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Camp Sorghum was NOT opened in 1862 but in 1864. POWs were kept in Columbia, SC during the entire war but prior to the late summer of 1864, they were kept in the Richland County Jail. With a breakout of Yellow Fever in Charleston, about 1,200 Union Office POWs were moved inland to this 5 acre field. Most had been at Libby in Richmond, moved to Macgon, GA, then to Charleston. There were so many escapes (no fence or barriers), they were moved to the SC State Asylum in Nov, along with the POWs from The Jail. As Sherman advanced in Feb 1865, they were moved again, to Charlotte and then to Wilmington, NC where they were paroled on 1 March 1865.