What was the worst prison camp during the Civil War?
Camp Sumter
Camp Sumter Military Prison, more commonly known as Andersonville, was in operation from February of 1864 until the end of the war. During that time approximately 45,000 Union soldiers were held in captivity at Andersonville. Of these, nearly 13,000 died, making Andersonville the deadliest landscape of the Civil War.
What was the worst prison camp in the south?
The prison at Andersonville, officially called Camp Sumter, was the South’s largest prison for captured Union soldiers and known for its unhealthy conditions and high death rate.
What were the Civil War prison camps like?
Others suffered from harsh living conditions, severely cramped living quarters, outbreaks of disease, and sadistic treatment from guards and commandants. When prisoner exchanges were suspended in 1864, prison camps grew larger and more numerous. Overcrowding brutalized camp conditions in many ways.
Where was one of the worst Confederate Civil War prison camps?
Andersonville
By far the most infamous of Civil War prisons, Andersonville, officially known as Camp Sumter, did not exist until the winter of 1863-1864. With defeats at Chattanooga and Atlanta in the West and expanding Union offensive operations in the East, the war was going badly for the Confederates.
What did prisoners eat during the Civil War?
The dinners consisted of a tin cup of soup (generally bean or other vegetable), a small piece of meat…on which a little vinegar was poured to prevent scurvy. My recollection is we had no other meal… [W]e were always hungry, and the chief topic of conversation was the sumptuous meals we had sat down to in other days…”
Which was one of the largest union civil war camps?
Camp Douglas
Camp Douglas, in Chicago, Illinois, sometimes described as “The North’s Andersonville,” was one of the largest Union Army prisoner-of-war camps for Confederate soldiers taken prisoner during the American Civil War.