“100 of the Boys left last night & 2 more were going out this morning & they were shot. poor Boys such is life. some die one way and some another.”1 From the diary of a common Union soldier’s experience in Andersonville emits an expression that seems to encapsulate the life of many soldiers serving in prison camps at this time. The Civil War, 1861 to 1865, remains a crucial period in the history of America. It was regarded as ‘war of States’, that is, the Southern slave states’ and the ‘North States’. It is during this time that civil war prisons were built that held captured soldiers, and were operated by the Union and the Confederate government. About 409, 000 soldiers were captured in the …show more content…
The crowded prisons, poor housing, and insufficient medical attendance is a common situation in most war. During the civil war, little was known on disaster management, and the war was not expected to reach such high magnitude. They may have been prepared for war, but the situation in the prison during the civil war period was incomprehensible even at that time. It is clear that the prison played a crucial role in the advancement of the war, and in the creation of enmity between the opposing groups.14 More soldiers died due to conditions, geographical placement and ill-treatment in the prison camps than on the actual battlefield. The events in the Elmira prison also contributed significantly to the civil …show more content…
Scarring and Mortality Selection Among Civil War POWs: A Long-Term Mortality, Morbidity, and Socioeconomic Follow-Up. Demography , Vol. 49, No. 4 (November 2012) , pp. 1185-1206. Published by: Springer on behalf of the Population Association of America. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23360370. Located on JSTOR
Davis, Robert S. Escape from Andersonville: A Study in Isolation and Imprisonment. The Journal of Military History , Vol. 67, No. 4 (Oct., 2003) , pp. 1065-1081. Published by: Society for Military History. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3396882. Located on JSTOR
Hesseltine, William Best. Civil War prisons. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 19721962. Located in College Library
Keiley, A. M. In vinculis, or, The prisoner of war being, the experience of a Rebel in two federal pens, interspersed with reminiscences of the late war ; anecdotes of southern generals, etc.. Petersburg, Va.: "Daily index" Office, 1866. Located on ebrary
Percocco, James P. "The Space beyond the Gates: Andersonville Prison." Organization of American Historians Magazine of History 8.1 (1993): 37-43. Available on JSTOR
Ransom, John L. John Ransom 's Andersonville Diary: Life inside the Civil War 's Most Infamous Prison. New York: Berkley, 1986. Available on Interlibrary