Andersonville Prison

 

     Andersonville was a prison in Georgia during the civil war. It was opened in February of  1864 by the Confederacy to hold captured Union soldiers.  At total, it held around 45,000 men when it was only originally built for 10,000 men.  The conditions were so poor that 13,000 out of those 45,000 men died.  Some of the big problems with the prison were; polluted water, predatory gangs, malnourishment, and lack of good leadership for the guards.  Another thing that killed many prisoners was the dead line.  The dead line was a line that, if crossed, the guards were instructed to shoot the prisoner who crossed.  This line was put in place by the Georgia infantry, when the prison was passed on to them, as a way of maintaining control over the large population of inhabitants in the prison.  The prison was finally shut down in May of 1865 by liberating Union soldiers.