Works Cited

Civil War Project

Works Cited

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2587403?seq=2&Search=yes&term=War&term=Civil&term=Salisbury&term=Prison&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DSalisbury%2BPrison%2BCivil%2BWar%26gw%3Djtx%26prq%3DSalisbury%2BPrison%26Search%3DSearch%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&item=18&ttl=2104&returnArticleService=showArticle&resultsServiceName=doBasicResultsFromArticle

Point Lookout (Union Camp)

http://www.jstor.org/stable/25162923?&Search=yes&term=prison&term=War&term=American&term=Civil&term=camps&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Damerican%2Bcivil%2Bwar%2Bprison%2Bcamps%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26wc%3Don&item=6&ttl=4778&returnArticleService=showArticle

http://www.mdoe.org/pointlookout.html

Andersonville (Confederate)

http://www.jstor.org/stable/25162924?&Search=yes&term=prison&term=War&term=American&term=Civil&term=camps&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DAmerican%2BCivil%2BWar%2Bprison%2Bcamps%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26wc%3Don&item=8&ttl=4778&returnArticleService=showArticle

http://www.nps.gov/seac/histback.htm

http://www.nps.gov/ande/index.htm

http://www.jstor.org/stable/4633372?&Search=yes&term=prison&term=War&term=American&term=Civil&term=camps&term=andersonville&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DAmerican%2BCivil%2BWar%2Bprison%2Bcamps%2Bandersonville%26gw%3Djtx%26prq%3DAmerican%2BCivil%2BWar%2Bprison%2Bcamps%26Search%3DSearch%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&item=6&ttl=91&returnArticleService=showArticle

Salisbury Prison (Confederate)

http://www.salisburync.gov/prison/1.html

http://www.rowancountync.gov/GOVERNMENT/Departments/RowanPublicLibrary/HistoryRoom/SalisburyPrison/tabid/833/Default.aspx

Elmira Prison (Union Camp)

http://www.cityofelmira.net/history/prison_camp.html

Camp Morton (Union Camp)

http://www.mycivilwar.com/pow/in-morton.htm

Currently

Not much remains of many of the prison camps of the Civil War. Elmira and Lookout were torn down. Lookout is now a state park and there is a housing development where the Elmira Prison Camp once stood. The cemeteries are the only thing left from Elmira and Lookout along with some monuments. Andersonville is the only one that has been preserved in some state. It is now home to a museum, and parts of the wooden stockades have been re-constructed.

Life at Lookout

An estimated 52,000 Confederate soldiers were held at the prison between 1863 and 1865. There was some actual housing for some of the prisoners, but the majority were forced to live in tents. Winter conditions were one of the main reasons for many of the deaths at Lookout. Lack of adequate clothing, blankets, and housing during long periods of cold weather led to the death of several thousand Confederate prisoners. An estimated 4,ooo died while at the prison, making Lookout slightly better than many other prison camps, but it still suffered major flaws in its treatment of prisoners. There were often problems with keeping the camp in sanitary conditions and in providing safe drinking water. The picture on top is a gathering of Union officers in charge of Lookout. The bottom is a drawing of the prison complex. Notice the large number of tents, and the lack of living space. Lookout though better than other prisons in some ways was still overcrowded, and a deadly place to live.

Point Lookout Prison Camp

Point Lookout is located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It was a converted Union Army Hospital and opened as a prison after the Battle of Gettysburg in July of 1863. The pictures above display the compound of the camp. It was supposed to house about 10,000 prisoners, but by June of 1864 it held about 20,000.

"Hellmira"

One of the biggest problems facing prisoners at Camp Rathburn was the extreme cold of New York. During the winter many died due to exposure to extreme cold. The picture above illustrates how many prisoners were forced to live in tents. In total 2,963 people died at Elmira due to malnutrition, and exposure.

The Prison in Elmira

Elmira N.Y. was a major rail road junction for the Union Army, which made it ideal for a prison camp. The prison in Elmira was known as Camp Rathburn. It was in use from July of 1865 till the fall of 1865. Despite this short window of operation, Elmira had 12,123 Confederates incarcerated at it peak. The two pictures above are of Camp Rathburn. The Confederates quickly gave the place the nickname 'hellmira' for its rough conditions.

Union Prison Camps

The North had prison camps that suffered from the same problems as their Southern counterparts. Thousands of Confederate soldiers died in prison camps throughout the North. Camps such as Point Lookout Prison, and Elmira Prison had harsh conditions, and had thousands of imprisoned men die due to unsanitary and inhumane conditions. Pictured on top is Camp Morton just North of Indianapolis, Indiana. And Below is the Old Capital Prison in Washington D.C. These places offered treatment that was essentially on the same level as Union prisoners in the South received.

Escape attempts from Salisbury

The drawing below illustrates a escape attempt led by prisoners that had been recently transfered from Andersonville. It was the winter, and they were upset with the lack of clothes, blankets, shelter, and food. The Confederate guards turned their canons on the Union men, and suppressed this particular escape attempt. Many were killed, and several hundred were wounded. The picture above is a list of rules for confederate prison camps.

Salisbury Prison: Prison Conditions

In its early stages Salisbury Prison conditions were harsh, but they were livable. It was not until after Ulysses S. Grant ended the prisoner exchange program that Salisbury's conditions deteriorated. Upon the end of the exchange program, Salisbury's numbers swelled up to over 10,000 in 1864. This overcrowding caused a general degradation of all basic accommodations such as food, water, and shelter. By the end of the war several thousand Union prisoners died at Salisbury. Around 11,700 Union soldiers are buried in several massive trench graves, many of whom are labeled as 'unknown'. Salisbury was not quite on the level of Andersonville, but it was still one of the worst prison camps run during the war. The bottom three picture illustrate life within Salisbury Prison. The third picture is a drawing of the hospital at the prison. The next one down depicts the burying of a prisoner. And the bottom picture shows the prisoners playing baseball in the prison yard. The top pictures show a monument in honor of the Union soldiers that still stands in Salisbury.

Salisbury Prison

Andersonville was just one of several prison camps run by the Confederacy during the Civil War. There were camps that were scattered throughout the South. One of these was Salisbury Prison, in Salisbury North Carolina. It was the only prison camp in North Carolina, and was built in 1861 after Bull Run, or First Manassas. It was originally a cotton mill and was converted to a prison to accommodate the need for a prison. It housed not only Northern POW's, it also held political prisoners, conscientious objectors, and Confederate deserters. This image is a depiction of the entire facility. It had a containment area of about 16 acres, and was designed to hold roughly 2,000 prisoners.

Leader of Andersonville: Henry Wriz

Captain Henry Wriz was one of the officers in charge of running Camp Sumter, also known as Andersonville. The extreme lack of food, medical supplies, and other basic needs coupled with the poor sanitary conditions were blamed on Wriz's leadership. These conditions served as a basis for his arrest and ultimate execution, as he became the only man to be charged with war crimes during the Civil War. These pictures show him in his service uniform, and at his hanging at the Old Capital Prison, a Union Prison, after the war.

First Hand Accounts of Andersonville

These pictures include some sketches done from first hand accounts. These images help frame the horrors of Andersonille. These images show the grim conditions that the Union soldiers were forced to live in. The only source of water, a creek running through the middle of the camp, is visible in some of these pictures. It is also notice able that there is no way to dispose of human waste in the camp. It was a hot bead of illness and parasites. Maggots and lice were supposedly as being everywhere in the camp.

Andersonville: Shells of Their Former Being

Descriptions of life at Camp Sumter revealed its atrocious conditions. These images display the fragile condition that formerly normal men were reduced to while inside the stockades at Andersonville.

Andersonville: Hell on Earth

Andersonville suffered from all of the major problems that caused Civil War prison camps to be centers for death. Those incarcerated there suffered from malnutrition, numerous diseases like smallpox, inadequate housing, cramped living spaces, a lack of a way to dispose of human waste, and no way to obtain drinkable water. By the end of the war prisoners were in such a bad state at Andersonville that Capt. Henry Wriz, the man in charge of running the camp, was charged for war crimes. These pictures illustrate the disgusting unsanitary conditions that prisoners were forced to live in. They are cramped, dirty, unsanitary, and as Union prisoners described, hell on earth. Ultimately about 13,000 Union soldiers died at Andersonville making the death rate (32%) one of the highest out prison camps on either side.

Andersonville

Andersonville is one of the more well known prison camps of the Civil War. Andersonville was actually a name given to the camp by the Union prisoners, its official name was Camp Sumter. It was built near a small village in remote part of Georgia. The Confederacy wanted to keep the Union prisoners away from any potential raids. The images above show the basic structure of the camp. It was an area of about 26.5 acres, and was surrounded by several wooden stockades. It was only supposed to hold several thousand, but by the end of the war about 45,000 Union soldiers had been held there.

Prisoners of War

During the War around 647,000 prisoners were taken by both sides. This number represents roughly 16% of all total enlistments. Of these 647,000 prisoners about 56,000 of them died in captivity. In the North about 12% of Confederate prisoners died in the camps. In the South roughly 15% of Union prisoners died. Both sides were nearly equal in their mistreatment of prisoners and struggled with basic things such as food, clothing, and shelter. The picture above shows a small group of Confederate prisoners, and the one below shows a large group of Union prisoners being moved.

The Legacy of Civil War Prison Camps

The story of prison camps during the American Civil War is one that is often ignored. During the course of the Civil War both the North and the South had to improvise and create prison camps for thousands of captured soldiers. These camps were often crowded, unsanitary, and lacking basic supplies. Places such as Andersonville and Elmira Prison became known as literal hells on earth for all those who were incarcerated in them. These camps became places were thousands upon thousands died. Pictured above is the legacy that is left by these prison camps. These pictures are the longstanding legacy left behind by the prison camps of the Civil War. On top is a cemetery in Elmira N.Y., which is now the resting place for thousands of Confederate prisoners. Pictured below is the cemetery at Andersonville. Many consider these prisons the first modern concentration camps.