Andersonville

=**//Andersonville Horrors//**=
 * Location:** Andersonville, Georgia


 * Dates:** February 1864- End of the war


 * Commanders:** Led by Captain Henry Wirz


 * Those involved:** Confederate soldiers and Union prisoners of war


 * Casualties:** During the war, 45 thousand prisoners were recieved to the prison and 12,913 died.

"Historical Background, Andersonville Civil War Prison, Southeast Archaeological Center (SEAC)." U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. <[]>. "Andersonville Prison, February 1864 - April 1865." //The American Civil War Home Page//. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. < http://www.civilwarhome.com/andersonville.htm>. "Andersonville National Historic Site." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. []. "Union Soldier's Letter by Andersonville POW Jordan C. Harriss, Co. A, 81st Illinois Vols. Harriss Was Captured June 10, 1864 A... (Total: 1 Items) Autographs: Military Figures." //Historical - Heritage Auctions | Auction - Buy - Sell - Value//. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. []. "Andersonville Prison." //We Have Moved//. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. []. "Civil War Soldier 5 Letters MA 21st Infry Andersonville." //Antiques, Art and Collectibles - What's It Worth? | WorthPoint//. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. []. "Andersonville Civil War Prison." //CensusDiggins - FREE Census Records, Marriage Records and Civil War Databases//. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. [] "Andersonville Prison Story 20th Pennsylvania Cavalry Co. H ...My Experience While a Prisoner of War." //Schuylkill County Pennsylvania Military History//. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. [].
 * Description:** The prison Andersonville "Camp Sumter" originally covered 16.5 acres enclosed by a 350 ft high stockade. In June 1864, it was expanded to 26.5 acres. There were only two entrances known as the North entrance and the South entrance. There was a light fence called the "deadline." It was approximately 19 feet inside the stockade wall. It was a no-mans land that kept prisoners away from the stockade wall. Anyone who crossed the line was shot. The prison was frequently undersupplied with food. The food was of poor quality and poorly prepared. This caused hunger exposure and disease between the prisoners. Most died from hook worm diesease, a condition unrecognized during the Civil War. The water supply from the stockade creek became polluted with human fecal matter. Part of the creek was used as a sink and the men were forced to wash themselves in it. Although guards' disease, starvation, and exposure there was also a group of prisoners called the Andersonville Raiders. They attacked fellow inmates to steal food, jewelry, money, and clothing. Another group rose up to stop the Raiders, calling themselves Regulators. They caught nearly all the Raiders. They were tried by judge Peter "Big Pete" McCullough and jury selected from a group of new prisoners. The Raiders were found guilty and in six cases punished by hanging.
 * Lasting effect:** Henry Wirz was court marshalled on charges of conspiracy and murder. Union General Lew Wallace and feature Chief Prosecutor Norton Parker Chipman. Former prisoners testified on conditions at Andersonville. Many accused Wirz of specific acts of cruelty. When President Lincoln had recently been assasinated, there was no sympathy for Wirz who was found guily of murder and was sentenced to death on November 10, 1865. He was hanged. He was the only Confederate official to be tried and convicted of war crimes resulting from the Civil War. In 1891, the Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Georgia, bought the site of Andersonville Prison and erected monuments on these grounds.
 * Bibliography:**