Military
Andersonville Prison, or Camp Sumter, near Andersonville, Georgia, was a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp for Union soldiers from February 1864 to April 1865. Though enlarged from about 16.5 to 26.5 acres, it remained severely overcrowded, holding about 45,000 prisoners during its existence, nearly 13,000 of whom died. Polluted water, inadequate food, clothing, fuel, and medical care, and diseases such as scurvy, dysentery, and typhoid fever made conditions deadly. The camp’s feared dead line allowed guards to shoot prisoners who crossed it. Remembered through prisoner accounts, Dorence Atwater’s secret death list, and Henry Wirz’s later trial, Andersonville remains a central U.S. site in the history of prisoners of war.
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Georgia · United States
