The Deadliest Prison Camps of the Civil War One of the facets of any war is the taking of prisoners. This was especially true during the Civil War. The most famous prison camp of the Civil War was Andersonville. It was located near Sumter, Georgia. According to Kevin Frye’s article “Andersonville Civil War Prison,” Sgt. David Kennedy of Ohio wrote that it was “hell on earth where it takes 7 of its ocupiants to make a shadow.” Andersonville has always been associated with inhumane treatment of the Union soldiers. It seemed strange that Andersonville is so well known, yet none of the northern prison camps stood out. My curiosity was up when my grandmother told me while doing research on our ancestors, she found that her great great grandfather had been a prisoner of war at Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois. I thought surely it could not have been as bad as Andersonville, but I was wrong.…show more content… Where Andersonville kept lists of the dead, most lists at Camp Douglas were missing. Most were buried in mass graves that were unmarked. A large monument dedicated to the soldiers who died that was placed in the Oakwood Cemetery about 5 miles from the prison site (Knight). The remains were moved from the camp to the cemetery after the war. These horrific prison camps shared many similarities: horrible weather extremes, withholding food, contaminated water, little shelter, disease, and sickness. They both became death camps. Camp Douglas was torn down, records lost, and became forgotten. None of its personnel was charged with any war crimes. However, at Andersonville, Captain Henry Wirz, the commander, was charged with war crimes. He was convicted and executed by hanging on Nov. 10, 1865. He said at his execution that he was “only following orders” (Hickman). It seems that someone should have been convicted for the atrocities at Camp
