Sorry to say I just now found your posting.
Considering prisons, try reading Rebels Hell which is about the Yankee Prison in Little Rock. The source for all the information was taken from the National Archives recorded by the Union forces themselves.
My own ggg grandfather Lt. Fielding Price died in that hell hole in Little Rock of smallpox on Feb. 1, 1865. In my opinion, the Confederate prisoners were treated worse than stray dogs.
Those CSA men in my area were doing one thing, trying to protect what was theirs as the invaders were for the most part a bunch of lying thieves. Yes, I did say it that way.
De Valls Bluff was important because it was on the river, therefore the Union had control. Once the men landed, the supplies, military men, etc was sent west which still left it in the center of the state.
There was a train that ran from somewhere to somewhere heading both east and west. How much of it was completed during the war and how far it exactly ran, is open to debate. However, I know for sure there was a watering station within a mile of where I now live. There were something like 30,000 Union soldiers who passed through.
Fielding Price had five brother-in-laws through his wife. One was killed at Shiloh and buried in those trenches. One was captured near Natchez and died in a Yankee prison up north. One-Frederick- came home and one deserted and fought for the Union. One did milita duty in north Arkansas and probably never got far.
Fielding Price also had a brother-in-law through his sister that was taken at Helena and while the man was still alive when the war ended, he never came home because he was too worn out and existed in one of those after war hospitals until he died.
Now I have only told you part of the family history.
Linda