Andersonville For Western Wednesday...

Often we forget just what a vast amount of human lives were lost during the period of the Civil War.

Many of the deaths suffered by both sides were not from battle, but from the horrid conditions that haunted the prison camps of both Union and Confederate control. There are no appropriate words to describe what despicable conditions existed in these places!

Feb 27, 1864:

Federal prisoners begin arriving at Andersonville

On this day in 1864, the first Union inmates begin arriving at Andersonville prison, which was still under construction in southern Georgia. Andersonville became synonymous with death as nearly a quarter of its inmates died in captivity. Henry Wirz, who ran Andersonville, was executed after the war for the brutality and mistreatment committed under his command.

The prison, officially called Camp Sumter, became necessary after the prisoner exchange system between North and South collapsed in 1863 over disagreements about the handling of black soldiers. The stockade at Andersonville was hastily constructed using slave labor, and was located in the Georgia woods near a railroad but safely away from the front lines. Enclosing 16 acres of land, the prison was supposed to include wooden barracks but the inflated price of lumber delayed construction, and the Yankee soldiers imprisoned there lived under open skies, protected only by makeshift shanties called "shebangs," constructed from scraps of wood and blankets. A stream initially provided fresh water, but within a few months human waste had contaminated the creek.

Andersonville was built to hold 10,000 men, but within six months more than three times that number were incarcerated there. The creek banks eroded to create a swamp, which occupied a significant portion of the compound. Rations were inadequate, and at times half of the population was reported ill. Some guards brutalized the inmates and there was violence between factions of prisoners.

Andersonville was the worst among many terrible Civil War prisons, both Union and Confederate. Wirz paid the price for the inhumanity of Andersonville; he was executed in the aftermath of the Civil War.

The loss of human lives from both sides affected the United States for many years beyond the actual conflict. We can only hope that our country never again has to go through anything like this again! Time to learn from history, don't you think?

Coffee out on the patio today. We'll take a chance on the weather and the wind. Maybe we won't get blown away!