August 8, 2014

Andersonville National Historic Site, Georgia

Andersonville, built in 1864, was one of the largest of many Confederate military prisons established during the Civil War. 

More than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined there and some 13,000 died from overcrowding, exposure, poor sanitation, malnutrition and disease during the 14 months the prison existed.

 

Before touring the museum, we watched two excellent films.  The first film dealt with the conditions the prisoners endured told through their own words from journals. 

The second film included a series of interviews with former prisoners of World War II, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam and the Gulf War as well as excerpts taken from journals of Andersonville Prison.

Both Monte and I were emotionally stirred by the accounts and pictures taken of some of the prisoners at the time of their release. 

Many were barely more than skeletons. 

We spent over two hours walking through the many rooms of the museum reading the placards describing torture and inhumane treatment at the hands of the captors from all the wars American have been involved with.

 

Andersonville was originally built to hold 10,000 prisoners, but with almost 400 new arrivals daily, the numbers swelled to almost 32,000.  The Confederate government was unable to adequately supply the prisoners with housing, food, clothing and medical attention. 

The First War Crimes Trail-Captain Henry Wirz, who was in command of the prisoners until the end of the war, was arrested, tried and hanged as a war criminal.

We have found one another again as brothers and comrades…enemies no longer, generous friends rather, our battles long past, the quarrel forgotten. (Speaker at the Gettysburg Reunion, July 1913)  Setting father against son, and brother against brother, the Civil War claimed the lives of 620,000 men.  No other conflict has so shaped our nation’s history.

The U.S. Colored Troops-African American men rushed to enlist.  Colored troops served in all-black units.  Though they faced segregation and discrimination, they fought with vigor, their contributions helping turn the tide of battles.  By the end of war, roughly 80,000 troops were men of color.

 

  

 

Clara Barton led the efforts to get medical supplies and care for the troops.  President Abraham Lincoln authorized her to gather information on missing soldiers to inform their relatives.  Barton came to Andersonville in 1865 to identify and mark the graves of the dead. 

Some women followed their husbands into battle posing as men and taking on a male alias. 

 

 

 

 

 

We had planned on taking the walking tour of the grounds and cemetery but it was just too hot so we opted to do the car tour using a CD provided free from the museum with numbered sites along the way.

 

Several States erected monuments to those prisoners who did not survive.

 

Prisoners dug many tunnels attempting to escape confinement.  Nearly all the men who made it outside the stockade were recaptured.

  

Stockade Branch, a stream that ran through the prison yard, supplied water to most of the prison.  The downstream end of Stockade Branch was the site of the camp “sinks” or latrines.  According to the original plan, prisoners would get drinking water upstream and use latrines downstream.  BUT Stockade posts slowed the drainage, and during dry spells the creek became more swamp than flowing stream.  Dysentery swept the camp. 

 

In August 1864, a spring burst forth during a heavy summer rainstorm bringing fresh water-an occurrence many prisoners attributed to divine providence.  

 

The W.R.C. (Woman's Relief Corps) built the Providence Spring House in 1901 to mark the site.

 

Replica showing the height of the stockade. 

 

 

There was no housing provided for the prisoners-

they made shelter using whatever materials they could obtain. 

Standing in the intense heat for only a few minutes was unbearable so I couldn't imagine being confined to an area day after day with only minimal shelter. 

After we completed the prison area we headed over to the cemetery

We could only tour a portion of the cemetery as there was a burial in progress when we arrived.   

 

Dorence Atwater, sent to Andersonville at age 19, became the keeper of the books recording the deaths of prisoners.  Fearing loss of the death records at war's end, Atwater made his own copy in hopes of notifying the relatives of some of the 12,000 dead interred at Andersonville.  Thanks to his list only 460 of the Andersonville graves had to be marked "unknown U.S. soldier." 

It was sad seeing so many graves marked unknown knowing that the family members never knew what happened to their loved ones.  

We were very pleased with our experience at Andersonville National Historic Site and as a result of our experience feel we have a much greater grasp of an important historical event of America history.