CAMP CHASE, OHIO, October 12, 1864

Col. W. P. RICHARDSON, Commanding Post:

COLONEL: I have the honor to submit the following report of an inspection of prisons for the week ending October 8, 1864, made pursuant to Special Orders, No. 169, issued from post headquarters Camp Chase, Ohio, August 22, 1864, in relation to personal cleanliness, clothing, bedding, quarters, kitchens, messing, sinks, policing of grounds, drainage, &c.:

Prison No. 1 is occupied by rebel officers exclusively. Everything in this prison has a nice, clean, and healthy appearance, showing that it has received proper attention in every respect.

Prison No. 2 is in good condition and is occupied by rebel enlisted men. It also contains the hospitals, which are, as usual, provided with everything necessary to the comfort of the inmates, and at all times cared for in a commendable manner.

Prison No. 3 also contains rebel enlisted men. It is the largest prison and contains the largest number of prisoners. The prisons are all well drained, graded, and policed. The prisoners are supplied with healthy rations, which are issued at proper times and with great regularity. The prisons are under the immediate supervision of the same officers as heretofore, who manifest that same commendable interest to which reference has been made.
I am, colonel, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

F. S. PARKER,
Captain and Inspector of Prisons

[Indorsement]
HEADQUARTERS U.S. FORCES,
Camp Chase, October 11, 1864

Respectfully forwarded. Many of the prisoners are poorly clad. The quartermaster at this post informs me that he has made requisition upon you for the necessary amount, but that he has not been supplied. Government shoes are being issued to barefooted prisoners. The weather is becoming so cold as to make this necessary. If it was permitted, something might be saved by furnishing the material for mending shoes, the labor to be performed by prisoners. The commissary is issuing from two to three days' rations per week of fish (lake fish) instead of meat. This, he claims, is necessary by the difficulty that exists in procuring supplies of pork or beef. The smallpox is prevailing in the prisons to a considerable extent, averaging this month ten cases per day. There are now 168 cases in the pest-house, which is entirely outside of the camp inclosure and at a considerable distance from it at the southeast corner of camp. All the prisoners, except perhaps some new arrivals, who have not had the smallpox or been recently vaccinated have been subjected to that treatment.

W. P. RICHARDSON,
Colonel Twenty. Fifth Ohio Volunteers, Commanding