Travels With My Niece and Daisy Jane - Part 3

November 3, 2009 — Yesterday we travelled from Athens, Ga to the Andersonville, Ga National Historic Site. What a day it was. What follows is a posting I made on my Facebook account.

Andersonville National Historic Site

The Andersonville, Ga Historical Site consists of three parts: (1) The Civil War Prison site (2) The Cemetery, and (3) the National POW Museum. Each in its own is a humbling experience to visit, but to take in all three is awesome.

One can drive around the perimeter of the 26.5 acre prison stockade and if you purchased an audio CD to listen to as you drive it explains what you are looking at in some eight stops along the drive. The CD provides excellent detail of what the 45,000 Union prisoners experienced during the 14 month period the prison was in operation (1864 into 1865). The stockade was built to contain only 10,000 prisoners. There were no enclosed accommodations for the prisoners held at Andersonville, officially known as Camp Sumter, and the conditions were horrible to say the least. The site was chosen because it was far from battlefield action and there was railroad access. The following is taken from the historical site brochure: "There were over 13,000 Union soldiers that died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding, or exposure." The dead were kept in a Death House until they could be moved to the burial ground.

The Andersonville National Cemetery was established July 26, 1865 and initially held the remains of dead prisoners from the nearby stockade. By 1868 another 800 Union soldiers were buried having died in hospitals, other prisoner of war camps (there were 3 prisons run by the Confederates and 5 by the Union), and on the battlefields of central and southwest Georgia. This swelled the number of interments to some 13,800 some 500 of which were unknowns. Today the cemetery contains over 18,000 graves as other veterans from other wars have been added. It is an active National Cemetery. Containing 18 separate sections of row upon row of white grave markers are a humbling site to behold. The flag of our country flies proudly throughout the cemetery to honor the fallen that have found their final resting place here.

The prison closed in May 1865. At the end of the war Confederate Capt. Henry Wirz, the stockade commander, was arrested and charged with conspiring with Confederate officials to destroy the lives of Union soldiers and "murder, in violation of the laws of war." No conspiracy existed, but the rage felt in the North over the conditions at Andersonville demanded retribution. Capt. Wirz was tried by a military tribunal, found guilty, and hanged on November 10, 1865 in Washington, D.C. His main defense was that he was only following orders...that he did not have the goods and the means to provide the prisoners with what they needed and what would be considered humane treatment. That must have been true as the South was starving at this time. Much has been argued since the time of the Civil War as to how much of the terrible prison conditions at Andersonville was Capt. Wirz fault. The Daughters of the Confederacy erected a monument to Wirz that stands today in the town of Andersonville.

* Most of the above was taken directly from the Andersonville National Historical Site brochure.

The following is directly quoted from the Andersonville National Historical Site brochure: " Andersonville National Historic Site is the only National Park System to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war. Congress stated the park's purpose as providing 'an understanding of the overall prisoner of war story of the Civil War, to interpret the role of prisoner of war camps in history, to commemorate the sacrifice of Americans who lost their lives in such camps, and to preserve the monuments located within the site.' In 1998 the National Prisoner of War Museum opened at Andersonville, dedicated to the men and women of this country who suffered captivity. Their story is one of sacrifice and courage." The museum upholds its purpose and so much more.

From the time of the Revolutionary War to the War on Terrorism there is information displayed about known POWs from the wars this country has been involved in. Clearly laid out, the exhibits detail the experience of POWs, their suffering, the gruesome details of actions by their captors, and the suffering of families who waited for their return to freedom. And their return to freedom is also shown. It is an awesome experience to see and hear. There are many video vignettes, interviews with actual POWs, and countless static displays all very well documented. One cannot help but have tears in your eyes as you view some of this museum. The sacrifices of the men and women whose stories are told here bring to mind one word...courage. They are proof that freedom is not free...that so few of us in this country have little inkling of what it takes to be able to enjoy the freedoms we have. It was an honor to be in that museum yesterday. It gives me the resolve to never forget the motto of the POW/MIA..."Your Are Not Forgotten."