Prison Camps Conditions
During the Civil War, many soldiers perished in the battlefield, hospitals, or their own camps. The most casualties, however, was recorded in prison camps. More than 56,000 men died in Civil War prisons, which is greater than any battle casualty. They were either tortured, neglected, or killed of the lack of medical treatment. Some of the other problems in these camps were poor nutrition, lack of proper sanitation, shortage of food, shelter, and clothing, overcrowded prisons, lack of sewage, and diseases such as smallpox, typhoid, dysentery, cholera, malaria, sores, gangrene, and even depression.
As one of the major conditions, nutrition was forgotten, and even used as a way to receive information from prison. On a good day, prisoners received pickled beef, salt pork, corn meal, rice, and bean soup. On others, quarrels would break out over leftover food, people would steal anything they could get their hands on from the guards, or were simply left with the choice to eat rats or starve. Overall, there were never any fruits or vegetables in the prisoners’ diets, which led to the outbreak of diseases such as scurvy.
As one of the major conditions, nutrition was forgotten, and even used as a way to receive information from prison. On a good day, prisoners received pickled beef, salt pork, corn meal, rice, and bean soup. On others, quarrels would break out over leftover food, people would steal anything they could get their hands on from the guards, or were simply left with the choice to eat rats or starve. Overall, there were never any fruits or vegetables in the prisoners’ diets, which led to the outbreak of diseases such as scurvy.
Over 150 prisons were established during the Civil War. Union camps were mostly coastal fortifications, old jails, buildings, or barracks enclosed by high fences. The most famous Union camps were: Alton Prison, Camp Chase, Camp Randall, Elmira, Fort Delaware, Fort Jefferson, Fort McHenry, Old Capitol Prison, Point Lookout, and Rock Island. The Confederate prisons were crowded stockades, and some of the well known ones were: Andersonville, Belle Isle, Cahaba Prison, Camp Ford, Castle Pinckney, Castle Thunder, Danville Prison, Libby Prison, and Salisbury Prison.
Although no officials, Union or Confederate, made efforts to stop the conditions, prisoners found ways to cope until the war ended, and they were freed. Some prisoners such as the Johnson’s Island Prison in Lake Erie formed YMCAs, debating societies, and libraries.
Although no officials, Union or Confederate, made efforts to stop the conditions, prisoners found ways to cope until the war ended, and they were freed. Some prisoners such as the Johnson’s Island Prison in Lake Erie formed YMCAs, debating societies, and libraries.
One of the most prominent prisons was the Andersonville Prison. In the fourteen months of operation at the end of the Civil War, this prison held some 45,000 prisoners, of which 13,000 died in captivity.
Among them was Bernard McKnight. He was a soldier that was captured in the battlefield, and spent time in a few Confederate prisons, before being transferred to Andersonville, Georgia, in early 1864. This camp was known for its horrible conditions and low regards for human life, under the command of Captain Henry Wirz. McKnight was present for the execution of the “Andersonville Raiders” on July 11, 1864. According to him, the hardest obstacle was the diseases that spread quickly and left many dead. Bernard McKnight eventually developed scurvy.
On August 9, 1864 a violent thunderstorm moved into the area, and water began to dam up against the stockade wall. This caused a wall to collapse, and many managed to escape. The rest however were beyond recovery. The next morning, the prison camp tried to recover from this, but there were hundreds of fatalities, and among them was McKnight. He died at the age of 27 and his body was later removed from the prison and buried in a nearby cemetery.
On August 9, 1864 a violent thunderstorm moved into the area, and water began to dam up against the stockade wall. This caused a wall to collapse, and many managed to escape. The rest however were beyond recovery. The next morning, the prison camp tried to recover from this, but there were hundreds of fatalities, and among them was McKnight. He died at the age of 27 and his body was later removed from the prison and buried in a nearby cemetery.
In conclusion, the prison camp conditions were a major issue, and tore apart many families.
"The noise of thirty thousand men never really subsided. The stockade echoed all day with a clatter and clamor that rose sometimes to a muffled roar; at nightfall it tapered to a sibilant hum, ceasing altogether only for those whose last sun had already set. Prison society continued into the night,especially for the criminal element...here and there the murmur of a prayer vigil rose from the tents of dying men. By 10 o'clock those chorals usually broke up for lack of firelight or warmth, and gradually the low moans of the sick swelled to fill the darkness with a mournful lullaby...Only in the gray predawn of three or four o'clock did the stockade approach anything that could have been called quiet..."
~ Andersonville: The Last Depot by William Marvel