Andersonville Prison

[jonesy6134]

My Great Grandfather Cornelius Bowman survived Andersonville. Barely! Exchanged out in 1865 at 6 foot tall and approx 80 lbs. His family had been informed that he had died in Andersonville. Quite a surprise when he made it home after his recovery.

[dougssmookie]

I think Andersonville was more talked about because of the cruelty of this prison. I know they were prisons up North, but this one, was advertise because, I think of the Raiders, no food hardly, the people who try to escape so much and shot by guards, eaten by dogs, and the river, with everything in it, u can think of .....The person who was in charge of it, was just plain evil........I JUST WANT TO TK E1 WHO RISK THEIR LIVES IN THIS WAR.....

[stupidshitsucks]

Will we ever learn?



[jettrink60]

I visited there in 1987. Looks like they've reconstructed sections of wall since then.

[metalrulesforrever]

why does everyone complain about andersonville does any realize up north we had a worse prison for the confederates. it was called camp douglas it was just south of chicago over 6000 confederates died there if you want to learn more about it there was a history channel documentary on it called " 80 acres of hell

[arielcoleman13]

okay so were they soldiers or prisoner?

[Rogferns1998]

@arielcoleman13 They were union soldiers taken prisoner by the confederates during the civil war

[arielcoleman13]

@Rogferns1998 okay thanks we were learning this in school and i was a little confused thanks for helping!! :)

[091053JG]

Union proions -with greater access to supplies and medicines - were just as bad.

[123467bubbles]

this helped alot from my s.s assingment on the battle of anderson ville thanks very much . :)

[Bombeni]

This really wasn't that long ago............is the US capable of such atrocities on its own people again? I wonder.

[KyBoy2999]

@Bombeni yes they are capable....look on utube at Fema Camps...thats what is waiting on us if we dont wake up....

[ozzjr2002]

Death rates at Confederate Prison Camps were higher than the death rates at Union Prison Camps. Poor planning on both sides lead to the outrageously high death rates. Prisoner exchanges that controlled the amount of prisoners held on both sides were stopped because the Confederacy refused to exchange any Confederate soldiers for black Union soldiers. Had the Confederacy agreed to include black soldiers in the exchanges, the number of deaths in camps on both sides would have been far less

[Zeeboe]

Why couldn't have Wirz built another camp to relive the crowding? Why couldn't he make a dam across the stream? Why couldn't he make floodgates to flush out the waste? Why couldn't he parole prisoners to gather food from nearby plantations? Why didn't he let prisoners build proper shelters? Why did he put the ball & chain on escaped prisoners & build stockades for them, but he couldn't do any of those other things? Why did he withhold food he did have from escaped prisoners as punishment?

[TheAmazingamerica]

Jesus brought the Christian soldiers the water spring.

[atfigure]

anyone know how to find an ancestor buried there?

[Rusfi16]

The place is haunted. Never believed in that nonsense till the voices we heard coming from that place after dark.

[YTRulesFromNM]

Why not make a movie about Union's Camp Douglas? Camp Douglas was much worse. The purpose of Camp Douglas was to exterminate those that fought for the second revolutionary war. The soldiers in Camp Douglas were deliberately starved and subject to lack of shelter in the cold. Andersonville ran out of supplies. The conditions at Camp Douglas were entirely intentional. Andersonville had many deaths but was not a death camp like Camp Douglas.

[Zeeboe]

@YTRulesFromNM - That is just Neo-reb "lose cause" myths.

I have no doubt all prison camps were bad, but that does not excuse the mistreatment Union troops were given at Andersonville, and Wirz is to blame for it.

[kevinrocks2323]

@Zeeboe Neither does that excuse the mistreatment of Confederate troops at the hands of Union leaders. Camp Douglas DID exist and was the equivalent of Andersonville in terms of unusual cruelty and punishment. The flat amount of deaths may have been less, but the percentage was similar.

[Zeeboe]

@kevinrocks2323 - The mistreatment at Camp Douglas was due to reports of what was happening to Union prisoners at places like Andersonville and Libby Prison, and it still in no way absolves the Confederates of their responsibility.

[kevinrocks2323]

@Zeeboe You basically just said that because Union leaders heard of mistreatment of Union soldiers by the Confederates due to limited supplies, they purposely mistreated Confederate soldiers while having adequate supplies. Wonder which one is worse? Both were war crimes and neither should be acquitted of blame, but both should be recognized as such.

[Zeeboe]

@kevinrocks2323 - The Confederate guards being unable to provide adequate care is a crock. Andersonville prison was surrounded by pine forests, but none of the prisoners were allowed even a stick or a pole with which to construct a shelter or use as fuel to cook the corn meal that was their only food.

[Waffenssman]

@Zeeboe well if u think bout it the death of the union soldiers was the unions fault cuz they were blockading confederate trade lanes where they got food and ect. so its not the souths fault at all

[Zeeboe]

@Waffenssman - Why couldn't Wirz parole prisoners under guard to gather food from nearby plantations? Why did Wirz withhold the little food he did have from escaped prisoners as punishment?

[Waffenssman]

@Zeeboe they were escaping prisoners would u still let them have food i wouldnt but its still the unions fault for the death of their own men

[Zeeboe]

@Waffenssman - Yes, I would let them have food. Why would I deny them food for escaping? That's cruel.

[Waffenssman]

@Zeeboe they r people who r trying to kill u and they were escaping to go and try to kill u yet again i wouldnt

[Zeeboe]

@Waffenssman - If that is how you see it, then why would you take them prisoner in the first place?

[Waffenssman]

@Zeeboe y wouldnt i they surrender i had two options shoot them or take prisoners

[Zeeboe]

@Waffenssman - And starving them, rather they tried to escape or not is cruel. There are other ways to punish someone without starving them. Even in the 1860's, that was consider cruel, and that is why Wirz hung.

[conorman13]

@Zeeboe Actually, Wirz inherited command of Andersonville prison after Winder died, which was near the end of the war. Wirz requested food from the government, they had none. Even the guards were starving.

[conorman13]

@Zeeboe And the nearby plantations were being ransacked and burnt from your scumbag general Sherman.

[Zeeboe]

@conorman13 - Proof?

[conorman13]

@Zeeboe And about shelter, you sir, are wrong. Google pictures of Andersonville...They built holes and created shelter out of cloth made with poles over their holes.

[Zeeboe]

@kevinrocks2323 - The first prisoners were "lucky" enough to grab what was laying around on the ground to use for shelter and fuel for cooking but that was the end of it. Water came from a stream that was already polluted by the Rebel camp 1/2 mile upstream and became unbearably polluted once inside the stockade. The rebels would not even provide them with a well for water.

[conorman13]

@Zeeboe And the we tried to issue them to build a well, they ran away while building it.

[Zeeboe]

@conorman13 - Have them under guard.

[conorman13]

@Zeeboe They didn't have the manpower. Young boys were manning the stockades, they didn't even have enough men to do that, much less guard hundreds of prisoners OUTSIDE of the prison.

[Zeeboe]

@conorman13 - They had some guards, and most of them were in towers doing nothing.

[conorman13]

@Zeeboe In towers guarding the prison making sure that no uprising began, don't be silly. No need to cite my forces, research is always available if you would just take the time. Do not always believe what is politically correct, the winner of the war is always to one who writes the books, you must dig deeper than that.

[Zeeboe]

@conorman13 - For the most part, I've read American Civil War books that either cover both sides, the Confederate side, or the daily lives of the troops from both sides. So far I've only read two books that really cover the Union's politics of the war at that time. Anyhow, I'm not being anti-Confederate. I'm anti-war and anti-violence. And I think there are little things Wirz could have done, and I alrerady discussed those things.

[Zeeboe]

@conorman13 - It was Col. Chandler of the C.S. Army who inspected Andersonville, and it was his reports that played one of the many roles in Wirz's death. So I don't blame the C.S.A. for Wirz's actions. Wirz did those things out of pure hate for Union troops. Given what many illegal things the Federals were doing in the deep South, I can understand the hate for the U.S. soldiers, not the abuse, and what about the innocent men in blue who did nothing illegal? Why should they have to suffer?

[conorman13]

@Zeeboe All I am going to say is please look at Camp Douglas. Look at Point Lookout. Look at all of the other Union prisons. They treated the Confederate prisoners even worse there than we treated them. They HAD the supplies, we didn't. People would be 50 yards outside of prison walls eating exotically whilst there are starving prisoners down the street. And just FYI, the Raiders, Union prisoners inside of Andersonville, took EVERYTHING from the prisoners, the guards never took ANYTHING.

[haynes1776]

me and my freinds went to Andersonville this summer and they felt uneasy as we walked the grounds of the prison: the grounds were union prisoners suffered, died, living in horrible conditions, were shot crossing the Dead Line. I was feeling uneasy as well, like my previous vistis to the prison site. its said at night you can still hear the screams of prisoners. A living hell.

[haynes1776]

there was a movie about Andersonville and monuments there to honor those who perish there. Why not make a movie about Camp Douglas? put monuments there to honor the Confederate prisoners that died there? If they make a movie on camp Douglas, please dont bring in any fictional stuff in there. re-enact the truth of what happened there.

[EyesOfTheSouthSTi]

I went here with my ex. First time in Georgia and she knew I was a history nut so we went. It was intense.

[TheSouthron98]

What about Camp Douglas?

[Steve17010]

@TheSouthron98 Camp Douglas, as a northern POW camp, was also a horrible place. The conditions of Andersonville were also in Camp Douglas. In addition, as camp Douglas is in the Chicago, Il area, the winters were very cold and the captive Confederates were not prepared for the weather All Civil War POW camps were awful.

[haynes1776]

@Steve17010 camp douglas was the Andersonville of the north. No doubt about it.

[thecoolestdad]

I had first seen the movie Andersonville,before we visited there.It really impacted me more by seeing the movie first then visiting the site.A park ranger there at the time,(maybe this one here,don't remember),told me that the movie was quite accurate to actual events,but not 100% accurate.So after returning from the prison,I watched the movie again,and it again,impacted me.Historical frames of time like this one,should never be forgotten.But shared with all,in that they may know.

[haynes1776]

I believe they should make a movie about camp douglas. It was aliving hell as well as Andersonville

[999Lightable]

I went to that on my field trip and i even saw that guy =D

[pawpawpaul61]

My 2nd great grandfather survived this hell hole. He was with the Vermont volunteers 11th infantry Co A. Captured at Weldon Raidroad on June 23 1864 and paroled in May of 1865. Thanks for sharing this video

[spacedghOst78]

A complete mad man conducted this hell hole...

Poor union soldiers... Especially the young drummer who was the one stayed in the prison almost since the day it opened.

[terracottaguy]

@spacedghOst78 At least he was later hung for his crimes

[spacedghOst78]

@terracottaguy Swift death and shame is not enough for this man.

[terracottaguy]

@spacedghOst78 too bad about the 8th amendment and all

[Gir77661]

I went here about a month ago :P The place was HUGE. They said a few people tried to escape, so they dug a tunnel all the way to like 20 feet away from the gate. So when they got out, they thought they were free, but they were like 20 feet within the gate :P

[haynes1776]

My uncle took me to Andersonville when I was a child and when I first walked on the exact ground of the prison, I can imagine the site of Union prisoners suffering,dying,being shot crossing the dead line. All the stench and fifth of death and screams. I felt really uneasy as I walked the grounds, sending chills through my body. No person deserved this. We must never forget what happened there and the same goes for all Civil war prisons. Same for Camp Douglas, Andersonville was a living hell.

[Cherri59]

I had an ancestor (GGF) in Andersonville. We have family tales of the place. One was about the day prisoners were being released. My ancestor told family members about how he watched 4 starved men literally rip a dog apart to eat.

[cytero]

My GGF Frank Weber, 9th Minn. Co. G captured at Brice's Crossroads, MS, 6/64 escaped from And. in Jan. 65.  He volun. to cut wood, killed the guard, and made it through the swamps to Savannah. Only some 300 of 35,000 successfully escaped. Any caught were summarily killed.

[psnider]

Same thing happend in Chicago to Confederate troops captured. It was Camp Douglas.  The difference is, the people in charge of Andersonville were tried and killed. Those in charge of Camp Douglas were let go.

[docman777]

I visited APC 2 weeks ago.History does repeats itself.I was born and raised near Camp O'donnell in Capas, Tarlac Philippines,where almost the same thing happened to the American and Filipino soldiers in the hands of Japanese soldiers....check my videos Capas National Shrine.

[starsnbars3]

Another difference was that in Andersonville the prisoners where not fed good because there was not enough good food avalible. The prisoners at Camp Douglas were treated poorly by choice of the Union government and military.

[psnider]

You are correct. Some of the guards at Andersonville went hungry. But you will almost never hear about the treatment of the guys at Camp Douglas

[starsnbars3]

In my opinion Henry Wirz did the best he could with what he had to work with. He let them have a trial and hang the raiders. He removed some of the young boys out of the camp. And he allowed a few prisoners free to go up to Washington D.C. to tell Lincoln of the conditions in order that he might trade for there release. President Lincoln refused. As far as punishment goes. It was general Grant who stopped the prisoner exchange, in order to deprive the south of much needed man power.

[FullyArmedCitizen]

@psnider Of course not. The winners of the war write the stories. To the victor go the spoils I suppose. Long live the South and the Confederate States of America.

[garandman114]

My great great great granddad wrote in his memoirs about the day the providence spring opened up and he said it was just like God had answered his and every other Prisoner's thirsty prayers to God for relief. I would love to visit here, thank you for posting.

[r1ckr0b]

My Great Grandpa use to tell me stories that came from his great grandpa about that place. He said the union soldiers gathered round said a prayer and lighting struck the tree and the spring rose from the ground...

[TOKIOHOTELER1]

i am doing a rwanactment in school

[PapagenoJuan]

I love that place.

I wish i could have seen it like it was in 1864.

It would have been horrifying and awesome to see. :(