What were the prison camps like in the Civil War?

What were the prison camps like in the Civil War?

Others suffered from harsh living conditions, severely cramped living quarters, outbreaks of disease, and sadistic treatment from guards and commandants. When prisoner exchanges were suspended in 1864, prison camps grew larger and more numerous. Overcrowding brutalized camp conditions in many ways.

Which Civil War prison camp had the highest death rate?

In the aftermath of the war, Camp Douglas eventually came to be noted for its poor conditions and death rate of about seventeen percent. Some 4,275 Confederate prisoners were known to be re-interred from the camp cemetery to a mass grave at Oak Woods Cemetery after the war.

Why were Civil War prison camps so bad?

Many of the camps were situated in areas with poor drainage and wastes soon accumulated. During and after the war, many people on both sides thought that poor prison conditions were due to malice. Historians now believe the failure of Civil War prison camps was due to human error, but not generally to malice.

Where was one of the worst Confederate Civil War prison camps?

Andersonville
13,000 of the 45,000 Union soldiers imprisoned here died, making Andersonville the worst prison in the Civil War. The site is now the National POW Museum. To relieve some of the conditions at Andersonville, a larger prison was constructed in the summer of 1864 near the Lawton Depot in the town of Millen, Georgia.

What was the worst prison camp during the Civil War?

Camp Sumter
Camp Sumter Military Prison, more commonly known as Andersonville, was in operation from February of 1864 until the end of the war. During that time approximately 45,000 Union soldiers were held in captivity at Andersonville. Of these, nearly 13,000 died, making Andersonville the deadliest landscape of the Civil War.

How many died in prison camps during the Civil War?

56,000
During the Civil War, over 400,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were held prisoner at more than 150 different prison sites. Approximately 56,000 of these died in captivity.

What happened to Confederate prisoners of war?

Between 1862-1865, approximately 4-6,000 Confederate prisoners died from starvation, disease, and cold at Camp Douglas. Despite the filth, freezing temperatures, inadequate clothing, and disease, however, some Confederates told of being treated humanely.

Why was Camp Sumter so terrible?

It was overcrowded to four times its capacity, with an inadequate water supply, inadequate food and unsanitary conditions. Of the approximately 45,000 Union prisoners held at Camp Sumter during the war, nearly 13,000 died. The chief causes of death were scurvy, diarrhea and dysentery.