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Women Prisoners of War at Castle Thunder: Civil War

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By Rebecca Beatrice Brooks Castle Thunder at the fall of Richmond, 1865 Castle Thunder in Richmond, Virginia, was one of the few Confederate prisons that held not only male prisoners of war but women prisoners as well.  Located along Tobacco row, near Libby prison, Castle Thunder held around 100 women prisoners for various crimes, such as prostitution, spying and smuggling, although most of them were political prisoners. A few of these women were also female soldiers whose true identity had been discovered.  An article published in the New York Times in July of 1863, states that some of the female prisoners were also wives and children of Union soldiers who were captured after the Union defeat at the second battle of Winchester.  These women and children didn’t remain long at Castle Thunder as they were quickly transferred to the United States Hotel in Washington D.C.  Women and African-American prisoners were kept in a separate building at the prison while male Confederate d