Andersonville Prison Essay

In April of 1865, Andersonville, Georgia served as a Civil War prison that held more than 45,000 Union soldiers, and almost 13,000 were killed. Andersonville Prison was significant to the Civil War because it showed how awful and cruel these prison camps were, the commander behind it all, Captain Henry Wirz, and the effects creating a National Historical Site as a memorial to the lost soldiers.
Andersonville Prison was officially known as Camp Sumter. The prison was originally built to only hold 10,000 men, but the number rapidly started growing. “The largest number held at any one time was more than 33,000 in August 1864” (Andersonville Prison). Not only was it very crowded but there was also little food, no clean water, and lots of diseases.
This site has 3 parts which are the Camp Sumter military prison, the Andersonville National Cemetery, and also the National Prison of War Museum, which was later added to honor all those who were prisoners of war. The cemetery consisted of all the soldiers who had either died in the prison, during war, or at the hospital were buried here. “By 1868, the cemetery held the remains of more than 13,800 Union soldiers whose bodies had been retrieved after their deaths in hospitals, battles, or prison camps throughout the region” (Learn About the Park). One of the prisoners was in charge of writing down names of all those who had died for prison records. Without others knowing he also kept track on his own which ended up having a positive effect, since he had all those name 460 of the 13,000 soldiers that died had “Unknown U.S soldier” on their graves. (Andersonville Prison)
In conclusion, the Andersonville Prison had a significance with the Civil War. It showed others how awful the war camps and prison were, the commander who was in charge of the prison, and how it caused the prison to become a National Historical