Andersonville pow camp book

The novel inferno, by larry niven and jerry pournelle, contains a brief reference to the camp. Inside andersonville prison, the civil wars most brutal. The union army first used the camp in 1861 as an organizational and. How to survive alone in the wilderness for 1 week eastern woodlands duration. From the spring of 1862 until july 1863, during the american civil war 186165, union forces waged a campaign to take the confederate stronghold of. The novel was originally published in 1955, and won the pulitzer prize for fiction the following year. This database is a collection of records compiled by the national park service of camp inmates between 1863 and 1865. When i got up to this number i would stop killing until the next day.

The interior of andersonville, showing both the inner fencing and the outer fencing, and the dead line in between. Inspire a love of reading with prime book box for kids discover delightful childrens. Before long, andersonville prison had become the worst prisoner of war camp that the united states had ever seen. Sketch looking northwest where stockade creek entered the prison. Andersonville prison, which was also known as camp sumter, was a confederate war prison during the civil war. Long called by some the andersonville of the north, the prisoner of war camp in elmira, new york, is remembered as the most notorious of all unionrun pow camps. Written in the midninteenfifties, andersonville won the pulitzer for fiction. Andersonville prison, also known as camp sumter, in georgia was a military prison established by the confederates in february 1864, during the american civil war. Based south of the city on the prairie, it was also used as a training and detention camp for union soldiers.

The andersonville pow camp was an interesting story, complicated by the fact that this pow camp was part of a civil war, rather than a war between independent states. The history of the civil wars most notorious prison camp charles river editors on. Known officially as camp sumter, andersonville held the largest prison population in the entire confederacy. Detail of a drawing by thomas odea, a former prisoner at andersonville. Selected bibiliography for andersonville and prisoners of war.

Pow cam p sumter, andersonville no visit to georgias civil war sites is complete without a trip to andersonville, the site of confederate prisoner ofwar camp sumt er. Camp douglas and andersonville civil war history discussion. This national park tells the tragic story of civil war prisons in general, and what happened at camp sumter, the most deadly civil war prison. A must for civil war history buffs if you like history and particularly civil war history then this is a must see memorial. A plaque embedded on the cannon noted that it was dedicated to terryville native dorence atwater, a union soldier who had been captured at age 19 and sent to the infamous prisoner ofwar camp near andersonville, georgia. Written in a detailed, restrained style, kantor offers glimpses into the minds of those who operate the prison and those. Acclaimed as the greatest novel ever written about the war between the states, this searing pulitzer prizewinning book captures all the glory and shame of americas most tragic conflict in the vivid, crowded world of andersonville, and the people who lived outside its barricades. Like the norths elmira prison, andersonville prison was, from day one, one of the most wretched places of confinement that words could not describe. Based on the authors extensive research and nearly twentyfive years in the making, mackinlay kantors. They were given no shelter and the food was a half a loaf of corn bread per day, but not real corn bread.

A secret list in the civil war prison at andersonville. Andersonville prison, or camp sumter as it was officially known, lives in eternal memory as the site where more than,000 of the unions prisoner of war dead almost fifty per cent of the total suffered and died at the hands of system that was either overwhelmed by the numbers taken from the battlefields, or overruled by the callous. Opinion polls showed that most citizens of the united states. During the beginning of 1864, the men in command of the confederacy saw a need for another prison to house their prisoners of war. The andersonville national historic site, located near andersonville, georgia, preserves the former andersonville prison also known as camp sumter, a confederate prisoner ofwar camp during the final fourteen months of the american civil war. At andersonville the death rate may have been as high as 40 percent. A consistency is a local farmer and his family, and of course, the camp commander, wirz. More than 40,000 troops passed through the camp during its. A soldiers book opens as ira cahill stevens, a young union soldier, is on his way to the notorious andersonville prison camp. No visit to georgias civil war sites is complete without a trip to andersonville, the site of confederate prisoner ofwar camp sumt er. Surviving andersonville the benefits of social networks in pow camps summary twentyseven percent of the union army prisoners captured july 1863 or later died in captivity. He made it home to massachusetts in time for christmas.

Andersonville and the andersonville national historic site also went by the names camp sumter and andersonville prison. Inside andersonville prison, the civil wars most brutal pow camp. This is a history of the civil wars most infamous prisoner of war pow camp operated for 14 months during 18641865, by the. Camp florence was located in florence county, south carolina and was one of the largest southern civil war prisons. By the summer of 1864, the camp held the largest prison population of its time, with numbers that would have made it the fifthlargest city in the confederacy. Andersonville national historic site and national prisoner of. Some said that the prison was nothing more than a concentration camp. Microfilm series m3 contains records relating to federal or union pows that were held by confederate authorities at camp sumter, andersonville, georgia between february 1864 and april 1865. Andersonville is a novel by mackinlay kantor concerning the confederate prisoner of war camp, andersonville prison, during the american civil war 18611865. The andersonville prisoner of war camp, which operated from february 27, 1864, until the end of the american civil war in 1865, was one of the most notorious in u. Camp douglas, in chicago, illinois, sometimes described as the norths andersonville, was one of the largest union army prisoner ofwar camps for confederate soldiers taken prisoner during the american civil war.

It was located in southwest georgia in the us, and it was put together in 1864 as a place to handle increasing numbers of union prisoners. Over its fourteen months of existence under confederate control, around,000 union pow. Concise and well organized, the book systematically outlines the prison camps origins, explores the suffering andersonville pows. Of the 409,000 soldiers held in pow camps, 56,000 died, accounting for 10 percent of deaths in the war overall. Two regiments guarded the prisoners at andersonville. Civil war sidebars pow cam p sumter, andersonville pow cam p sumter, andersonville. It was located in southwest georgia in the us, and it was put together in 1864 as a place to handle increasing numbers of union prisoners of war pows. Thousands of men died from disease and starvation, in some of the worse conditions of the war. Andersonville national historic site and national prisoner.

Andersonville, or camp sumter as it was known officially, held more prisoners at any given time than any of the other confederate military prisons. The photographs of torture at abu ghraib prison aroused worldwide condemnationor did they. Andersonville was the location of americas most notorious pow camp during the civil war where inmates were tortured, starved and died in their thousands. An embankment outside the wall stood three feet below the top of the wall and served as a walkway for the guards.

Because so much occurred there, it certainly filled the book with a different. From the spring of 1862 until july 1863, during the american civil war 186165, union forces waged a campaign to take the confederate stronghold of vicksburg, mississippi, which. Andersonville prison sketch by robert sneden a union prisoner this documentary is the product of my senior thesis for my history major. One prisoners recollections of the civil wars most notorious camp. It was built in early 1864 after confederate officials decided to move the large number of federal prisoners in and around richmond to a place of greater security and more abundant food. Conditions in civil war prisons were, in general, unspeakably dire. The new camp, officially named camp sumter, quickly became known as andersonville, after the railroad station in neighboring sumter county beside which the camp was located. Andersonville, the notorious confederate pow camp in the civil war it goes by several names, but theres no denying the absolute horror that took place in this small location in georgia. Shelter in andersonville prison in georgia usa visited this hell hole and it has never left my mind. The prison camp at andersonville national park service. The story of the most notorious confederate prisoner of war camp in the american civil war. Andersonville was the name of a confederate prison carved out of the timber of northeast georgia. The camp was surrounded by a 15foothigh stockade, but the real danger was the line that lay 19 feet inside that stockade. Mar 11, 2015 camp douglas was one of the largest pow camps for the union army, located in the heart of bronzeville.

Lcuszc410808 the largest and most famous of 150 military prisons of the civil war, camp sumter, commonly known as andersonville, was the deadliest landscape of the civil war. In 1864, deep in the confederate south, 33,000 yankee soldiers were he. During the 14 months the prison existed, more than 45,000 union soldiers were confined here. A story of rebel military prisons on his comparisons between wirz and andersonville versus the florence. Register of departures of prisoners from andersonville. Day by day, ira shares the horrific details of a world that is growing ever more barbaric and absurd, with its dead lines, starvation, cruelty. It gives insight into camp sumter military prison during the time of william sherma. Coming from multiple viewpoints throughout the prison and on the outside, the book is centered on andersonville prison, a confederate camp for union pows which had the highest mortality rate of any such camp during the war. Grigsby cowboys andersonville pow civil war soldier. Id like to submit for your consideration the experiences of a john mcelroy of the 16th illinois cavalry who experienced being a prisoner of war in andersonville and other confederate pow camps. I am keeper of a database of camp lawtonmillen pows. That and the fact that 2015 is the 150th anniversary of the end of the war, is the reason ive listened. This madeforcable civil war saga chronicles the further indignities suffered by union soldiers in andersonville, the confederacys notoriously squalid pow camp. This book was a most distressing tale of pow unionists enclosed inside the walls of 20 acres.

The prison, officially called camp sumter, was the souths largest prison for captured union. Camp sumter andersonville prison detail from birdseye view of andersonville prison from the southeast, 1890. There was a high degree of focused bitterness and incited hysteria in the situation which meant that there are strong and uncomfortable parallels between this piece of 19th century history and the events of the 20th. May 26, 2015 this is an interesting novel that takes place in the midst of the civil war. In the style of the time, this book is wordy and verbose. Around christmas about 3500 prisoners returned to andersonville after having been held at blackshear and thomasville.

About andersonville prisoners of war the most infamous confederate prison camp of the civil war, andersonville housed an estimated 45,000 union soldiers during the war. The book focuses on the atrocities of the andersonville pow camp from the civil war. As soon as the first prisoners arrived, they could tell that the conditions would be hell. Melvin grigsby at camp headquarters surrounded by others identified on the back.

More than 40,000 troops passed through the camp during its nearly four years in operation. In the very beginning of the civil war, prisoners of war were exchanged right on the battlefield, a private for a private, a sergeant for a sergeant and a captain for a captain. Aug 15, 2019 one day i was helping him transplant a tree in front of a civil warera cannon overlooking the park. Andersonville, the notorious confederate pow camp in the. The prison was 23 acres in size and was enclosed by a wall of logs 12 feet high. Up for auction is a rare and fantastic original old photograph larger cabinet card photo of col.

Jul 03, 2019 the camp sumter military prison at andersonville was one of the largest confederate military prisons during the civil war. It was good in the fact it was put together to show what pow camps were about but bad because many items they talked about were way exaggerated almost to the point of a lie to make a t. Andersonville prison a pow inferno abandoned spaces. Andersonville is a novel by mackinlay kantor concerning the confederate prisoner of war camp, andersonville prison, during the american civil war. Andersonville civil war prison, andersonville roadtrippers. The clarity of this photo, that dates to the late 1800s, is fantastic. Andersonville was notorious civil warera confederate military prison in andersonville, georgia. Scurvy and diarrhea were actually the two main causes of death within the camp along with hookworm disease, with the latter being caused by the bacteria spread from the marsh mentioned above, and the necessity to drink from the. It was good in the fact it was put together to show what pow camps were about but bad because many items they talked about were way exaggerated almost to. The camp sumter military prison at andersonville was one of the largest confederate military prisons during the civil war.

Over 4300 men were sent from andersonville to millen between september and november 1864. George hitchcock was transferred from andersonville to camp lawton, and then to charleston, s. His rapid discharge and out processing enabled that reunion, but led to a lack of paperwork about his medical condition. In fact, andersonville was one of the largest of such prisons and, by april 1865, had held over 45,000 union prisoners of war or pows. The government of the confederate states of america issued an order that a large pow prison should be constructed in early 1864 to alleviate crowding in existing camps in the south. Chicagos forgotten civil war prison camp wbez chicago. Camp douglas was one of the largest pow camps for the union army, located in the heart of bronzeville.

A memorial to the fallen andersonville prison, pow camp. A secret list in the civil war prison at andersonville last updated on august 15, 2019 while redeeming the souls of over,000 of his fellow soldiers at the civil war prison in andersonville, a connecticut man became one of the biggest whistleblowers of his era. The story of the prisons of the civil war is a very sad one. Today, andersonville national historic site is a memorial to all american prisoners of war. Most of the site lies in southwestern macon county, adjacent to the east side of the town of.

From the fourth of july until the first day of september, every day in those two months, i killed three hundred lice and nits. Camp douglas, in chicago, illinois, sometimes described as the norths andersonville, was one of the largest union army prisonerofwar camps for confederate soldiers taken prisoner during the american civil war. Andersville prison, officially known as camp sumter, was the final resting place for more than 1 in 4 of the 45,000 people held here. Descendants of andersonville prison public group facebook. With jarrod emick, frederic forrest, ted marcoux, carmen argenziano. This wellresearched book describes the notorious confederate prison camp known as andersonville, where more than 45,000 union soldiers lived in. This factbased book documents andersonville, a civil war prison camp in georgia, where thousands of union prisoners died in the last fourteen months of the. There was a high degree of focused bitterness and incited hysteria in the situation which meant that there are strong and uncomfortable parallels between this piece of 19th. Mar 14, 2014 the story of the prisons of the civil war is a very sad one. The highly biased northern version of andersonville civil war prison pow camp is well known however the true facts concerning andersonville are not well known.