Okla-homey
2/27/2008, 08:20 AM
February 27, 1864: Federal prisoners begin arriving at Andersonville
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/1727/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzza.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Fully one of four Union prisoners who passed through this reconstructed gate at Camp Sumter did not get out alive.
On this day 144 years ago, the first Union prisoners begin arriving at "Camp Sumter" just outside Andersonville, which was still under construction as a Confederate POW camp in southern Georgia.
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9873/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzgeorgiaand.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
"Andersonville" became synonymous with death as nearly a quarter of its inmates died in captivity. Swiss-native Captain Henry Wirz, the camp commander at Andersonville, was executed after the war for the brutality and mistreatment committed under his command.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/962/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzwirzonc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Captain Henry Wirz, CSA
Its important to understand why a POW camp had become necessary in a country which previously had held no POWs for any substantial period of time. Prior to the third autumn of the war, both sides simply traded or "exchanged" groups of POWs from time to time thus negating any need to have a place to hold them for extended periods.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/1222/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz11draw2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Andersonville painted after the war by a survivor. In the foreground, you see the man packed in behind the stockade and the swampy area around the stream. In the background, the low barracks of the guard force are visible on the horizon
The prison became necessary after the prisoner exchange system between North and South collapsed in late 1863. After Gettysburg, US military leaders convinced President Lincoln that prisoner exchanges were helping the Confederacy remain in the war. See, the North had more d00ds and thus could afford the permanent loss of the men they lost to Confederate capture.
The South, on the other hand, had fewer white males of military age and couldn't afford the steady hemorrhage of manpower lost to capture. Therefore, President Lincoln reluctantly approved the change in Federal policy which cancelled subsequent exchanges of POWs.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/6545/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzand47.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Recreated interior of the camp gives visitors some sense of its horror, especially when visited on a hot, stifling and buggy Georgia afternoon. Note the single rail "fence" in the background seperating the "yard" from the palisade. That single wooden rail completely encircled the interior of the walled camp and constituted the "deadline." Any prisoner who ventured between it and the palisade would be instantly shot by guards positioned on platforms built at regular intervals for this purpose. Some prisoners committed suicide by deliberately stepping inside the "deadline."
The camp stockade at Andersonville was hastily constructed using slave labor, and it was located in the Georgia woods near a railroad but safely away from the front lines. Enclosing 16 acres of land, the tall pine log palisade was planned to include wooden barracks but the inflated price of lumber delayed construction, and the Yankee soldiers imprisoned there lived under open skies, protected only by makeshift shanties called "shebangs," constructed from scraps of wood, brush, scraps of canvas tentage and blankets.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/7254/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzandersonvi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Another shot of the interior. In the foreground and at the right corner, note the tent backed up to the "deadline."
The men roasted under the summer Georgia sun and shivered in the cold rainy winters. A stream initially provided fresh water, but since people did what people often do into running water, human waste eventually contaminated the creek. Sanitary conditions in the camp quickly became virtually intolerable -- especially in summer. As result, thousands died of dysentery, which is basically a very unpleasant form of bacterially induced diarrhea and infection of the lower bowel that becomes chronic and often kills if untreated.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/452/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzander.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Famous contemporary image of the camp interior. The men in the foregound are "using the facilities" which involved squatting downstream over the creek which was also the only drinking water source.
The prison was built to hold 10,000 men, but within six months more than three times that number were incarcerated there. The creek banks eroded to create a swamp, which occupied more than one-fifth of the compound.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/9853/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz14.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
A national cemetery was created at the site. Most of the men buried there were from western states since they had been captured from Union armies formed from among westerners and deployed to to the western theatre of Civil War operations.
Rations were inadequate, and at times half of the population was reported ill. Some guards brutalized the inmates and there was violence between factions of prisoners.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/2195/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzcampsanders.gif (http://imageshack.us)
One of the thousands of human skeletons who survived to be freed when the camp was liberated at war's end in the summer of 1865
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/6977/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzan.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Turner Films made a pretty good movie about the situation aptly named "Andersonville" that is available on DVD and is well worth a look.
Andersonville was the worst among many terrible Civil War prisons, both Union and Confederate. Henry Wirz paid the price for the inhumanity of Andersonville--he was the only person executed in the aftermath of the Civil War for war crimes. Wirz remains a controversial figure to this day.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/3144/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzjbci.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Wirz's public hanging. Emloying the "Nuremberg" defense, he maintained he was "only following orders."
As an aside, some Southern apologists insist Wirz was unfairly executed as a war criminal since the lack of resources available to him made it practically impossible for Wirz to humanely treat the massive number of Union prisoners in his charge. Alternatively, anti-Wirz people maintain that he simply should have resigned as camp commander after it became clear the Confederate government couldn't or wouldn't provide ample food and shelter to the prisoners.
To be fair (and balanced,) Northern prisons for Confederate POW's were little better. This is especially significant since the North had ample resources to humanely provide for its prisoners...but frankly refused to do so. The worst was probably the camp at Point Lookout on the Maryland coast. The prisoners at least had barracks, but they too were starved and cruelly treated.
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/7540/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz1864lookout8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Point Lookout US POW camp.
The Andersonville site is administered by the NPS and also is home to the National Prisoner of War Museum. Well worth a visit if you ever find yourself in that part of Georgia. South of Atlanta, its just a short trip from Fort Benning in Columbus.
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/3844/insane7zo7tv.jpg
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/1727/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzza.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Fully one of four Union prisoners who passed through this reconstructed gate at Camp Sumter did not get out alive.
On this day 144 years ago, the first Union prisoners begin arriving at "Camp Sumter" just outside Andersonville, which was still under construction as a Confederate POW camp in southern Georgia.
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9873/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzgeorgiaand.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
"Andersonville" became synonymous with death as nearly a quarter of its inmates died in captivity. Swiss-native Captain Henry Wirz, the camp commander at Andersonville, was executed after the war for the brutality and mistreatment committed under his command.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/962/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzwirzonc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Captain Henry Wirz, CSA
Its important to understand why a POW camp had become necessary in a country which previously had held no POWs for any substantial period of time. Prior to the third autumn of the war, both sides simply traded or "exchanged" groups of POWs from time to time thus negating any need to have a place to hold them for extended periods.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/1222/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz11draw2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Andersonville painted after the war by a survivor. In the foreground, you see the man packed in behind the stockade and the swampy area around the stream. In the background, the low barracks of the guard force are visible on the horizon
The prison became necessary after the prisoner exchange system between North and South collapsed in late 1863. After Gettysburg, US military leaders convinced President Lincoln that prisoner exchanges were helping the Confederacy remain in the war. See, the North had more d00ds and thus could afford the permanent loss of the men they lost to Confederate capture.
The South, on the other hand, had fewer white males of military age and couldn't afford the steady hemorrhage of manpower lost to capture. Therefore, President Lincoln reluctantly approved the change in Federal policy which cancelled subsequent exchanges of POWs.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/6545/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzand47.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Recreated interior of the camp gives visitors some sense of its horror, especially when visited on a hot, stifling and buggy Georgia afternoon. Note the single rail "fence" in the background seperating the "yard" from the palisade. That single wooden rail completely encircled the interior of the walled camp and constituted the "deadline." Any prisoner who ventured between it and the palisade would be instantly shot by guards positioned on platforms built at regular intervals for this purpose. Some prisoners committed suicide by deliberately stepping inside the "deadline."
The camp stockade at Andersonville was hastily constructed using slave labor, and it was located in the Georgia woods near a railroad but safely away from the front lines. Enclosing 16 acres of land, the tall pine log palisade was planned to include wooden barracks but the inflated price of lumber delayed construction, and the Yankee soldiers imprisoned there lived under open skies, protected only by makeshift shanties called "shebangs," constructed from scraps of wood, brush, scraps of canvas tentage and blankets.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/7254/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzandersonvi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Another shot of the interior. In the foreground and at the right corner, note the tent backed up to the "deadline."
The men roasted under the summer Georgia sun and shivered in the cold rainy winters. A stream initially provided fresh water, but since people did what people often do into running water, human waste eventually contaminated the creek. Sanitary conditions in the camp quickly became virtually intolerable -- especially in summer. As result, thousands died of dysentery, which is basically a very unpleasant form of bacterially induced diarrhea and infection of the lower bowel that becomes chronic and often kills if untreated.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/452/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzander.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Famous contemporary image of the camp interior. The men in the foregound are "using the facilities" which involved squatting downstream over the creek which was also the only drinking water source.
The prison was built to hold 10,000 men, but within six months more than three times that number were incarcerated there. The creek banks eroded to create a swamp, which occupied more than one-fifth of the compound.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/9853/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz14.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
A national cemetery was created at the site. Most of the men buried there were from western states since they had been captured from Union armies formed from among westerners and deployed to to the western theatre of Civil War operations.
Rations were inadequate, and at times half of the population was reported ill. Some guards brutalized the inmates and there was violence between factions of prisoners.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/2195/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzcampsanders.gif (http://imageshack.us)
One of the thousands of human skeletons who survived to be freed when the camp was liberated at war's end in the summer of 1865
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/6977/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzan.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Turner Films made a pretty good movie about the situation aptly named "Andersonville" that is available on DVD and is well worth a look.
Andersonville was the worst among many terrible Civil War prisons, both Union and Confederate. Henry Wirz paid the price for the inhumanity of Andersonville--he was the only person executed in the aftermath of the Civil War for war crimes. Wirz remains a controversial figure to this day.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/3144/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzjbci.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Wirz's public hanging. Emloying the "Nuremberg" defense, he maintained he was "only following orders."
As an aside, some Southern apologists insist Wirz was unfairly executed as a war criminal since the lack of resources available to him made it practically impossible for Wirz to humanely treat the massive number of Union prisoners in his charge. Alternatively, anti-Wirz people maintain that he simply should have resigned as camp commander after it became clear the Confederate government couldn't or wouldn't provide ample food and shelter to the prisoners.
To be fair (and balanced,) Northern prisons for Confederate POW's were little better. This is especially significant since the North had ample resources to humanely provide for its prisoners...but frankly refused to do so. The worst was probably the camp at Point Lookout on the Maryland coast. The prisoners at least had barracks, but they too were starved and cruelly treated.
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/7540/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz1864lookout8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Point Lookout US POW camp.
The Andersonville site is administered by the NPS and also is home to the National Prisoner of War Museum. Well worth a visit if you ever find yourself in that part of Georgia. South of Atlanta, its just a short trip from Fort Benning in Columbus.
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/3844/insane7zo7tv.jpg