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Andersonville Prison was one of many built
in early 1864. It was up and running for 14 months. More than 45,000
Union soldiers were confined there, which is almost double what the
maximum capacity was. Almost 13,000 men died of dieases, malnutrition,
and poor sanitation. It covered 16 1/2 acres but by June of 1865
had expanded to 26 1/2 acres. Many soldiers didn't even have tents,
they were only able to use what was on their backs to keep warmand
those who had tents were cramed into the stockade like sardines into a
tin can.
 
The prison had one water source, Providence
Spring. The legend goes that a group of Christian soldiers decided to
pray to God for more water. Their water rations were not enough
anymore. So, one day a huge thunderstom came and a bolt of lightening
hit the ground. The soldiers said that where the lightening struck, a
spring popped up out of the ground. They used this little spring that
flowed from up hill to down hill for cooking, cleaning, bathing, and
drinking. This means that if a man up hill had to use the restroom, a
man down hill that had to get a drink, was drinking what the man up
hill did in the water. This is the reason that so many died of poor
sanitation.
There were two women soldiers that were
held there, both of them gave birth in the prison. No one knew that
they were indeed women until they did so. In many cases, no one knew
they were female until they got to the "dead house". A dead house was a
little building, or in some cases a lean-to, where the dead each day
would be carried, stripped of everything valuable and then prepared to
be buried. Soldiers would take shoes, shirts, pants, anything that was
in good condition and distribute them to other soldiers that
needed them. At the end of the day, Confederates would take the bodies
away from the stockade and dig a trench. They would lay the bodies side
by side, about 2 - 3 inches apart.(Pictured at very top of
page.) Then the cycle would start all over again the next day.
Andersonville was shut down in 1865, due to the end of the war.
Below: An illustration of what Andersonville Prison looked like during the war.
When we see all of the pictures taken in prisons that held Union
soldiers, we must also think of what our Men in Grey went through.
Lincoln decided not to trade prisoners with the Confederacy. He then
decided that the Confederate prisoners should not be allowed the same
ration of food that Union troops were allowed. So not only were our
Confederates cold they went hungry, too. Jeff Davis made several
attempts with Abe Lincoln to peacefully trade prisoners, all of which
Lincoln denied.
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