Andersonville

    When most people hear Andersonville, they think of the Civil War prison full of poor and unhealthy conditions. The prison site located in Andersonville, Georgia was chosen because of the remote location. This made sense because not only did it have dangerous war captives, Andersonville also had a lot of prisoners on its hands. Originally, the space was designed for 10,000 people. However, it actually held 30,000. This was like having your normal sized classroom normally filled with 26, filled with 150 people! There wouldn’t be any space to move! 13,000 of 40,000 men died of lack of nutrition in the prison. The camp was basically a pigsty. Insects were everywhere you looked, along with filth and disease. All of these things were in existence because of the contaminated water supply. Prisoners did little to try to improve the horrible conditions they were living in. Firewood was shortened to begin with, but prisoners also used the wood to escape (or try to- usually informants would notify guards if an escape was going to happen). Wells were covered up because they too were escape routes. There were many gangs within the prison also. In addition, inmates preyed on each other. Like previously mentioned, the water supply was tainted as well. Personal spaces for soldiers didn’t get much better. Sleeping quarters were known as “Shebangs”. These were tent like dwellings made of cloth and made by the prisoner.

    The prison’s population suffered a loss in August of 1864. The reason was because Sherman’s march made many threats, and most men were transferred to other camps. Another change in the prison was who was in control. Originally, it was the infantry, but it later became the Georgia Militia. They tried to maintain control by creating a “Dead Line”. This was a strip of land that bordered the wall between guards and prisoners, cannons, and dogs.

    On a positive note, prisoners would create friendships. Some would share shebangs, and care for each other when they were sick. Some prisoners also tried to stay as clean as possible despite the poor living conditions. They would use sand as a replacement for soap. Can you imagine the feeling? Yes, smart and crafty, but I can barely stand when sand gets in my bathing suit at the beach! I don’t know how I would be able to bathe with it. Surprises occurred at the dreadful prison too. One inmate thought to be a man actually turned out to be a woman when taking off the clothes of the dead body. Other prisoners would be women too, although they were not discovered.

    Today, Andersonville is a state park. On the property, there are memorials and a cemetery. However, the land will always hold the daunting past that took place on it.

*Chaos of Andersonville*

*Shebangs*

*Malnourished Prisoners*

Sources
*http://americaincontext.wordpress.com/2008/01/10/andersonville-national-historic-site-andersonville-georgia/
*http://tdornton.blogspot.com/2012/09/ja-7-history-sept-17th-21st.html
*http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/civil_war_series/5/sec4.htm