Andersonville Prison Camp Essay
The Confederate soldiers kept enemy Union soldiers in prison camps. Andersonville Prison was considered the main camp for the Confederates. Those who were held at Andersonville lived in hostile, dirty, and inhumane environment.
When a Union soldier was brought to Andersonville, he would have to fight to survive. Prisoners, fighting for their life, would steal other prisoner’s daily food, leaving them starving for that day. Confederate soldier would shoot and kill anyone who came close to the fence. Fighting would break out over who got some of the small amount of water coming in from the camp’s stream that provided water to over 40,000 inmates. Inmates would steal other’s clothes so they could make a shelter out of it. There were even accounts of murder within the prison walls.
The prison conditions at Andersonville were very dirty. The only source of water in the camp, a small stream, also served as a sewer. Human excrements were left decomposing in the soil that …show more content…
Inmates were given only one saltine cracker a day to survive off of. The camp was built to hold only 10,000 inmates, but it the camp held 30,000 at a time. The stream turned into a swamp and no new water came in, giving prisoners little water. Over 13,000 soldiers died of various ailments including scurvy, diarrhea, and dysentery. A group called The Andersonville Raiders, were a group of prisoners who stole from and killed inmates to get their food or clothes. This group sent the message to all the inmates that nobody was safe. Through the hostile, dirty, and inhumane living conditions, a prisoner’s life at Andersonville Prison Camp was hard. It’s disgusting how humans can watch other humans, despite their beliefs, die in front of their eyes. Especially when they have the ability to save that person from death. What would you do if you were a confederate soldier watching tens of thousands of people die in front of
When a Union soldier was brought to Andersonville, he would have to fight to survive. Prisoners, fighting for their life, would steal other prisoner’s daily food, leaving them starving for that day. Confederate soldier would shoot and kill anyone who came close to the fence. Fighting would break out over who got some of the small amount of water coming in from the camp’s stream that provided water to over 40,000 inmates. Inmates would steal other’s clothes so they could make a shelter out of it. There were even accounts of murder within the prison walls.
The prison conditions at Andersonville were very dirty. The only source of water in the camp, a small stream, also served as a sewer. Human excrements were left decomposing in the soil that …show more content…
Inmates were given only one saltine cracker a day to survive off of. The camp was built to hold only 10,000 inmates, but it the camp held 30,000 at a time. The stream turned into a swamp and no new water came in, giving prisoners little water. Over 13,000 soldiers died of various ailments including scurvy, diarrhea, and dysentery. A group called The Andersonville Raiders, were a group of prisoners who stole from and killed inmates to get their food or clothes. This group sent the message to all the inmates that nobody was safe. Through the hostile, dirty, and inhumane living conditions, a prisoner’s life at Andersonville Prison Camp was hard. It’s disgusting how humans can watch other humans, despite their beliefs, die in front of their eyes. Especially when they have the ability to save that person from death. What would you do if you were a confederate soldier watching tens of thousands of people die in front of