Andersonville

Andersonville was the Confederate's largest prison camp. The original name for Andersonville was Camp Sumpter. It was located in southwest Georgia. John McElroy and five hundred other men entered the camp together in 1864. Almost 45,000 prisoners were admitted into Andersonville in the 14-months it existed, 13,000 would never see the outside of those gates. The prison was originally built after the Confederates wanted to move some Union soldiers from the prison in Richmond to somewhere far away from the center of the war. They needed somewhere that less soldiers would be needed to guard the prisoners, and raids to free them would be more unlikely. They also needed somewhere that had a lot of food. Andersonville was located 65 miles away from Macon, Georgia, in the middle of nowhere. The town was by a river and was very agriculturally based. It was perfect. The prison ended up being 16 1/2 acres. Construction began in January of 1864. Logs were used to build a stockade, something to keep the prisoners from escaping. Approximately 19 feet away from the stockade was the deadline. Any prisoner who crossed the deadline could be shot by the guards, no questions asked.

Image From: nps.gov