Importance Of Prison Camps In The Civil War

Civil War Prison Camps The Civil War prison camps were very important in the Civil War because they were responsible for claiming thousands of lives from both sides. What were these prison camps used in the Civil War? They were places where each side would keep most of their Prisoners of War, or more commonly known as P.O.W.’s, incarcerated. The camps were usually coastal fortifications, old buildings, existing jails, or barracks enclosed with high fences. Conditions at these camps were very harsh and the mortality rate, or the chance you have of getting out alive, was on average 27%. There were more than 150 prison camps established throughout the Civil War. They were all filled way past their capacity limits so inmates were very crowded with very little provisions and surrounded by disease. Three infamous prison camps are the Union’s Fort Delaware, Elmira Prison in New York, and Camp Sumter or Andersonville Prison. An estimated 56,000 men perished in prison camps during the Civil War. (National Geographic Society) The Union’s Fort Delaware, which was nicknamed “The Fort Delaware Death Pen”, was completed being built in 1859. The camp was located on Pea Path Island. The prison was in the shape of a pentagon and covered a total of six acres. The fort was feared but the fort’s own commandant, General Albin F. Schoepf, along
There were many prison camps used during the Civil War and they were all terrible. The prison camps during the Civil War helped claim the lives of thousands of the deaths from the Civil War, and most people don’t know how much of an impact the prison camps had on the total number of deaths throughout the Civil War. They killed thousands of soldiers on both sides, making an impact on each side’s soldier count, and adding another fear to the soldier’s head. The prison camps used during the Civil War killed as many as 56,000