College football fans in Door and Kewaunee Counties know Camp Randall as the home of the UW football Badgers. During the Civil War, however, it was home to Confederate prisoners of war. Sturgeon Bay author Larry Desotell will share some of the stories of life for both prisoners and Union soldiers during a virtual lecture for the Door County Library. The stories are collected in Desotell's book “The Captured, The Sick, and The Dead: Confederate Soldiers at Camp Randall”. What started as a research favor for a friend became a mission for Desotell. He decided to bring to life the stories of the 140 Confederate soldiers now resting at Forest Hills Cemetary. One story recounts the tragic spring and summer of 1862 for one southern family following a confrontation between prisoners Henry and James Spears and Union guard Clarence Wicks.
Ironically, Clarence Wicks would re-enlist in the Union Army, was dispatched to Virginia, wounded in battle and captured, and died in a Confederate prison camp in Richmond. Larry Desotell is a retired history teacher. He says there are still some Civil War lessons the US needs to learn in order to heal itself.
Desotell's book talk starts at 10:00 AM, Monday, March 22nd on the library's Facebook page or logging into Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81744930553?pwd=RGdUMjBjOFBmNnBKTC9icHhLNU1EZz09.
