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Andersonville National Historic Site in Georgia is the location of Camp Sumter, a notorious Civil War military prison.
Introduction to Andersonville National Historic Site
Camp Sumter, also known as Andersonville Prison, was created in February 1864 and operated until April 1865. During its 14 months in existence, over 45,000 Union soldiers were held there and almost 13,000 died. The main causes of death were scurvy, diarrhea, and dysentery.
Camp Sumter originally covered 16.5 acres of land enclosed by a 15-foot (4.6 meter) high stockade. In June 1864, it was expanded to 26.5 acres. The camp was designed to hold only 10,000 prisoners, but there were up to 32,000 at its most crowded period. The site was commanded by Captain Henry Wirz (1823-1865), who was eventually tried and executed for war crimes. It was designated a National Historic Site on October 16, 1970.
Visiting Andersonville National Historic Site
The grounds at Andersonville National Historic Site are open daily from 8am to 5pm. There are no fees to visit (as of November 2024). Check the official website for more info including a schedule of special events, and ask about ranger-guided tours upon arrival. The nearest town is Andersonville, and the nearest town with facilities is Americus.
National Prisoner of War Museum
The visitor center at Andersonville doubles as the National Prisoner of War Museum. It opened in 1998 to honor all American POWs and tells the story of POWs throughout the country’s history.
The interactive exhibits feature sections on capture, prison conditions, communication, morale, escape, and freedom. On display are several different artifacts including care packages, items made by POWs during different wars, and items used for entertainment.
Outside the museum is a special section about military prisons during the Civil War, with a focus on Andersonville. One display explains the mostly futile escape attempts by the less than 1% of prisoners who dared to try.
Behind the museum is a memorial to POWs, with plaques dedicated by several organizations. From there, it’s possible to get a glimpse of the prison site.
Features of Camp Sumter
To explore Camp Sumter, there’s a loop you can follow by either driving or walking. To save time, we drove and stopped at each point of interest along the way.
Earthworks
We started at the earthworks on the north side of the site which defended the camp from Union raids. There are a few mounds surrounding the prison site with cannons positioned around them.
Stockade Branch
The loop continues to the North Gate area, where you first cross a small bridge over a stream called the Stockade Branch, a branch of Sweetwater Creek. This was the camp’s main water supply and the latrines were downstream from this point.
Providence Spring
A pavilion marks the site near Providence Spring, which miraculously gushed out during a heavy storm on August 14, 1864. Prisoners had been desperate for clean water and this event was an answer to their prayers. The pavilion was dedicated in 1901 to commemorate the event and contains a fountain.
North Gate
The reconstructed North Gate was the main entrance to the prison. Prisoners would enter through the gate, the doors would shut behind them, and another set of doors would open into the prison camp. New arrivals would be called “fresh fish” and had to care for anything of value. The gate opened up to Market Street or Broadway, a path where food was distributed and where prisoners set up bartering sites.
Third Prison Hospital
The next stop is a field where the third prison hospital once stood. Two other hospitals were located nearby. Men would try to avoid going to the hospital because they noticed almost nobody returned.
Star Fort
Behind the hospital was the Star Fort, where command headquarters stood. It contains an earthwork as well as a couple cannons.
From this point, it’s also possible to get a good look at the entire prison camp site. Posts clearly mark the boundaries of the inner and outer stockades. The nearer section was the original 16 ½ acre prison built in January 1864 while the section further away was the 10 acre extension built in August 1864.
The Sinks
Continuing around the loop, an interpretive panel points out “the sinks”, which served as the camp’s latrine. The Confederates originally planned for the prisoners to get drinking water upstream and use the latrines downstream for the flow of water to naturally flush out the sewage. Construction of the stockades inadvertently slowed the current creating a swamp rather than a flowing stream. Because of this, sewage wasn’t properly washed out and deadly bacteria were easily spread to prisoners through the water supply.
Northeast Corner
The final stop on the loop is the reconstructed Northeast Corner. Unlike the North Gate which was carefully constructed, the logs of the Northeast Corner are spaced further apart showing how hastily the Confederates expanded the camp. Sentry boxes, also called pigeon roosts, lined the stockades every 100 feet. Guards would keep an eye on prisoners from there, and even local townspeople would come out to get a look.
You can easily imagine the terrible conditions of the prison by looking at the shabby tents inside the stockades. The prisoners, who had to provide their own shelter, called them “shebangs”. A fence between the shelters and stockades marks the Deadline, and prison guards had orders to shoot any prisoner crossing the line.
Monuments at Andersonville National Historic Site
Monuments were erected mostly between 1899 and 1916 at both the camp and the attached Andersonville National Cemetery. Additional monuments were placed by the National Woman’s Relief Corps in the 1930s, and a few more were added in the 1970s and 1980s. One monument is dedicated to Clara Barton (1821-1912), a woman who revolutionized nursing and founded the American Red Cross.
Andersonville National Cemetery
Andersonville National Cemetery, which is open daily from 8am to 5pm, is attached to the national historic site. The cemetery began as a burial place for the 12,920 Union soldiers who died in the prison camp. It was established as a national cemetery on July 26, 1865, and nursing pioneer Clara Barton (1821-1912) raised the first flag on August 17, 1865.
Identifying the Dead
The first thing I noticed was how the headstones were placed right next to each other. This is because there were so many deaths the men had to be buried shoulder to shoulder without coffins. Their graves were originally marked with numbered stakes until former prisoner Dorence Atwater (1845-1910), Barton, and a team of 34 others arrived to identify and mark the graves.
Each headstone contains a number which identifies the sequence in which the soldier died. The headstones were wooden until they were replaced with marble headstones in 1878. Of the 12,920 soldiers who perished in the prison camp, only 460 were never identified and have graves marked “Unknown U.S. Soldier”.
Raiders Graves
One section contains a group of six headstones separated from the rest of the soldiers. These are the Raiders, who were an organized group that stole from and even murdered other prisoners. At least 75 men were originally arrested, but these 6 were sentenced to death by hanging. They were buried separately from the other soldiers to mark their dishonor.
Monuments at Andersonville National Cemetery
As in Andersonville National Historic Site, states and other groups erected monuments to honor the dead. There are 12 different monuments in the cemetery.
Modern Burials
Andersonville is open to burial to all US service members. About 150 burials a year take place there, and funerals are held in the Rostrum.
When we were there, the Avenue of Flags was on display. Several American flags are flown on the principal avenues within the cemetery. This only occurs about five times a year on days of special ceremonial significance.
Andersonville, Georgia
Andersonville is a small town of fewer than 250 people near Andersonville National Historic Site. It was founded as Anderson Station in 1853 and named for John Anderson, a director of the South Western Railroad. The name changed to Andersonville in 1855. The town served as a supply depot during the Civil War.
Today, Andersonville is basically a block of antique shops, a Confederate restaurant serving Southern cuisine, and the Drummer Boy Museum, which we didn’t visit. The museum is open 9am to 5pm daily and admission is US$5 for adults, US$1 for kids age 13-17, and free for kids under 13 (as of November 2024). There’s also a seven acre pioneer farm with an authentic log cabin. It depicts pioneer life on a one-man farm in the 1800s.
Andersonville Depot
The historic train depot sits across the street. It was the arrival point for prisoners headed to Camp Sumter. They had to march a quarter mile from the depot to the prison. It was under renovation when we passed through town, but usually serves as the town office and welcome center.
Wirz Monument
A monument to Captain Henry Wirz (1823-1865), as well as the site of his office, can be found in town. Born in Switzerland, Wirz was a Confederate officer in charge of meals and prisoner work details at Camp Sumter. He recognized the terrible conditions at the camp and petitioned his superiors for more support, but was denied. After the war, Wirz was put on trial for crimes against humanity including cruelty to prisoners and murder.
Out of 160 witnesses, 145 said they never personally saw Wirz kill anyone and only 12 said they witnessed cruelty. One witness claimed he saw Wirz murder a prisoner and it was his testimony that stuck. Even Father Peter Whelan (1802-1871), a Catholic priest who worked with the prisoners, testified on Wirz’s behalf and said he was innocent. Nevertheless, Wirz was controversially sentenced to death. He was hanged in Washington, D.C., on November 10, 1865, and many believe he was a mere scapegoat for what happened at Camp Sumter.
