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One of my ancestors died at Danville, VA Confederate Prison. Elihu Billings joined the military in 1862 and fought in the civil war. He was "taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga Sept. 20, 1863, died of disease at Danville Prison Virginia, December 6, 1864.

A fellow genealogist found this information for me.

Return of a Trunk: Early in the war Elihu Billings (brother-in-law) of H. Van Deusen, of Saratoga, Springs) who was then a student at law in Indiana, enlisted in the 87th Indiana and went to the field. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga and sent to Richmond.

When the city was threatened by Grant in 1864, he was removed to Danville, Virginia, where he died. Recently his trunk which had been sent over six years ago was returned to his relatives in Saratoga, by express, with nothing to indicate where it had been or the source from whence it came. So far as can be judged the contents had not been disturbed. [Schenectady NY Evening Star Times, April 21, 1868] I would love to have that trunk! The rest of the story, his wife who had some mental problems ended up in a sanitarium for 36 years, his children farmed out to other families. A sad story but not unusual.

A few years ago someone doing a story on Thaddeus had the JCHS Research Center do some research for them, we had quite a bit and sent it to him. There are so many stories about soldiers who died in the Civil War. What a horrible thing to have our country so divided. Sometimes I think it's all happening again. Thanks for the story Tom.