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Tag Archives: Andersonville
In Search of the dreaded Andersonville
I have seen the ugly photos of the crowded pen. And like many others, I have recoiled in horror at the sight of the skeletal men released from the Andersonville POW Camp, but now it was time for me to … Continue reading
The Trust’s 2019 Teacher Institute: The Great Humanitarian Crisis of the War—Civil War Prisons
As a college professor, I don’t have to sit through many lectures (and I seldom, if ever, actually give any, preferring discussion-based lessons instead). So, it’s been a while since I’ve sat through a lecture and even longer since I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Common Soldier, Medical, Memory
Tagged Andersonville, Camp Chemung, Derek Maxfield, Elmira, Hellmira, Helmira, prisons, Teacher Institute, Teacher Institute 2019
4 Comments
July 4, 1864: “From 10,000 to 20,000 voices…singing, The Star Spangled Banner”
Many of the Union soldiers captured at the Battle of New Market were eventually sent to the infamous Confederate stockade known as Andersonville. I’ve been reading some accounts of soldiers who were there and came across this account of Fourth … Continue reading
Andersonville Offers Wonderful Writing Amidst Horrific Suffering
Every so often as we read, we writers run into a sentence that is so spot-on perfect that we say, “Damn, I wish I’d written that.” Such writer-envy is not uncommon, and at its heart, it springs from a deep … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Authors, Civil War in Pop Culture
Tagged Andersonville, Henry Wirz, John H. Winder, MacKinlay Kantor, novels, pop culture, Pulitzer Prize, writing
4 Comments
“Dead Yankees at Andersonville”
In his recent book, Damn Yankees! Demonization & Defiance in the Confederate South (LSU, 2015), George Rable writes that many Southerners held such an intense hatred of Yankees that the only thing they could think of doing “was to kill … Continue reading
“Was Taken Prisoner”: A Pennsylvanian in the Wilderness and Andersonville
On May 5, 1864, my wife’s great-great-great grandfather, Levi Bowen, was wounded and taken prisoner in the Battle of the Wilderness. By the spring of 1864, Levi, a member of Company H, 7th Pennsylvania Reserves was a seasoned veteran. In … Continue reading
Henry Wirz’s Story: Spin Set In Stone
To believe the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Henry Wirz got the shaft. And so they gave him the shaft, too. Dedicated on May 12, 1909, a monument to the former commandant of South’s most notorious Civil War prison stands … Continue reading
“He Will Judge Between You and Me”: The 150th Anniversary of the Execution of Henry Wirz
Forty-one year old Henry Wirz, late major of the Confederate army and commandant of the Camp Sumter prisoner of war camp, sat in his own prison cell and petted a cat.[1] There was little else for the man to … Continue reading
Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Civil War Events, Leadership--Confederate, Leadership--Federal, Photography, Sesquicentennial
Tagged 150th, Andersonville, Andrew Johnson, camp Sumter, Henry Wirz, John Winder, Joseph Holt, Lew Wallace, Old Capitol Prision, Supreme Court of the United States
9 Comments
A Walk Through Andersonville
I was not sure what to expect as we turned onto the drive that led to Andersonville. This was the part of our trip that I had been looking forward to the most. We are all drawn to the fields … Continue reading
Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Campaigns, Civil War Events, Common Soldier, Memory, Western Theater
Tagged 190th Pennsylvania Infantry, 7th Pennsylvania Reserves, Andersonville, Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of Glendale, Battle of the Wilderness, Beaver Dam Creek, Levi A. Bowen
1 Comment
Day Two: Andersonville
Part four in a series Two weeks ago, I discovered I had an ancestor who fought in the Civil War. This was big news for me because, according to family history on both sides, my ancestors were immigrants who came … Continue reading
