From February 1864 until the end of the Civil War in April 1865, Andersonville Prison was a Confederate military prison where captured Union soldiers were being held. Andersonville Prison, the most famous military prison during the Civil War, left a mark on the South and should not be forgotten.
Andersonville as a field with a log stockade bordering it and a stream intersected it, which served the prisoners both a sanitation system and water supply (Thomason). The stream soon became polluted with human waste over the months and it was the prisoner's main source of drinking water. The prisoners experienced many diseases and illnesses like respiratory diseases, diarrhea, and scurvy. Scurvy is a disease resulting from lack of vitamin C. (Thomason).They could experience death from infection or bleeding. The prisoners also experienced starvation and malnutrition because Andersonville, had little food for its growing population.
The inmates had trouble sleeping at nights. They slept sheds made from wood scraps, in tents made from blankets, or in pits dug in the ground. Thousands of prisoners were moaning and groaning throughout the night. “In the middle of the night I was awakened by being kicked by a dying man.” quoted a prisoner …show more content…
In May 1865, Wirz wrote to the Union officials a permission letter to return to his home back in switzerland. “The duties i had to preform were arduous [difficult] and unpleasant and i am satisfied that no one can or will justify blame me for things that happened here and which were beyond my power to control.” Wirz stated. But instead of going to Switzerland he was arrested and sent to Washington to be tried for war crimes. Wirz trial lasted for two months, during his trial he faced charges of conspiracy and cruelty. Wirz was hanged on November tenth, eighteen sixty five.(Hillstrom, Kevin, and Laurie Collier Hillstrom.) He was buried at Mount Olivet cemetery in Washington
Andersonville as a field with a log stockade bordering it and a stream intersected it, which served the prisoners both a sanitation system and water supply (Thomason). The stream soon became polluted with human waste over the months and it was the prisoner's main source of drinking water. The prisoners experienced many diseases and illnesses like respiratory diseases, diarrhea, and scurvy. Scurvy is a disease resulting from lack of vitamin C. (Thomason).They could experience death from infection or bleeding. The prisoners also experienced starvation and malnutrition because Andersonville, had little food for its growing population.
The inmates had trouble sleeping at nights. They slept sheds made from wood scraps, in tents made from blankets, or in pits dug in the ground. Thousands of prisoners were moaning and groaning throughout the night. “In the middle of the night I was awakened by being kicked by a dying man.” quoted a prisoner …show more content…
In May 1865, Wirz wrote to the Union officials a permission letter to return to his home back in switzerland. “The duties i had to preform were arduous [difficult] and unpleasant and i am satisfied that no one can or will justify blame me for things that happened here and which were beyond my power to control.” Wirz stated. But instead of going to Switzerland he was arrested and sent to Washington to be tried for war crimes. Wirz trial lasted for two months, during his trial he faced charges of conspiracy and cruelty. Wirz was hanged on November tenth, eighteen sixty five.(Hillstrom, Kevin, and Laurie Collier Hillstrom.) He was buried at Mount Olivet cemetery in Washington