Why did people die in civil war prisons? by Liana Samolis

Why did people die in civil war prisons? by Liana Samolis https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn Note Cards en-us 2017-05-15 13:31:46 UTC 2017-06-11 23:30:46 UTC hello@padlet.com Andersonville Prison imarlin22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/171841261 source: c

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

]]> 2017-05-15 14:07:17 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/171841261 The Civil War Volume 8 lsamolis22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/171841444

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

]]> 2017-05-15 14:07:50 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/171841444 Henry Wirz imarlin22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172150432 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

]]> 2017-05-16 17:08:19 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172150432 Andersonville Prison lsamolis22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172152111 LINK

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

]]> 2017-05-16 17:14:16 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172152111 Andersonville Prison imarlin22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172396357 Source

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.

]]> 2017-05-17 17:21:26 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172396357 Prisoners lsamolis22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172464159 Source

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

]]> 2017-05-18 00:53:17 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172464159 Prisoners lsamolis22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172465387 Source

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

]]> 2017-05-18 01:05:08 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172465387 Condition imarlin22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172646798 source

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.

]]> 2017-05-18 17:25:28 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172646798 prisoners nhoban22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172849420 source

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.

]]> 2017-05-19 16:46:31 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172849420 Disease and death imarlin22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172849558 source

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

]]> 2017-05-19 16:47:07 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172849558 Disease and death lsamolis22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172852085 Source

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.

]]> 2017-05-19 16:59:07 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172852085 Diseases and deaths nhoban22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172852259 source
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.

]]> 2017-05-19 16:59:55 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172852259 Food imarlin22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172852824 source

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.

]]> 2017-05-19 17:02:30 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172852824 Deaths and prisons nhoban22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172853046 source

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

]]> 2017-05-19 17:03:25 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172853046 Elmira Prison (New York) lsamolis22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172853354 Source

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

]]> 2017-05-19 17:04:51 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172853354 Camp Douglas imarlin22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172854712 source

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.

]]> 2017-05-19 17:11:34 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172854712 Bell Isle (Virginia) lsamolis22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172855887 Source

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"

]]> 2017-05-19 17:17:05 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/172855887 Rock Island imarlin22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173360918 source

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

]]> 2017-05-23 12:03:32 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173360918 point look out nhoban22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173390686

9000 men were imprisoned here

This camp opened in 1863 for the Confederate prisoners.

Over 52000 prisoners passed through Point lookout.

source

]]> 2017-05-23 13:51:35 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173390686 Conditons imarlin22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173397668 source

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

]]> 2017-05-23 14:12:13 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173397668 American Civil War Biographies nhoban22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173398015 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

]]> 2017-05-23 14:13:21 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173398015 Prisoner life imarlin22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173672741 source

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

]]> 2017-05-24 16:49:32 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173672741 prisoners lsamolis22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173856795 Source

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

]]> 2017-05-25 16:14:29 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173856795 Prison camps of the civil war nhoban22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173982714 source

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.

]]> 2017-05-26 13:15:32 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173982714 More on Andersonville prisoner life lsamolis22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173982946 source

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

]]> 2017-05-26 13:16:42 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173982946 Andersonville prison basics lsamolis22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173985068 source (database)

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

]]> 2017-05-26 13:28:10 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173985068 Suffering and survival nhoban22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173985507 source

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.

]]> 2017-05-26 13:31:20 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173985507 Salisbury Prison,NC nhoban22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173986649 source

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.

]]> 2017-05-26 13:37:52 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173986649 Alton Federal Prison,Illinois nhoban22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173987829 source

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.

]]> 2017-05-26 13:43:57 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173987829 Point Lookout ,Maryland nhoban22 https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173989084 source

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.

]]> 2017-05-26 13:50:21 UTC https://padlet.com/lsamolis22/8nywffnptkpn/wish/173989084