Andersonville Prison

Andersonville was a prison for Union soldiers owned by the Confederate military. It was meant to hold up to 10,000 prisoners but it ended up holding more than 32,000. The site of Andersonville was chosen because it was by a stream and in a remote area. Even though they had a stream, the confederate troops were camped out up the river so when they dumped stuff in the river it made the water so the prison couldn't use it. 13,000 of the people who were living there died because of malnutrition, diseases, contaminated water, exposure and overcrowding. When someone would die they would be stripped and others would take their clothes. Sometimes people would strip them even before they died and leave them just laying there. Every morning the wagon would come and get all the dead bodies and take them to the cemetery, then later in the afternoon around 4 o'clock they would get their rations out of the same wagon. The prisoners did not get very much food and sometimes it wasn't cooked so they traded if they didn't have wood to cook it. Another one of their problems was the prison used all the wood in the woods nearby so everyone just got a piece of wood the size of a match and that was all they got. Sometime they would get no match to cook their food so the prisoners ate it raw. They also didn't have a real place to sleep so they would make their own shebangs which was what they called their shelters. There was no real way for them to get clean so they would sometimes substitute sand for soap. Sometimes the prisoners tried to escape but they were shot by guards who were guarding the fence. If the prisoners got in trouble then Henry Wirz-the commander of the prison- would hang them by their thumbs for punishment. After the war was over Henry Wirz was arrested and charged for murder and impair the health of the soldiers so they couldn't fight. His sentence was hanging. He was hanged on November 10, 1865.


This is Andersonville during the Civil War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andersonville_Prison.jpg

This is the Andersonville cemetery today.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM31s3fSFt52aCL8PVlPkH6QZwBD84zn_W0JuaRAEyTatop0IPR5TRgmR5yKixnW6Nn4CzusrHOmCzKteNq2a1dJY3vLr1f6MPhbXAMCTLIUm9zKmy8XQS5CdS-RfOPjHRk9x9vBoB260/s1600-h/andersonville03_9.jpg

This is Henry Wirz the commander of Andersonville who was killed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Wirz_photo.jpg

Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Union Blockade of GA's coast, Sherman's Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March to the City

After the turning point in the war, the fighting continued in southern states like Georgia. Chickamauga was the first major battle in Georgia. The union army came down to the south and went to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park where they fought, then they went back to Chattanooga where they were trapped until Grant came to open a supply line. This was because Georgia's coast was tightly blockaded by the Union so the Confederates couldn't import supplies. Lee decided they would probably loose if they fought against the blockades so he used his troops for other battles. When Grant got a supply line to his troops in Chattanooga, it became a supply hub for the Atlanta Campaign. The Atlanta Campaign was when General Sherman was in Atlanta waiting for approval for his march to the sea. He waited for two months and while he waited he evacuated the city with a letter to the people of Atlanta. The letter said he wasn't going to change his mind but he was giving them time to get out before he started burning it. Sherman had to have his march because Atlanta was a big city and the Union needed another win. Even though the march would help the Union, it was risky because his soldiers had to live off the land and take food from the Georgians living there. The march would ensure Lincoln's reelection, it would be demoralizing to the southerners, stop confederate supply lines and there were already problems with confederate leadership so the march was really important to the Union. During the march, the union soldiers saw slavery for the first time and took slaves with them to help them get away from slavery. However, the slaves weren't ensured food but they still came with them. Sherman had personal views of slavery and African Americans which he wrote in his journal. He wrote about how he didn't like Africa Americans but he put those feelings aside and there are pictures of him shaking hands with the slaves.

This is the map of battle of Chickamauga and Chattanooga.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chickamauga_Sep20_3.png

This is when Georgia's coast was blockaded.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=6Ee1tWvOefROyM&tbnid=lURwMtx2ReN94M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeadconfederates.com%2F2012%2F10%2F02%2Fthe-marines-tale-a-fox-chase%2F&ei=AanuUvHhB5DesATw0YDYBg&psig=AFQjCNGISgww6GuxE1Xv_hosLGoiOpODtg&ust=1391458944269094

This is General Sherman.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=r3SQKGOeQb8cfM&tbnid=obCFDPdPBl3UrM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffineartamerica.com%2Fart%2Fall%2Fwilliam%2Btecumseh%2Bsherman%2Fcanvas%2Bprints&ei=M6ruUtGmN5aosASIpICQCg&psig=AFQjCNGeow6mhA1W7uYXXnPit_5zRjCk7A&ust=1391458991632339

This is a picture of Sherman's march to the sea. It is people watching their building being burned.

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/march-sea/sherman-burning-railroad.jpg

The Emancipation Proclomation and Gettysburg

January 1, 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation was put into effect. When Lincoln worded it he had to be very careful since he didn't want to upset the border states. If he upset Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri and Delaware then they would side with the Confederates which would double their size. Since the border states were slave states and they needed slaves, Lincoln had to be careful what the Emancipation Proclamation said very carefully to please most people. It stated that slaves in certain states and certain places were now free and the government would treat them like free citizens. The turning point in the war was Vicksburg and Gettysburg. There were so many problems going on in the south including a bad economy, lost slave-labor, and many soldier were leaving the army. Lee wanted to force North to call for peace and to gain foreign intervention for the south however they ended up retreating to Virginia. It was the bloodiest battle in the civil war with 50 thousand casualties. After the defeat for the confederates at Gettysburg, the rest of the war was in favor of the union.

This is Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation and putting it into effect.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=htHHcbSJ_qsKgM&tbnid=VyakwYWndQ8CTM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhereandnow.wbur.org%2F2013%2F01%2F01%2Femancipation-proclamation-anniversary&ei=VZfuUsW-AoLKsQSJ4YCwCA&bvm=bv.60444564,d.aWc&psig=AFQjCNG0z2VqAKgHTawAZ_UHMyOgEfhVsQ&ust=1391454033394778

This is a picture of Gettysburg and it shows how close they fought to each other.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=sLx5ekbgq5YlsM&tbnid=0-I0Wvf4DoIfwM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prx.org%2Fpieces%2F98152-gettysburg&ei=QpjuUradBarEsAS1hoGoBA&psig=AFQjCNEKHU5W-TJc5rrDyMzC2cKLEKNBsg&ust=1391454587313866