• North HillSide Photomerge

    Andersonville

    National Historic Site Georgia

Stories

Photograph of Andersonville prisoners in 1864

Issuing rations to 33,000 prisoners in August of 1864. This photograph was probably taken near the North Gate on Market Street.

National Archives

In the latter part of the Civil War, the Confederate States government built a large stockade prison camp in south-central Georgia. Between February 1864, when the first prisoners arrived, and April 1865, when the prison ceased to exist, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined there. Of these more than 12,000 perished from disease, malnutrition, overcrowding, and exposure. The prison's official name was Camp Sumter, but most people called it Andersonville.

Did You Know?

Exhibit of a Hanoi Hilton cell

A cell from the Hanoi Hilton has been reconstructed in the National Prisoner of War Museum. Notable prisoners held at the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War include US Vice Presidential candidate James Stockdale, Senator and Presidential nominee John McCain, and Brigadier General Robinson Risner.