Life in a Texas Prison Pen - Camp Ford, Tyler, Texas ...

A Visit to Camp Ford The Largest Confederate Prison Camp West of the Mississippi (Part 1) Camp Ford On this site during the Civil War was located Camp Ford, the largest prisoner of war compound for Union troops west of the Mississippi River, named in honor of Col. John S. 'Rip' Ford who originally established a training camp here in 1862. It was converted in the summer of 1863 to a prison camp.