Andersonville Prison Quotes

“according to Thorp, “All that was necessary to cause swift vengeance to fall upon the heads of the evil-doers was done. They were chased and beaten with clubs and captured. The Confederate authorities rendered assistance in the prosecutions, which followed by allowing a jury to be impaneled and a regular court to be instituted with able lawyers from among the prisoners as judges and counsel for the defense and prosecution. The witnesses were subpoenaed, and after a fair and impartial trial, six of the raiders were convicted and hanged, and from that time forward flanking and raiding were unknown among the prisoners”
― Charles River Editors, Andersonville Prison: The History of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Prison Camp

“Many of these bandits had enlisted under illegal names and were not model soldiers to begin with, but regardless of the circumstances, they took to robbing new prisoners and stealing everything they owned. Incoming Union prisoners often had money and possessions, while those who had been there for awhile did not, so they were especially vulnerable at the hands of thieves.”
― Charles River Editors, Andersonville Prison: The History of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Prison Camp

“Many Union soldiers had money, and since 45,000 prisoners moved through Andersonville in the span of about 14 months, there was actually a free market among the prisoners. Since rations, clothing, and shelter were substandard, many shopkeepers and merchants set up shop inside the stockade and sold fresh vegetables of every kind. Thorp recounted this market: “The authorities at Andersonville allowed supplies to be sold to the prisoners for Federal money. Numerous small restaurants flourished in the stockade. From small clay ovens they supplied fresh bread and baked meats. Irish and sweet potatoes, string beans, peas, tomatoes, melons, sweet corn, and other garden products were abundantly offered for sale. New arrivals were amazed to find these resources in the midst of utter destitution and starvation”
― Charles River Editors, Andersonville Prison: The History of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Prison Camp

“In addition to food for the starving men, other services included doctoring, tailoring, and cobbling for worn out shoes. In fact, these kinds of activities led to Andersonville being referred to as one of the largest cities in the Confederacy: “Like most cities (Andersonville was the fifth largest ‘city’ in the Confederacy), it included a host of tradesmen and merchants. There were [21]representatives of many occupations. Barbers and laundries flourished. There were dentists, doctors, watchmakers, bakers, tailors, and many a cobbler repairing rotting shoes.”
― Charles River Editors, Andersonville Prison: The History of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Prison Camp

“In the early summer, Capt. Wirz issued to the prisoners picks and shovels, with which to dig wells for increased water supply. From some of these wells the men started tunnels through which to escape. Discovering this, the commander withdrew the tools, and ordered the wells to be filled up. Permission to keep one of them open was purchased by a group of prisoners. It was sunk to a necessary depth, covered with a platform and trap door, and supplied about one thousand men.”
― Charles River Editors, Andersonville Prison: The History of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Prison Camp

“On a change of wind the odor could be detected miles away; indeed it was reported that the people of Macon petitioned General Howell Cobb, the military governor of Georgia, for a removal of the prison located sixty miles away, lest an awful pestilence sweep over their country!”
― Charles River Editors, Andersonville Prison: The History of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Prison Camp

“The prison was built on 10.6 acres and was approximately 1,000 feet wide and nearly 780 feet wide. The walls of the stockade were built from pine logs set in a trench five feet deep, and prisoners later complained that the walls of the stockade were so close together that nothing could be seen on the outside.”
― Charles River Editors, Andersonville Prison: The History of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Prison Camp

“As the leaders of the Confederacy realized that it needed additional fortification to imprison Union soldiers, they decided upon Andersonville, Georgia because of its location: “In late 1863, the Confederacy found that it needed to construct additional prisoner of war camps to house captured Union soldiers waiting to be exchanged. As leaders discussed where to place these new camps, former Georgia governor, Major General Howell Cobb stepped forward to suggest the interior of his home state. Citing southern Georgia's distance from the front lines, relative immunity to Union cavalry raids, and easy access to railroads, Cobb was able to convince his superiors to build a camp in Sumter County.”
― Charles River Editors, Andersonville Prison: The History of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Prison Camp

“By May 1864, the Fort Pillow affair became a matter of Congressional investigations, with many leaders from both Union and Confederate camps anxious to condemn Forrest simply on principle alone. Certainly those who had personally experienced his temper and knew of his volatile reputation could easily imagine him capable of a massacre. Somewhat surprisingly, one of the men who believed Forrest was not guilty of an intentional massacre was General Sherman, who by 1864 begrudgingly admired his troublesome adversary. Based on statements taken from many of his own men who had been taken prisoner by Forrest and attested that “he was usually very kind to them,”
― Charles River Editors, Andersonville Prison: The History of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Prison Camp

“At the same time, the end of the prisoner exchanges compelled the South to build a large prison camp such as the one at Andersonville. Even before the policy change, the prisoner exchange, which had flourished during the early years of the war, was complicated. Though it’s hard to imagine today, the two sides used a parole system by which prisoners were let go after promising not to rejoin the fighting until they had officially been exchanged.”
― Charles River Editors, Andersonville Prison: The History of the Civil War’s Most Notorious Prison Camp