Although neither the largest nor the worst of Union prison camps, perhaps none was more representative of evolving Northern prison policies than Camp Chase. Located four miles west of Columbus, Ohio, Camp Chase started, as did so many other prisons, as a training camp for eager Union recruits. By late 1861 it also housed Confederate prisoners, many of whom were "political prisoners" suspected of disloyalty. With the fall of Fort Donelson in 1862, Camp Chase became a large-scale Union prison. Its inmates faced many of the same hardships that plagued other Civil War prisoners-disease and hunger. After the signing of the exchange cartel, Camp Chase's role once again changed. As Confederate prisoners departed, Union parolees arrived to take their place. When the cartel collapsed, the camp resumed its role as a military prison.

Once the war finally ended, Camp Chase had yet another function to fulfill. As the captives who had survived departed for the south, this time for good, Union soldiers arrived in Columbus to muster out of service. For a camp that started as a training facility populated by enthusiastic recruits, the arrival of these war-weary veterans marked a sobering close to its career. Book jacket.