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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

The Great Shohola Train Wreck – Fluhr’s Excellent Guide

For anyone researching and studying the Civil War Train Wreck at Shohola, one of the best places to begin is to obtain a copy of George J. Fluhr‘s The Civil War Tragedy at Shohola: A Compilation of Details Regarding the Great Prison Train Wreck at Shohola, Pennsylvania.  This publication, by Pike County’s official historian, has […]

The Great Shohola Train Wreck – Official Report of Captain Morris H. Church

Today’s post is a continuation of the series in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Great Shohola Train Wreck, which occurred on 15 July 1864.  At the time it occurred, it was the worst recorded train accident in history. The official report of the transport of prisoners to Elmira Prison Camp from Point Lookout, […]

The Great Shohola Train Wreck – Preparations and Receipt of Prisoners at Elmira

In 1912, Clay W. Holmes wrote and published The Elmira Prison Camp:  A History of the Military Prison at Elmira, N.Y., July 6, 1864 to July 10, 1865.  The book is available free from the Internet Archive (click on title and follow instructions at left of page to download). After the Great Shohola Train Wreck […]

The Great Shohola Train Wreck – A Local Newspaper’s Early Report

The blog post today is a continuation of the on-going series in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Great Shohola Train Wreck.  To see all the posts in this series, click on ShoholaTrainWreck. A photocopy of a fourteen-page type-script purporting to be of a newspaper article from the 22 July 1864, Tri-States Union, a […]

The Great Shohola Train Wreck – First Newspaper Reports

Today’s post is the second installment of a series on The Great Shohola Train Wreck.  Some of the early newspaper accounts from Pennsylvania newspapers are presented. On 15 July 1864, at about 2 P.M., a train carrying 833 Confederate prisoners of war and a contingent of Union guards, collided head-on with a 50-car coal train […]