2009-04
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/31/2009
This birdseye view of Andersonville prison is depicts the thousands of Union prisoners held behind the wall. Copyrighted by Thos O'Dea and published by T.H.McAllister. ILL., B/W, fine. Andersonville Prison - The not-yet completed prison provided little in the way of housing, clothing, or medical care. The only fresh water was a stream that flowed through the prison yard, with the downstream end serving as the camp latrine. During the next few months, 400 or more prisoners arrived each day, and in June the prison was expanded to 26 acres. By then there were 26,000 men enclosed in an area intended to hold 10,000. By August the prison contained more than 32,000 Union prisoners. Conditions at Andersonville were worse than any other war prison, North or South. The Georgia heat, along with disease, filth, exposure, and lack of adequate medical care, took a fearful toll. In September 1864, Gen. William T. Sherman's Union cavalry captured Atlanta and brought its cavalry within reach of Andersonville. The Confederacy relocated surviving prisoners to other camps, and Camp Sumter operated as a smaller facility for the rest of the war. But the summer had taken a terrible toll: of the 45,000 Union soldiers confined at Camp Sumter, 13,000 died.
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