Andersonville, or Camp Sumter as it was known officially, was the largest of many Confederate military prisons established during the Civil War. 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. During the 14 months it existed, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined there. Of these, almost 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding, or exposure to the elements.
The first prisoners were taken to Andersonville in February 1864. During the next few months approximately 400 more arrived each day until, by the end of June, some 26,000 men were confined in prison are originally intended to hole 10,000. The largest number held at any one time was more than 32,000 in August 1864.
When General William T. Sherman's Union forces occupied Atlanta on September 2, 1864, bringing Federal calvary columns within easy striking distance of Andersonville, Confederate authorities moved most of the prisoners to other camps in South Carolina and coastal Georgia. From then until May 1865, Andersonville was operated on a smaller basis. When the war ended, Capt. Henry Wirz, the camp's commandant, was arrested and charged with conspiring with high Confederate officials to "impair and injure the health and destroy the lives...of Federal Prisoners" and "murder, in violation of the laws of war." Such a conspiracy never existed but public anger and indignation throughout the North over the conditions at Andersonville demanded appeasement. Tried and found guilty by a military tribunal., Wirz was hanged in Washington, D.C., on November 10, 1865.
The prison site became property of the people of the United States in 1910 after being donated by the Woman's Relief Corps. It was administered by the War Department and its successor, the Department of the Army, through 1970, when it was made a national historical site. The National Park Service took over administration on July 1, 1971. For information regarding visiting and touring the site, visit the Andersonville National Historic Site.
Information courtesy of National Park Service
LINKS
Famous
American Trials The Trial of Captain Henry Wirz Commandant
Andersonville Prison 1865
Florence
Stockade
Florence, South Carolina
Florence Stockade was in operation from September 1864
through February 1865. During that time there were 18,000
prisoners confined. There were 2,802 deaths (16%).
Graphics courtesy of Savage Goodner Camp 1513