Andersonville Research Paper

There were many appalling prison camps during the Civil War, but the most infamous was Andersonville. A shocking 13,000 people died in this camp(Bartels). Andersonville was run from February of 1864 until April of 1865. When the North found out about what happened at Andersonville, people were outraged. They wanted justice, and so the man running the camp, Henry Wirz, was tried and hanged for war crimes(Kohn). By the end, any prisoner who was not too ill to move was taken from the prison(Holst). Thousands prisoners died at Andersonville because of overpopulation, bad conditions, and the South not improving conditions.

At Andersonville crowding and overpopulation stretched resources thin, and as a result each prisoner lacked basic necessities.

The conditions at Andersonville were so terrible that at the peak of the camp’s operation, over 100 people were dying each day(Ransom). People were exposed to the elements because they were not allowed any shelter, and all of the trees in the camp were cut down so they could no build anything. Combined with other problems, the heat in the summer, and the cold in the winter killed many prisoners.The food received was terrible. The food that the prisoners ate had sand, gravel, or maggots in it(Kohn). This lead to malnutrition and death because of the low food quality. Diseases were rampant around the camp. Dysentery, malaria dropsy, diarrhea, scurvy, consumption, bronchitis, pneumonia, and smallpox were common causes of death among the camp(Kohn). The diseases made the conditions even worse because sick prisoners would spread diseases and lower the bar for living conditions. These diseases were probably contracted because the river used for drinking was often clogged up with feces and other waste. This was a common source of disease and other health problems. Once people died, corpses were left lying around all day until someone finally took them from the camp(Ransom). Along with these problems prisoners had to deal with fellow prisoners who looted and stole. Some prisoners died because they lost their food, clothing or other possessions. These terrible conditions killed thousands of