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Point Lookout was originally was suppose to hold political prisoners, but in 1863, it was expanded to hold Confederate soldiers.

By the end of the Civil War more than 52,000 prisoners went through Point Lookout.

4,000 men were given illnesses do to overcrowding,poor sanitation, exposure, and soiled water.

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Alton provided protection from the worst of conditions such as brutally warm summers and extremely cold winters.

Smallpox spread through Alton like a wildfire.

300 men in the winter of 1862 died do to smallpox alone.

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Salisbury was once a cotton farm but was converted into a prison in 1861.

Within a few more months that number skyrocketed to more than 10,000 prisoners.

Prisoners were allowed to play recreational games such as baseball at Salisbury.

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Robert H. Kellog was 20 years old when he walked through the gates of Andersonville.

He was captured during the battle of Plymouth, North Carolina.

Nearly 400,000 men were imprisoned during the Civil War.

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Once completed, the walls of the prison formed a rectangle of rough-hewn pine standing 15–20 feet in height and built on a 16½-acre tract intended to house no more than 10,000 Union prisoners of war (but it ended up housing WAY more)

During the first few months, conditions at Andersonville were fair but by July the facility was jammed with over 32,000 soldiers, almost all enlisted men (TOO MANY)

The open-air stockade was expanded to 26 acres but remained horribly overcrowded, and conditions became more and more intolerable

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Prisoners could receive packages from their families to make there time there a little better.

during the civil war prisoners were called, " living skeletons".

black prisoners were often slaughtered in cold blood because they had no rights.

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Wells were covered over and made inaccessible after prisoners used them to hide escape tunnels

Soldiers started praying off one another, Men detailed to take care of the sick often robbed the hospital of food and supplies

but his lack of authority over the guards and supply officers limited his effectiveness. He quickly became the primary target of prisoners' resentment and hostility

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Out of 3.8 million combatants in the war, over 400,000 were at some point taken prisoner

between 45,00 and 50,000 died in prison from wounds, from infectious diseases such as smallpox, or from illnesses related to substandard sanitary conditions, contaminated food and water, abysmal nutrition, and from lack of proper clothing and shelter

Medical care already woefully strained in each army's own hospitals, was even more scarce for enemy prisoners some soldiers killed each other or themselves under the duress of prison life

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In the beginning of the war the U.S Army captured 16,000 prisoners

when  Ulysses S. Grant concurred Fort Donelson they accepted 15,000 prisoners in 1 day

end of 1861 prisoners were traded, it started earlier but commanders thought the war wasn't going to last long so trading wasn't very frequent

most prisoners weren't issued replacements for clothing so they would have to survive the winter and heat with either little or no clothing which was a more cause for illness

Black prisoners were treated the worst and had to do hard labor

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Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie  Collier Hillstorm

Henry Wirz was the commander of Andersonville Prison, and hosed more than 40,000 union prisoners there.

In November 1865, Henry Wirz was hung because he murdered prisoners.

Besides Wirz the rest of the commanders did there best to make sure everything went in order

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9000 men were imprisoned here

This camp opened in 1863 for the Confederate prisoners.

Over 52000 prisoners passed through Point lookout.

source

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one cause was for poor planning from both sides thinking they wouldn't hold as much prisoners as they thought they would

most camps were were near damp, wet areas which is a more like for disease

prisoners would suffer from scurvy, anemia and other diseases brought on by malnutrition

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Over 12,000 prisoners and 2000 deaths recorded

when prisoners arrived in December 1863 temperatures were below 0 degrees

diseases like a small pox epidemic which killed hundreds and the prisoners were buried on the side of the prison

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Was on 54 acres and within the James River

Lucius Eugene Chittenden, U.S. Treasurer during the Lincoln Administration said this about the prisoners conditions at the camp

"in a semi-state of nudity...laboring under such diseases as chronic diarrhea, scurvy, frost bites, general debility, caused by starvation, neglect and exposure, many of them had partially lost their reason, forgetting even the date of their capture, and everything connected with their antecedent history. They resemble, in many respects, patients laboring under cretinism. They were filthy in the extreme, covered in vermin...nearly all were extremely emaciated; so much so that they had to be cared for even like infants."

the amount of men at the camp lept up to 30,000

There were no structures and nothing was furnished and if men were lucky they got to be in tents but most were stuck trying to build their own "houses"

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Camp Douglas in Chicago,  Rumors of crowded and bad conditions,  with death and disease, were widely circulated in the southern press during the war. The camp soon earned a fitting nickname... “Eighty Acres of Hell”.

death toll for the camp, during the last 3 years has been estimated at as many as 6,129 men, which is slightly less than 1/3 of the entire prison population at the camp. Most died from scurvy and smallpox.

many left the camp dead, some managed to escape. In November 1863, 75 prisoners managed to dig their way beneath the walls. In response, 8 companies of the Veteran Reserve Corps and a regiment of Michigan sharpshooters were ordered to camp for additional protection. There was no more tunnels dug out of the camp.

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The elmira prison also known as "Hellmira" opened in July of 1864

It became famous for its staggering death rates, horrid living conditions

Col. William Hoffman forced confederate prisoners to sleep the nights outside

and there was little to know shelter or furniture

prisoners had to make their own shelters out of what ever they could find

There was 4,000 prisoners at Elmira, within a month of its opening that numbered had swelled to 12,123 men  by the time the last prisoners were sent home in September of 1865, close to 3,000 men had perished

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In Andersonville a creek that flowed through the cave and it was the Union Soldiers water; however this became a cesspool of disease and human waste.

Andersonville was originally called Camp Sumter

Camp Sumter was originally built in 1829

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rations were often uncooked and prisoners had to cook for themselves. it was not  easy since firewood was scarce. Prisoners often combined  rations and cooked them together.

If prisoners had money they could do business with a sutler, who operated a small store within the stockade and sold vegetables and other food.

In May 1864 eggs sold for 50 cents each, molasses 12 dollars a gallon, bacon 6 dollars a pound, cornbread 40 cents a loaf, and flour one dollar a pint. Black beans were 40 cents a pint. In June baking soda was 25 cents a spoonful, blackberries 60 cents a pint, and beans had risen to one dollar a pint.

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Erysipelas - Acute infectious disease of skin or mucus membranes. Characterized by local inflammation and fever.

Gastritis - Inflammation of stomach.

Hemorrhoids - Painful swelling of vein in region of the anus, often with bleeding.

Hepatitis - Inflammation of liver, often accompanied by fever and jaundice.

Hydrocele - Accumulation of fluid in the scrotum.

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Constipation - Condition in which feces are hard and elimination is infrequent and difficult.

Diarrhea - Frequent, loose bowel movements. Symptoms of other diseases.

Diphtheria - Acute, highly contagious disease. Characterized by abdominal pain and intense diarrhea.

Dysentery - Various intestinal inflammations characterized by abdominal pain and intense diarrhea.

Enteritis - Inflammation of intestines.

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The Andersonville prison held 32000 men

Nearly 13000 people died there

19ft inside of the stockade wall ,prisoners were not allowed to go in or they would be killed.

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Many prisoners were without shelter and constructed crude dwellings known as "shebangs" made from various items including cloth, mud bricks, tree limbs, and brush

When a prisoner died and was carried out of the stockade to the "deadhouse" before burial, he would be stripped and his clothes were taken back inside the prison

In May 1864 eggs sold for 50 cents each, molasses 12 dollars a gallon, bacon 6 dollars a pound, cornbread 40 cents a loaf, and flour one dollar a pint. Black beans were 40 cents a pint. In June baking soda was 25 cents a spoonful, blackberries 60 cents a pint, and beans had risen to one dollar a pint

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There was little medicine to treat  disease for the prisoners

the water became polluted from the overcrowding and use from the prisoners at the camp.

Raiding parties formed within prisoners, armed with clubs and sticks, would assault other prisoners to gain food or jewelry. The  Raiders were tried by a judge and punished. Some of them died by hanging.

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Daily rations at the camp were 2 ounces of pork (usually half rotting) plus a little rice and corn bread

terrible conditions in Andersonville were 1st publicized in late 1864 in a pamphlet published in Boston (recorded experiences of prisoners)

About 100 people died per day, total # of deaths by April 1865 were 13,000

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Low food rations were very common

At 1st prisoners were given a quart of tolerably good meal, a sweet potato, a piece of meat about the size of one’s two fingers, and occasionally a spoonful of salt

As the time passed though the rations decreased a ton, The salt was soon taken away, then the sweet potato

The number of days prisoners went without food increased , meat was no longer given as a ration

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The "Dead line" was there to prevent soldiers from climbing or tunneling  under/over the wall, anyone that tried to cross would be shot

held more prisoners at any given time than any other confederate prison

more than 45,000 union soldiers were confined at Andersonville about 13,000 died

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Abscess - Swollen, inflamed area in body tissues with localized collection of pus.

Anasarca - Abnormal accumulation of fluid in tissues results in swelling.

Ascites - Accumulation of fluid in  abdominal cavity.

Asphyxia - Loss of consciousness due to suffocation; lacking oxygen, and too much CO

Catarrh - Inflammation of mucus in nose and throat

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45,000 Union soldiers were kept there,  13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding, or exposure to  elements.

Only one small creek called Stockade Branch, flowed through the prison yard and was the only source of water for   the prison.

approximately 400 prisoners arrived each day. By the end of June, 26,000 men were in an area originally meant for only 10,000 prisoners.

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source: American Civil War Biographies, Volume 2

1845, Wirz married Emilie Oschwald and had two children.

soon after marriage, Wirz took out a loan that he was ultimately unable to pay and was sent to prison . He was eventually was let go but that he leave Zurich, but Emilie refused to go and they eventually divorced

November, 1865 Wirz got hanged and was the only confederate official to be killed for committing crimes at Andersonville Prison

Wirz did not allow the prisoners to build shelter from the hot sun so they would dig holes and take scraps of rags or clothes to protect them from the sun

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more than 100 prisoners die each day from typhoid fever, gangrene, diarrhea, dysentery, and malnutrition

There was only 1 small stream that ran through the camp which was used for water and going to the bathroom

August 1864 Andersonville had more than 33,000 soldiers becoming the 5th largest city