Andersonville: The Last Depot - Essay Example

It became Camp Anderson because it is the best name to be called so by the residents of Americus, Georgia as the place is very near to the vicinity of the Anderson Depot. Prisoners of Camp Anderson were named Andersonville. The Andersonville Prison was a stockade of Confederates located in the Caroll County which accommodated more or less 41,000 Union prisoners of war. It lasted for more than a year only -from February 1864 until April 1865. Camp Anderson or Camp Sumter became the largest prison of Confederates Army in the history of Civil War.

The author's viewpoint and also some people believed that the primary reason of the overpopulation in Camp Anderson is the Union's decision to stop exchanging prisoners as they have many reserved armies and are willing to sacrifice their captured soldiers until the Civil War is through. But because the prison was overcrowded, the tendency of the place is to low down the way of living. Starvation, malnutrition, sickness and epidemic started to experience. There also came to the point where survival of the fittest is best describe as the physically weak prisoners habitually took advantage by the strong ones.

These resulted to decrease large number of prisoners. Soldiers imprisoned in Camp Anderson have rapidly reduced day by day. In fact, one third of the total population has diminished and died -that was more or less 13,000 prisoners. The atrocity in Camp Anderson put into controversy . He was found guilty and executed as ordered by the federal court. But the book discussed the conflict in organization and command structures in managing the prison. The book tackled the possibility that Wirz along with others executed because of the tragedy were more of a victim because during the time he was assigned as the chief commandant in Andersonville prison, he was frequently ill at home where the task he was supposed to take charge solely has designated to several officials.

However, it did not help Wirz to be dismissed in the Andersonville scandal. Although many believe that he was just a scapegoat of the higher in command, the federal judges wanted to have someone to be put on blame and Captain Wirz was sacrificed as he was punished to death. The book also accounted in details how the sick prisoners were taken care of by the doctors and the dead prisoners has appropriately recorded and put in place properly at first. But because of negligence and massive death, organizing the care and concern has soon subsided and carelessness occurred.

It was clearly illustrated in some pictures taken by the certain A. J. Riddle, one of the Confederates photographers who happened to visit and saw by him the misery inside the Andersonville prison.Reviews from members of The Journal Southern History "This well-written and readable monograph is more than a recitation of the facts. It is an analysis of the evolution and events of Andersonville, the most notorious prison of the war. Marvel's book is a valuable contribution to the historiography of Civil War prisons.

"-Historian "The ordeal of Andersonville was over and William Marvel tells the story with careful attention to the sufferings of the Confederate troops who ran the place as well as the