How Andersonville Prison Affected The Civil War

Between the years 1864 and 1865, 45 thousand Union soldiers were held in Andersonville Prison (also known as Camp Sumter), a prisoner of war camp during the Civil War. Of those detained there, 13 thousand died of starvation, disease and injuries. It was the deadliest prisoner of war camp in the Confederate States. The creation of Andersonville Prison affected the Civil War by providing the Confederacy with a place to store captured Union soldiers and by turning public opinion in the Union further against the South.
Camp Sumter affected the Civil War by providing a better storage area for the Confederacy’s enemies. According to the Civil War Trust, “Confederate officials decided to move the large number of Federal Prisoners...to a place of greater security and more abundant food”. This shows the reasons why the Confederacy felt it necessary to construct Camp Sumter. According to Kennedy Hickman, “In late 1863, the Confederacy found that it needed to construct additional prisoner of war camps to house captured Union soldiers waiting to …show more content…
According to civilwaracademy.com, “When they saw the photographs of emaciated Andersonville Prisoners who literally looked like skeletons, Northerners were shocked and horrified”. This shows how the Union reacted to the events that occurred at Andersonville Prison. Another example of the Union’s reaction was described by Jeff Nilsson in the Saturday Evening Post : “As news of the death camp reached the newspapers, Northerners were newly enraged at the South and its army. Hearing of the miserable conditions and high death rate in the camp, Walt Whitman wrote, “There are deeds, crimes that may be forgiven, but this is not among them.’” This quote illustrates what the general population of the Union thought of the South. This evidence shows how the North began to despise the Confederates toward the end of the