Confederate Stockade Cemetery on Johnson’s Island

Located in the scenic Sandusky Bay, with a view of Cedar Point on the horizon, the Confederate Stockade Cemetery on Johnson’s Island is a fascinating historical stop along the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail.

In 1861, the United States government leased the island for $500 a year to build a POW camp for housing Confederate soldiers. This island was considered ideal due to its proximity to the Sandusky rail lines and sheltered from the elements nestled in Sandusky Bay. And compared to other nearby islands, this one was further from the Canadian border (a fear of escape was well-founded, as Confederate agents, located in Canada, made an unsuccessful attempt in September 1864). Although the first prisoners to arrive in 1862 were both officers and enlisted men, the prison eventually housed only Confederate officers as it was so far from the actual front lines.

In its three years of service, the prison contained over 10,000 Confederate officers, rotating out regularly as part of prisoner exchanges with the South. Unlike other Confederate prisons, the imprisoned officers on Johnson’s Island didn’t suffer from the same harsh conditions. There was abundant food and free time. To combat boredom, the prisoners played baseball, read books provided by the YMCA, created a theatrical group, and purchased provisions at the onsite sutler store. (Things changed in 1864, though, as the prison population swelled to more than 3,000 prisoners and supplies were cut in retaliation for the harsh treatment of federal prisoners in the South.)

With the establishment of a prison came the need for a cemetery. Built on one acre of land north of the prison, the cemetery contains the final remains of 267 prisoners who died primarily from illness and disease.

The site contains one large iron fence surrounding the perimeter and 200 marble headstones, a statue of a Confederate soldier overlooking Sandusky Bay, two monuments honoring the women who initiated preservation efforts, and two large marble markers detailing the efforts to locate and identify the remains of the remaining unmarked graves. 

The cemetery was purchased by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1904 and donated to the United States government in 1931. In 1990, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. In addition to the Confederate Stockade Cemetery located on Confederate Drive, the island contains mainly grand private residences with no trace of the original prison and forts remaining.