What was the worst Union prison camp?

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 were Confederate soldiers treated in Union prisons?

Some soldiers fared better in terms of shelter, clothing, rations, and overall treatment by their captors. Others suffered from harsh living conditions, severely cramped living quarters, outbreaks of disease, and sadistic treatment from guards and commandants.

What was the largest southern jail that help Union soldiers?

Andersonville Prison
Detail from “Bird’s-eye view of Andersonville Prison from the south-east,” 1890. The largest and most famous of 150 military prisons of the Civil War, Camp Sumter, commonly known as Andersonville, was the deadliest landscape of the Civil War. Of the 45,000 Union soldiers imprisoned here, nearly 13,000 died.

What were the names of the Union generals during the Civil War?

There were many important Union generals during the American Civil War. Some, like Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, George Mclellan and Joshua Chamberlain are household names.

Who was the Quartermaster General during the Civil War?

One of them was General Montgomery Meigs, the Union’s newly appointed Quartermaster General. On July 12, 1861, in a message to Secretary of War Simon Cameron, he predicted that in “the conflict now commenced it is likely to be expected that the United States will have to take care of large numbers of prisoners of war.”

Who was the Commissary General of prisoners during the Civil War?

Cameron approved the quartermaster general’s recommendations, and Meigs began putting them into effect. For the post of commissary general of prisoners he selected Lieutenant Colonel William Hoffman, a career soldier, West Point class of 1829.

What did the Union do with the prisons?

The first was the appointment of a commissary general of prisoners, an officer who would carry out Union prison policies and supervise Northern prisons. The second was the selection of a site, preferably on an island in Lake Erie, for what Meigs believed would be the primary Northern prison.