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Max Neugas - Confederate
Prisoner
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Max Neugas was a German Jew and Confederate artilleryman imprisoned at Fort Delaware for two years. A reluctant soldier, Neugas claimed that he was drafted against his will. He wrote a letter to President Lincoln after his arrival to the Fort, asking for a pardon. The request was denied. Neugas was a talented artist. His renderings bring the Civil War era at Fort Delaware to life. Scenes from the barracks, mess hall, bullpen and officer's quarters, together with imaginative impressions of the dramatic structure itself are a key link to understanding prisoner life at the Fort. |
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Another Pea Patch Island character who was captured in photos and memoirs of Fort Delaware is Bill the Cat. Bill, a tabby cat, appears in historic photographs and even a Max Neugas illustration from the Fort. It seems Bill was well-loved and well-cared-for at Fort Delaware. Perhaps this was because Bill's owner, Captain George W. Ahl, was in charge of overseeing the prisoners at the Fort. Ahl was singled out in many Confederate journals as being one of the most cruel and intolerant officers on the island, sometimes portrayed as a whip-bearing, taunting menace. These reports are disputed however, and some prisoners have written that they found him quite affable. | ||
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Drawings done by Max Neugas while imprisoned at Fort Delaware:4 |
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