Notes

During the Civil War,a lot of soldiers were captured and brought to a prison

camp . The prison camps became a thing back in the Civil War times or in the 1850 through the 1860 . Very many did not expect what was going to happen, there life will never be the same .

One of the most famous prison camp was the Andersonville also know as the Sumter

Camp . Andersonville was built in the early 1864, located near the Mississippi River, and it was the first prison camp (achusetts) . Andersonville was built to hold 10,000 men but within six months more than three times that number were there . 45,000 Union soldiers were at the prison camp and about 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding or exposure to the elements . The Andersonville was a protected area,the deadline that kept prisoners back from the walls of the stockade was marked by a simple fence . Prisoners who crossed the line were shot by sentries who sat in pigeon roosts located every 90 feet along the wall (achusetts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) . The prison held more prisoners at any given time . The camp lasted for 14 months . The very first prisoners that came to Andersonville was in late February 1864,about 400 came each day . The Confederate government couldn't give them good supplies, food, clothing, shelter and medical care. A man said "Since the day I was born,I have never such misery",I guess you could say there was a lot of misery there . Most prisoners were moved to other camps in South Carolina and Coastal Georgia . When the war ended,Captain Henry Wirz,the prisons commandant,was arrested and charged with "impair and injure the health and destroying the live of Federal prisoners ",and murder in violation of the laws of war" . Wirz was hanged in Washington,D.C,on November 10,1865 . Wirz was the only person executed for war crime during the Civil War 12,000 died inside Andersonville and only 460 had to be marked "Unknown U.S soldier",camp Andersonville had the highest death rate out of all the prison camp .

The Salisbury prison also known as the North Prison,was a cotton mill until 1861,when it

became a prison ("Salisbury Prison." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation) . In the first few months it was quite good and it had about 120 Union soldiers . The prisoners were well cared in the first few months,they even played baseball . By 1864 there were 5,000 and within a few months there were 10,000 . With so many people there were shortages of food,decreased sanitation,proliferation of disease,filth,starvation,death and overcrowding . In 1861,while the population was low,the death rate hovered around 2% . In 1865,when there was a lot of people in the camp,the death rate was 28% .

The Alton Federal Prison was located in Alton,Illinois and opened in 1833 ("Alton, Illinois - Civil War Era - Confederate Prison) . Originally a “civilian criminal prison” became a prison camp . A lot of disease somehow made its way into the prison camp . The Alton prison was the prison that became more common with death than any other prison . The prison was supposed to have 24 cells but in 1857,when it was replaced,it had 256 cells . The prison held over 11,000 over the war . Major General Henry was the commander of the prison camp . It was very hard for the prisoners to stay there because in summer it was very hot and in winter it was freezing cold .

The Point Lookout was located in Saint Mary's County,Maryland ("Point Lookout Prison in the Civil War) . The prison camp was one of the largest and worst prison camp in the civil war . The camp had about fourteen feet of protection and had about 40 acres ("Point Lookout Prison in the Civil War) . Like every prison there was overcrowding,so when Maryland's cold temperature raised they would have firewood for heat but there was overcrowding so a lot of people were very cold in the winter . The prison was supposed to hold 10,000 people but over the time there was about 12,000 to 20,000 people . Prisoners mostly died from disease and starvation . Food was a problem in the prison,some say the prisoners hunted rats for food . ("Point Lookout Prison in the Civil War) . People say about 14,000 prisoners died while being there, but there were only 3,384 in the mass grave ("Point Lookout Prison in the Civil War) . Now the prison is a State Park and the area has a visitor center and a museum .

The Elmira prison, also known as "Hellmira," was opened in July 6,1854 and was in New York () . The prison became a very dangerous place because the death rate for one year is 25% ! The camp lasted for one year,July 6 1854 to July 11 1865 . The camps commander was William Hoffman () . At first the area was a basic training area but later in the year it became a prison camp . Non-commissioned officers POWs were taken to Elmira () . The prison had space for only 5,000 prisoners, but 10,000 arrived and had to live in tents along the Chemung River ("Elmira ." Elmira Civil War Prison.) . The weather in New York State from October to April was terrible . There were 2,963 prisoner deaths who are now in the Woodlawn National Cemetery on Elmira's northside . There had been many trys to tunnel out of the prison but only one made it . Ten with the help of a few others made it out or escaped. They were John Fox Maule, J. P. Putegnat, J. P. Scruggs, Shelton, Wash Brown Traweek, J. W. Crawford, Cecrops Malone, Berry Benson, Hickory Jackson, William Templin.("Elmira ." Elmira Civil War Prison.)

The Douglas prison also known as the “Andersonville of the North" was in Chicago . Like the Elmira prison, it was first a training place but then it turned into a prison camp in the civil war . The first prisoners arrived in February 1862 . People say 1 out of 5 people died in the horrible prison ("Camp Douglas Civil War Prison.") . A lot of people died there because some of the starved to death and the prison did not provide blankets so the people who lived in the tents there they froze to death . The the prison was so dirty that the commission said, “nothing but fire can cleanse them"("Camp Douglas Civil War Prison.") . The Union camp leadership was blamed for so many death . Commandants purposely caused the deaths of prisoners for personal profit, leading to illness, scurvy, and starvation. There was a total of 4,200 deaths by 1865 .
Camp Randall Confederate Prison Camp was near Madison, Wisconsin . During its three month , 139 men died,most were Confederate soldiers from Alabama . They are buried at Confederate Rest Cemetery . Those who survived were sent to various Confederate prisons ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . Before the prison it was a fairground, the in 1861 it became a training area ,finally during the war it became a prison camp,it was one of the largest prison camp ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") In 1862 a lot of commandments were captured and taken to Randall . On April 20th the first prisoners got there by train,there was about 880 people who arrived there first ( "Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . Most of the men were in good health when they first arrived but only a little bit were wounded and sick ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . The commandants were supposed to do the task of being prison guards because they were the only military organization at that time in the State capable of the job ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . Madisons people who there saw the prisoners who were described at being dressed in the dirty , ragged , grey uniforms. They were described as being in a good spirit as they walked to the Camp song called “Dixie” ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . Only one citizen showed they did not like the prison by saying "this is what you get for your treason!. A prisoner said "I reckon you are one of the stay at home sort, left here to do all the windy work. You'd do better service to join your folks down south!" ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . On April 24th, 1862 another train arrived with 275 very sick men . They had a terrible trip and Madison's natives were outraged by their condition, even if they were enemies ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . As the newspaper said , "These are still our fellow citizens, misguided though they be." The city was very generous in bringing food, medicine and clothing for the ill men ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . The Typographical Union and the Masonic organizations were very active ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . For about the next four weeks a lot died each day until 145 died . 140 graves are marked by name and regiment in the Confederate Rest Cemetery plot about a mile away where they were buried. It is said there are also 5 unmarked graves of unknowns ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . On May 6th and something happened which had a bad effect on the camp, or how people saw the prison . Two of the prisoners escaped by begging a guard. They were shortly afterwards recaptured, but the commandant was forced to lock down the camp from outside visits , with more deaths happening ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . Only one man successfully escaped, a member of the Washington Artillery of Memphis, described only as "a small man with a long beard" ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . Then on May 26th another event occurred , an event which scared Madison natives and caused chaos of the good relationships between the prisoners and guards ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . A prisoner named Spears was moved out from the Hospital compound , he felt like he needed to empty his bowels. He tried to do it because he did not think it was such a big deal . A guard threw a stone at him hitting him in the cheek and causing him to fall over. The prisoner's brother, Corporal G. W. Spears, approached the guard and called him nasty words . The guard, a 17 year old recruit, raised his rifle and fired shooting Corp. Spears dead on the spot ("Camp Randall Civil War Prison.") . After this event the relations between prisoners and guards were very tense .