Cliff Sain
Confederate prisoners captured in the Shenandoah Valley are guarded in a Union camp in May 1862. / National Archives
Rations are issued Aug. 17, 1864, at a Confederate prisoner of war camp in Andersonville, Ga., in a photograph by A.J. Riddle. In all, 12,913 of the approximately 45,000 Union soldiers held there died of starvation, malnutrition, diarrhea and disease, according to Wikipedia. / National ArchivesMissouri prisoner exchange
Although records are not exact, it is likely that the first official Civil War prisoner exchange took place in Missouri.
On May 10, 1861, about 700 Missouri militiamen were captured by Union forces at Camp Jackson in St. Louis. They were paroled with the agreement that they would not return to the war until they were officially "exchanged" for Union prisoners. Some of them were officially exchanged on Aug. 30 in an agreement between Union Col. W.H.L. Wallace (who later became a general) and Confederate Gen. Gideon Pillow.
A Civil War battle often resulted in some soldiers becoming prisoners. For many of them, the horrors of war were just getting started.
Because of a combination of circumstances, supply shortages and bad planning, many Civil War prisoners ended up in prisons where malnutrition, exposure and disease were normal parts of everyday existence. An estimated 56,000 soldiers died in prisons that often were not much more than a human stockade.
Gentleman's agreement
Early in the war, soldiers did not have to worry much about prisons because the two sides normally exchanged prisoners.
Very early in the war, because there were few facilities for holding prisoners, both sides would "parole" captured soldiers, often right on the battlefield after an engagement. When paroled, a prisoner would take an oath that he would not return to battle until he had been officially exchanged for another prisoner.
It was a gentleman's agreement that often was violated, with many soldiers returning to battle immediately.
That led to the two sides creating a formal exchange agreement in which soldiers were held until they could be traded with soldiers of an equal rank. There was a complicated system, known as the Dix-Hill Cartel, in which multiple soldiers could be traded for a soldier of higher rank. For instance, a captain was worth 60 privates.
The system slowed down the process, so prisoners began to accumulate.
Another problem surfaced when the North began using black soldiers. The Confederacy refused to exchange black prisoners or their white officers. The South considered black soldiers "rebel slaves" that were subject to harsh punishment and even execution.
In 1864, the exchange of prisoners stopped altogether when Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant refused to exchange prisoners until black soldiers were included.
Conditions
As the prisoner exchange slowed, then halted, both sides had to quickly build camps to house the prisoners. In all, there were 150 prison camps on both sides.
Prisoners lived in extremely crowded conditions, existing in camps holding as many as five times the number of people intended. Rations were normally inadequate. In the South, rations for Union prisoners were often the same as they were for Confederate soldiers, which was also inadequate.
In some prisons, such as the Confederate Belle Isle Prison in Richmond, Va., or the Union Point Lookout Prison in Maryland, prisoners lived in tents rather than barracks. Some prisoners did not even get a tent and had to spend day and night in the open.
Poor hygiene, lack of nutrition, crowding and lack of medical care meant disease was often rampant. Prisoners suffered from smallpox, typhoid fever, malaria and a host of other contagious diseases. Some prisoners suffered from scurvy, caused by a diet completely lacking in fruit for months.
Andersonville
Camp Sumter was the official name of a prison built in early 1864 in Sumter County, Ga. -- not to be confused with Fort Sumter in South Carolina. It is more commonly known as Andersonville prison, named for the nearby village.
Andersonville became the most notorious of all Civil War prisons. The 26.5-acre site (expanded from 16.5 acres) was built to hold Union prisoners transferred from near the Confederate capital at Richmond, which was in danger of Northern attack.
The prison, intended to hold 10,000 men, opened in February. By June, 26,000 were held there. In August, the prison population peaked at 32,000 prisoners, making it the fourth-largest city in the Confederacy based on the 1860 census.
Prisoners were housed in small tents, if anything at all. Because of the Southern economy and the war effort, food rations were small.
When Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's forces captured Atlanta on Sept. 2, many prisoners were moved from Andersonville to other prisons. The number of prisoners declined from then until Andersonville closed in May 1865.
During the 14 months it operated, Andersonville held 45,000 Union prisoners. Nearly 13,000 died of disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding or exposure.
The camp's commander, Capt. Henry Wirz, was captured and tried for war crimes. A military tribunal found him guilty and he was hanged on Nov. 10, 1865, in Washington, D.C.
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20110426/NEWS05/104260315/Prisoners-experience-horrors?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs
Three Confederate prisoners from the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1863 / National Archives
Although records are not exact, it is likely that the first official Civil War prisoner exchange took place in Missouri.
On May 10, 1861, about 700 Missouri militiamen were captured by Union forces at Camp Jackson in St. Louis. They were paroled with the agreement that they would not return to the war until they were officially "exchanged" for Union prisoners. Some of them were officially exchanged on Aug. 30 in an agreement between Union Col. W.H.L. Wallace (who later became a general) and Confederate Gen. Gideon Pillow.
A Civil War battle often resulted in some soldiers becoming prisoners. For many of them, the horrors of war were just getting started.
Because of a combination of circumstances, supply shortages and bad planning, many Civil War prisoners ended up in prisons where malnutrition, exposure and disease were normal parts of everyday existence. An estimated 56,000 soldiers died in prisons that often were not much more than a human stockade.
Gentleman's agreement
Early in the war, soldiers did not have to worry much about prisons because the two sides normally exchanged prisoners.
Very early in the war, because there were few facilities for holding prisoners, both sides would "parole" captured soldiers, often right on the battlefield after an engagement. When paroled, a prisoner would take an oath that he would not return to battle until he had been officially exchanged for another prisoner.
It was a gentleman's agreement that often was violated, with many soldiers returning to battle immediately.
That led to the two sides creating a formal exchange agreement in which soldiers were held until they could be traded with soldiers of an equal rank. There was a complicated system, known as the Dix-Hill Cartel, in which multiple soldiers could be traded for a soldier of higher rank. For instance, a captain was worth 60 privates.
The system slowed down the process, so prisoners began to accumulate.
Another problem surfaced when the North began using black soldiers. The Confederacy refused to exchange black prisoners or their white officers. The South considered black soldiers "rebel slaves" that were subject to harsh punishment and even execution.
In 1864, the exchange of prisoners stopped altogether when Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant refused to exchange prisoners until black soldiers were included.
Conditions
As the prisoner exchange slowed, then halted, both sides had to quickly build camps to house the prisoners. In all, there were 150 prison camps on both sides.
Prisoners lived in extremely crowded conditions, existing in camps holding as many as five times the number of people intended. Rations were normally inadequate. In the South, rations for Union prisoners were often the same as they were for Confederate soldiers, which was also inadequate.
In some prisons, such as the Confederate Belle Isle Prison in Richmond, Va., or the Union Point Lookout Prison in Maryland, prisoners lived in tents rather than barracks. Some prisoners did not even get a tent and had to spend day and night in the open.
Poor hygiene, lack of nutrition, crowding and lack of medical care meant disease was often rampant. Prisoners suffered from smallpox, typhoid fever, malaria and a host of other contagious diseases. Some prisoners suffered from scurvy, caused by a diet completely lacking in fruit for months.
Andersonville
Camp Sumter was the official name of a prison built in early 1864 in Sumter County, Ga. -- not to be confused with Fort Sumter in South Carolina. It is more commonly known as Andersonville prison, named for the nearby village.
Andersonville became the most notorious of all Civil War prisons. The 26.5-acre site (expanded from 16.5 acres) was built to hold Union prisoners transferred from near the Confederate capital at Richmond, which was in danger of Northern attack.
The prison, intended to hold 10,000 men, opened in February. By June, 26,000 were held there. In August, the prison population peaked at 32,000 prisoners, making it the fourth-largest city in the Confederacy based on the 1860 census.
Prisoners were housed in small tents, if anything at all. Because of the Southern economy and the war effort, food rations were small.
When Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's forces captured Atlanta on Sept. 2, many prisoners were moved from Andersonville to other prisons. The number of prisoners declined from then until Andersonville closed in May 1865.
During the 14 months it operated, Andersonville held 45,000 Union prisoners. Nearly 13,000 died of disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding or exposure.
The camp's commander, Capt. Henry Wirz, was captured and tried for war crimes. A military tribunal found him guilty and he was hanged on Nov. 10, 1865, in Washington, D.C.
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20110426/NEWS05/104260315/Prisoners-experience-horrors?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs
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