In 1855, Major William Thomas Sutherlin constructed multiple tobacco factories in Danville, Virginia. During the Civil War, six former tobacco factories were utilized as confederate prisons in Danville, Virginia. One of Sutherlin’s factories that was converted to a prison was named, “Prison Number 6”.
During the war about 7,000 Union soldiers were housed in “Prison Number 6”.
Soon after Jefferson Davis, and the rest of the Confederate government, abandoned the home of Major William Thomas Sutherlin as the site of the last Confederate Capital building, Union forces came to Danville and liberated thousands of imprisoned Union soldiers.
