What were the conditions for prisoners at Andersonville (make sure to discuss crowding, disease and food and water supply)
The Andersonville Prison, officially known as Camp Sumter, was one of the most infamous Confederate military prisons during the American Civil War. Located near Andersonville, Georgia, it operated from February 1864 until the end of the war in 1865. The conditions that prisoners faced at Andersonville were extremely harsh and inhumane, leading to a high mortality rate among the inmates.
Crowding:
Andersonville was originally built to hold a maximum of 10,000 Union prisoners of war, but at its most crowded, it detained more than 32,000, which was over three times its intended capacity. The prison was approximately 26.5 acres in size, and the large number of inmates meant that space was incredibly limited. This overcrowding exacerbated the other issues within the camp, such as disease spread and resource shortages. Prisoners were issued no shelter and had to make do with makeshift shanties known as "shebangs," constructed from scraps of wood, blankets, or other materials they could find, or they dug holes in the ground to try to protect themselves from the elements.
Disease:
The overcrowding, combined with the lack of proper sanitation, led to rampant diseases. There were no adequate facilities for personal hygiene or waste disposal, resulting in filthy conditions that were ideal for disease transmission. Common illnesses included scurvy, dysentery, diarrhea, and typhoid fever. The prison's hospital was overwhelmed and ill-equipped to deal with the number of sick and dying prisoners. The mortality rate due to disease was extraordinarily high; it is estimated that about a third of the prisoners who entered Andersonville died there, many due to illness.
Food and Water Supply:
The food given to prisoners at Andersonville was both insufficient in quantity and poor in quality. The typical ration might consist of a small portion of cornmeal (often infested with weevils or mold), a tiny piece of meat (usually unsalted and sometimes rancid), and occasionally a few beans or peas. This diet led to malnutrition and the spread of diseases related to vitamin deficiencies, like scurvy.
Moreover, the water supply was inadequate and contaminated. The prison only had one source of water, a stream known as Stockade Branch, which doubled as a sewer. The stream flowed into the camp, but it quickly became polluted by the waste from thousands of prisoners and the guards' camp situated upstream. Even though a portion of the stream was allocated for drinking and cooking (known as the "dead line"), the proximity of this section to the latrines and other polluted areas meant it was not safe for consumption. As a result, many prisoners suffered from waterborne illnesses.
The dire conditions at Andersonville prompted outrage both during and after the war, and the prison's commandant, Captain Henry Wirz, was later tried and executed for war crimes due to the cruel treatment of Union prisoners on his watch. Today, the site of Andersonville National Historic Site includes the Andersonville National Cemetery and the National Prisoner of War Museum, which serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war throughout the nation's history.