150th Anniversary First Saturday Programs—June 7, 2014

Date: May 2, 2014
Contact: Eric Leonard , 229 924-0343, ext. 201
Contact: Stephanie Steinhorst,  , 229 924-0343, ext. 203

Park staff and volunteers explore the experience of confinement at Andersonville

ANDERSONVILLE, Georgia –At the beginning of June 1864, the Andersonville prison had been operating for just over three months. Now badly overcrowded, prison authorities began efforts to enlarge the prison. By the end of the month, Brigadier General John Winder had relocated his headquarters from Richmond to Andersonville in an attempt to better manage the problem and to start the search for a replacement prison site. The suffering of prisoners did not go unnoticed by civilians in the area. Spurred to action by the report of a Macon priest, Father Peter Whelan was dispatched from Savannah to provide last rites and otherwise minister to the men confined at Andersonville. By June Prisoner John Ransom predicted, "It is going to be an awful place during the summer months here, and thousands will die no doubt."

Join park staff and volunteers for special programs on the First Saturday of June (Saturday, June 7, 2014), to learn more about the Andersonville Prison. There is no admission fee and all programs are open to the public.

10:00 a.m. — Special Program—The Road To Andersonville: Arrival
Join a park ranger on a guided walk following in the footsteps of the 45,000 United States soldiers who entered into Andersonville prison from 1864-1865. The tour begins at the National Prisoner of War Museum at Andersonville National Historic Site and lasts 1 hour and 30 minutes. The tour starts promptly at 10:00 a.m. Reservations are required for this program and may be obtained online at https://go.nps.gov/roadtoandersonville

11:00 a.m. — Prison Site Walk
Join longtime volunteer Jimmy Culpepper at the Wisconsin Monument to explore the history of the prison site.

1:00 p.m. — Special Program: Father Peter Whelan
Living Historian Tom Wessling will present a first person portrayal of Father Peter Whelan. A Catholic priest in Savannah, Father Whelan had been taken prisoner with the Confederate soldiers captured at the surrender of Fort Pulaski in 1862 and held as a prisoner of war in New York. In June of 1864, Father Whelan came to Andersonville to minister to the prisoners, staying until October.

Father Whelan will also be available on the grounds of the prison site throughout the weekend to interact with visitors and share his Andersonville experiences.

2:00 p.m. — Ranger program: "Confinement at Camp Ford"
Camp Ford was the largest Confederate military prison west of the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. In the museum theater, Park Guide Chris Barr will discuss how United States soldiers adapted to the circumstances of their captivity in the Confederate Southwest.

3:00 p.m. — The Burying Ground: A Walk through the Andersonville National Cemetery
Join a park ranger to walk through the Andersonville National Cemetery and learn more about the process of burying the dead at the Andersonville Prison. Meet at the Georgia Monument.

All programs are subject to change due to weather and other concerns.

First Saturdays are one of a variety of programs over the two-year period of the 150th anniversary of the prison in 2014 & 2015 that will explore the prison site and the prison experience at Andersonville while also addressing the larger story at other military prisons, in the north and south. Every two months during the anniversary period, the park will focus on a single word theme that represents the events, conditions, or emotions of prisoners during the war. To expand the prisoner story, the park will feature other Civil War prisons and draw on their stories to present a fuller picture of the captivity experience.

For more information on anniversary programs, themes and other featured prisons, please visit the park website at: https://go.nps.gov/cwprisons

Andersonville National Historic Site is located 10 miles south of Oglethorpe, GA and 10 miles northeast of Americus, GA on Georgia Highway 49. The national park features the National Prisoner of War Museum, Andersonville National Cemetery and the site of the historic Civil War prison, Camp Sumter. Andersonville National Historic Site is the only national park within the National Park System to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war. Park grounds are open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The National Prisoner of War Museum is open 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., daily. Admission is free. For more information on the park, call 229 924-0343, or visit at www.nps.gov/ande/ Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AndersonvilleNPS, Twitter www.twitter.com/andeNHS

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