy Bridge, Rappahannock, and in the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid.

Hopkins sustained wounds several times in the course of these battles and was still injured when he was taken to Andersonville. In his journal, he wrote about the despair and physical suffering: "These were the hours that tried the mental strength of the 'man,' and were a hundred times worse than the thought of a hundred Gettysburgs or Chickamauga battles!"

Artist's Rendering (National Archives)

Hopkins attempted escape twice by impersonating a guard, and once by the more elaborate means of tunneling. Although he was brutally punished for two of these tries, he believed it was his "privilege" as a prisoner to attempt escape whenever and wherever possible.

By Feb. 27, 1865, Hopkins' health had deteriorated badly due to scurvy. When the Confederates released the Andersonville inmates, they left in hospital patients who were not expected to live, including Hopkins. When he realized the camp was being freed, he crawled out of the building and headed towards the smoke of a locomotive. Hopkins finally reached freedom at a temporary encampment. The soldiers were in en route to the North -- much like the slaves he'd helped years before.

Links:

Hopkins' biography with excerpts from his diary

Andersonville Prison History, from the Southeast Archaeological Center

Homepage of 1st New Jersey re-enactors

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