May 23 Never Forgotten: Civil War POW Finally Receives Memorial Edit All soldiers who give their lives for their country deserve to be honored. But for 11,700 soldiers buried in unmarked trenches near the Salisbury Confederate Prison, in North Carolina, this was the case: During the Civil War, these prisoner of war soldiers were given a single memorial by the U.S. Government. This was not a sufficient memorial for Diane Streeter, a licensed practical nurse at the Tomah VA Medical Center. Her great-great-great-grandfather is one of the soldiers buried in the trenches in North Carolina. In the middle of researching her family tree, Streeter came across the name John Printz. She found he died as a prisoner of war during the Civil War. Streeter started to realize she wanted to make a change as she uncovered more information. “They (POWs) lived in terrible conditions at the prison,” said Streeter. “His death at the prison is attributed to disease, but in reality it should say starvation.” The Salisbury Prison was originally intended to hold a maximum of 2,500 prisoners according to the Salisbury Prison Association website. At its peak in November 1864, the prison held over 10,000. The prisoners were forced to find shelter under buildings, in tents or in burrows dug into the ground. The death rate rose from two percent prior to October 1864 to 28 percent. “The prison buried the soldiers with markers in the beginning, but after a while so many were dying on a daily basis they had to start using mass graves,” said Streeter. “They would put the dead into wagons at the end of the day and carted them off. One of those men was my grandfather.” Printz joined the 36th Wisconsin Regiment, Company C, as a volunteer in February 1864 at the age of 50. He was considered one of the wealthiest men in Jackson County, Wisc., owning several acres of land. Streeter believes she knows why he joined the volunteer army. “Our family believes John joined to protect his son Newmarien,” said Streeter. “During the Battle of Petersburg (Va.), John was injured, but Newmarien escaped. We believe he (John) did his job in protecting his son and helped Newmarien escape.” After Printz’s death in January 1865, most of his land was sold, except for one acre intended to be used as the family cemetery. Everyone in the Printz family tree is buried in the private cemetery. Streeter knew what she had to do. “I needed to bring him back home to be with his wife and family where he belongs,” said Streeter, who said she couldn’t bring her grandfather’s remains home because they are in a mass grave. “Maybe not his body, but his spirit.” According to Streeter, it wasn’t easy to get a memorial for Printz at the private cemetery. Streeter said she had to fill out a lot of paperwork, and battle the board of directors for the private cemetery. After months and months of fighting, finally the call came from Lori Chown, a Veterans service assistant, that the memorial had been approved. “I didn’t think it was ever going to happen,” said Streeter. “But I was never going to stop fighting; I was going to make what was wrong right.” Streeter said this quest began because she filled out her family tree. She wanted to know more about the history of her family. “He was listed as unknown at the Salisbury Prison, but he’s not unknown…he’s my grandfather,” said Streeter. “Without him I wouldn’t be here today.” The memorial for Printz is set for July in Shamrock, Wisc. Antony Kamps Public Affairs Specialist Milwaukee VA Medical Center Note: Antony Kamps was a public affairs intern at the Tomah VA Medical Center.
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 14:56:06 +0000
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