Andersonville Prison: Fourteen Months of Hell on Earth

A reconstructed section of
stockade fence that enclosed
45,000 Union prisoners.

These markers show where

the South Gate stood.

Built in 1864 to hold 10,000 prisoners, the population of Andersonville ballooned to 45,000. The prisoners cobbled together whatever they had with them for shelter.  Their crude tents did little to shield them from the sun and less to protect them from the cold and the rain. Prisoners didn't have access to clean water (a fouled stream ran through the prison), food was scarce and disease ran rampant.  There were no medical services for the wounded and ill. Nearly 13,000 prisoners died here.

This photo shows where the creek ran through

the prison.

Monuments have been erected to remember the Union soldiers that were imprisoned here.

The Wisconsin Monument

 The Michigan Monument

The Massachusetts Monument

The Ohio Monument

The Rhode Island Monument

This land is forever marked by the suffering and death that occurred here.