Andersonville_Classical_Argument

The Importance of Andersonville Andersonville, also known as Camp Sumter, was the largest Confederate military prison during the Civil War. The camp was located in Macon County Georgia, and is now known as a National Historic Site. The site contains the Civil War prison, Andersonville National Cemetery, and the National Prisoners of War Museum. During the prisoners’ encampment in Andersonvile, the main causes of death were due to starvation, malnutrition, and disease. Camp Sumter played an important role during the civil war, and therefore it is crucial that it be preserved for historical memory. The physical and mental suffering that occurred at Andersonville made it one of the most well known, and feared place during the Civil War, and therefore is vital that it be preserved for historical memory. Andersonville should be preserved for the remembrance of the Civil War, including the soldiers who fought in it, and the families who were involved in this tragic event. On the site where the camp used to be, a National Cemetery was constructed, and now contains the final resting places for the Union prisoners that were held at Camp Sumter. The personal impact is significant when someone has to experience the relocation of an ancestor’s grave, where they once unwillingly gave up their lives. People who have personal connections to ancestors buried in the cemetery should have the option available to visit the site where their blood and memory rests at any point in time, and therefore there is a demand to keep it preserved for remembrance of family history. These memories of ancestors being held as prisoners of war at Camp Sumter are very valuable, and should not be destroyed. The memories are important to the fallen soldier’s ancestors because it is critical for some people to remember the purpose of those deceased deaths, and how they were treated so terribly at the location more than 146 years ago. The extremely terrible living conditions that occurred at Andersonville, left an immense impact in all of those involved in the war, and those who remember the war. The prisoners had to shelter themselves as best as they could with tents made of anything they could get their hands on and other less fortunate ones had to reside in holes they dug in the ground. The prison was so over-crowded that each man had barely enough room to lie down to sleep at night. Some of the guards of the prison thought of the camp as “a massive graveyard where the corpses were still breathing and graves were yet to be covered” (Anthony). This explains the extent of how severe the dreadful living conditions physically affected the soldiers. As the population of the camp became more and more crowded with soldiers who were re-located to Andersonville, the food rations were dramatically reduced. Eventually, “salt, meat and sweet potatoes were eventually eliminated from the prisoners’ diets. The cornmeal allotment was decreased, and food wasn’t distributed every day” (Anthony). This led the prisoners to become so desperate for food that they would find ways to catch birds that flew over the camp, and would then eat it raw before any other staving soldier could not get it. The guards mistreated the prisoners when there was food available by “tossing hunks of cornbread into the pen just to watch the prisoners scramble” (Anthony). This added to the mental torment experienced by the soldiers, which decreased their physical will and determination to survive. The horrifying memories of how the soldiers lived, and were treated at Camp Sumter are horrifying, and need to be remembered in order to reassure that this tragic event will never happen again in America’s future. The purpose for the creation of Andersonville was to relocate prisoners held at a camp in Richmond, Virginia to this place, even though this would knowingly increase the horrible conditions at the camp. The hope was that Camp Sumter would have a greater abundance of food, and better living conditions than where they were held in Virginia. However, this turned out to be a failed attempt because Camp Sumter was rarely ever stocked with food, and when it was available, it was of poor quality. “Within the initial seven months of the opening of the camp, about one third of the soldiers died from dysentery and scurvy” (Anthony). The deceased were then buried in mass graves, and a record was kept of their deaths. “In the center of the whole camp was a swamp that was about three or four acres in size, and was used by the prisoners as a sink.” (Anthony). You can only imagine the rancid odors that arouse from this cesspool of a sink: the smells nearly suffocating all who endured this place, contributing to the rapid spread of diseases. “There was a fence running through the camp that is known as “The Dead Line” in order to mark boundaries of a no-man’s land to keep the prisoners away from the enclosure” (Anthony). Anyone who crossed this line was shot, and the prison guards had ways of forcing the prisoners to cross this line by throwing food into the dead zone. The guards, out of receiving personal pleasure and entertainment, would then fatally shoot the malnourished prisoners who tried to get the food. “Due to the lack of resources, a group of prisoners formed, and they called themselves the ‘Andersonville Raiders’ “ (Anthony). These ‘Raiders’ were soldiers who often killed their fellow inmates to get what they wanted, which included food, and any valuable personal belongings such as jewelry, money, and clothing. The display of these often occurrences, demonstrate the brutality of the people in charge, and the seemingly never-ending torment and fear that the prisoner’s faced. I believe that if Camp Sumter is preserved then it can help teach America the history behind the Civil War, by portraying how people experienced horrible lives and deaths, showing the need to prevent this from ever occurring again. This war not only divided the country in half, but families and friends too. This forced brothers to fight against brothers, dads versus sons, showing the mental suffering caused by having to choose geographic regions over killing of one’s family. The Civil War was a huge stepping-stone for America, in that it helped shape morality for the better, and this revolution should not be forgotten through the destruction of National Historic sites that serve as a remembrance for this great tragedy. The National Prisoners of War Museum, now established where Camp Sumter used to be, adds to the display of evidence of tragic events that occurred by showing how the country and families were torn apart and affected millions of lives. The museum is something that can help educate Americans about the Civil War, keeping the memories of those who lost their lives purposeful and important to the historical aspect of American lives. Works Cited Bruno, Anthony. "Andersonville." truTV. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2010.      .