A Brief Description Of Andersonville Prison

Andersonville prison is in Macon County in the southwestern part of Georgia. It was originally constructed as a prison camp for the Union soldiers, it was the equivalent of the concentration camps of World War Two, and it was a significant location in the Civil War, America’s bloodiest war. What took place there is gut wrenching. You will have to read on to find out just how appalling life was in the prison.

Andersonville Prison has not always been know as Andersonville Prison. When it was being constructed, it was officially known as Fort Sumter, after the railroad station where it was built (Davis 1). It was built on ten acres of land (Andersonville 1). There were three different location options that were considered for the building of Andersonville Prison. It was chosen because of its remote location and the fact that it was so far inland that it would not have to worry about attacks made from the ocean. This was completely opposite than the original location of camps which was in Virginia (Futch 35). Because it was located in the southern portion of the United States, much of it was built by African-Americans, who were either freed or enslaved. Andersonville Prison was protected with large logs and Confederate soldiers in posts to shoot anybody trying to break the rules. The amount of prisoners that it was made to hold was ten thousand prisoners. At the peak of its running, it had more than forty-five thousand prisoners (Davis 1)! Because there were so many prisoners, at night, the men would sleep standing up because there definitely was not enough room to lay down. Many prisoners would die of disease because a creek, Stockade Branch, ran through the middle. The creek was a glorious breeding ground for mosquitos. Dysenter...

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...dersonville Prison was a popular breeding ground for mosquitos. those mosquitos would carry malaria and other diseases. Since health care was not as advanced as it is today, many people died of simple diseases. Also, Andersonville Prison was located in such a place that it would have been hard for Union forces to attack without being seen a mile away. This made the location of the camp so important to the United States of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Andersonville prison was a camp located in the Georgia in the United States. The Prison was constructed to be a prisoner-of-war camp to put the Union prisoners into, life in this prison rivaled the conditions of concentration camps like Auschwitz, and it played an important role in the Civil War. The people that survived the attack and Andersonville Prison are truly amazing since they had the will to survive.