Free to follow every thread. No paywall, no dead ends.
American Civil War prison camps | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Origins Of Parole System —
American Civil War prison camps.
~4 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
In 1861, the Union and Confederate governments relied on a traditional European system of parole to manage captured troops. A prisoner who was on parole promised not to fight again until his name was exchanged for a similar man on the other side. Then both could rejoin their units while awaiting exchange. Prisoners were briefly confined to permanent camps during this waiting period. The exchange system broke down in mid-1863 when the Confederacy refused to treat black prisoners as equal to white prisoners. Before that collapse, most prisoners of war were swapped relatively quickly between 1861 and 1863.
Breakdown And Manpower Crisis
The South needed exchanges much more than the North did because of severe manpower shortages in the Confederacy. In 1864 Ulysses Grant decided that the growing prisoner gap gave him a military advantage. He therefore opposed wholesale exchanges until the end was in sight. Around 5,600 Confederates were allowed to join the Union Army and known as galvanized Yankees. These troops were stationed in the West facing Indians. Public opinion had forced changes earlier after the First Battle of Bull Run when over one thousand Union soldiers were captured by Confederates. On the 11th of December 1861, Congress passed a joint resolution calling on President Lincoln to inaugurate systematic measures for prisoner exchange.
Mortality Rates And Conditions
About 56,000 soldiers died in prisons during the war accounting for almost 10% of all Civil War fatalities. During a period of 14 months in Camp Sumter located near Andersonville Georgia, 13,000 of the 45,000 Union soldiers confined there died. At Camp Douglas in Chicago Illinois, 10% of its Confederate prisoners died during one cold winter month. Elmira Prison in New York state had a death rate of 25% which very nearly equaled that of Andersonville. Many Southern prisons were located in regions with high disease rates and routinely short of medicine doctors food and ice. Northerners often believed their men were being deliberately weakened and killed in Confederate prisons.
Major Union Detention Sites
Camp Chase in Columbus Ohio was established in May 1861 and closed in 1865. The camp's original capacity was for 4,000 men but at times more than 7,000 prisoners were accommodated. The capacity was increased to 7,000 but towards the end of the war up to 10,000 men were crammed into the facility. Camp Douglas sometimes described as The North's Andersonville was the largest Union POW Camp. Of the 26,060 interned over four years roughly 4,000 died from starvation execution or exposure. Elmira Prison originally established as Camp Rathbun was converted to a prisoner of war camp in 1864 with a capacity for approximately 12,000 prisoners. Before its closure in 1865, 2,963 prisoners died there from various causes.
Infamous Confederate Facilities
Andersonville located near Andersonville Georgia became the deadliest prison in the Civil War where 13,000 of the 45,000 Union soldiers imprisoned there died. To relieve some conditions at Andersonville a larger prison was constructed in summer 1864 near Lawton Depot in Millen Georgia called Camp Lawton. Around 10,000 prisoners were moved to Camp Lawton between October and late November 1864. Libby Prison in Richmond Virginia held captured officers before their transfer to other facilities. Danville Prison consisted of six tobacco warehouses in which captured Union soldiers were confined during 1863, 1865. Only Prison Number 6 remains on site at 300 Lynn Street today.
Postwar Trials And Justice
Henry Wirz commander at Andersonville was executed for war crimes following postwar legal proceedings. The trial examined documents including Captain Henry Wirz's official records and reports from Harper's Weekly published between 1863 and 1864. James Gillispie noted that while Northerners believed deliberate maltreatment occurred he said there was no conspiracy to kill Confederate prisoners. He compared death rates in Northern camps with Confederate hospital shortages but did not compare with Union hospitals for Union soldiers. The overall mortality rates in prisons on both sides were similar and quite high despite differing conditions.
Legacy And Historical Memory
Lorien Foote has noted the suffering of prisoners did more to inhibit postwar reconciliation than any other episode of the war. Benjamin Cloyd traced shifts in American views from raw memories in decades after the war to positions that deflected responsibility. Andersonville National Historic Site now serves as a museum preserving the memory of those who died. The riverboat Sultana took 1,900 ex-prisoners North on Mississippi River when it exploded killing about 1,500 of them on April 23 after the war ended. MacKinlay Kantor won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction with his novel Andersonville which brought attention to these historical events.
When did the Union and Confederate governments stop exchanging prisoners of war?
The exchange system broke down in mid-1863 when the Confederacy refused to treat black prisoners as equal to white prisoners. Before that collapse, most prisoners were swapped relatively quickly between 1861 and 1863.
How many soldiers died in American Civil War prison camps?
About 56,000 soldiers died in prisons during the war accounting for almost 10% of all Civil War fatalities. Camp Sumter near Andersonville Georgia saw 13,000 of the 45,000 Union soldiers confined there die over a period of 14 months.
Where was the deadliest American Civil War prison camp located?
Andersonville located near Andersonville Georgia became the deadliest prison in the Civil War where 13,000 of the 45,000 Union soldiers imprisoned there died. A larger prison called Camp Lawton was constructed near Lawton Depot in Millen Georgia in summer 1864 to relieve conditions at Andersonville.
Who commanded the Andersonville prison camp and what happened to him?
Henry Wirz served as commander at Andersonville and was executed for war crimes following postwar legal proceedings. The trial examined documents including Captain Henry Wirz's official records and reports from Harper's Weekly published between 1863 and 1864.
When did Congress pass measures for systematic prisoner exchange?
On the 11th of December 1861, Congress passed a joint resolution calling on President Lincoln to inaugurate systematic measures for prisoner exchange. This action followed public opinion changes after the First Battle of Bull Run when over one thousand Union soldiers were captured by Confederates.