Jan,

Your ancestor who was at the Rock Island POW camp......Was he captured in the battle of Mission Ridge while serving with a 'slave master'?

I ask because I have heard of cases where the servant/slave of Confedrate officers were often sent to the Union POW camps with their owners.

A member of our genealogy group had a great-grandfather who served with the USCT's after being captured in a Civil War battle with his slave owner. They were sent to Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio. While at Camp Chase the ancestor was allowed to enlist in the USCT. He served with the USCT and received a pension. In this instance he went into the USCT under an alias which I can't remember.... ????? Green, I believe, but his name was actually Tobias Bowdry and he was from Tishimingo Co., MS.

Here is a URL that might help in researching your ancestor.
http://tinyurl.com/276635a

Art Thomas
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Jan wrote:
"I am researching an ancestor who was with Ferguson's Light Artillery during the Battle of Missionary Ridge where he was captured and imprisoned in the Rock Island Illinois Prison. Does any one know if there exists a listing of the prisoners there? Secondly why was he imprisoned if he was black? He states in his deposition for a pension that he was there for 13 months before given the opportunity to fight for the Union. He did receive a pension for his Union service."