Andersonville National Historic Site (GA)
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The monument to Capt. Henry Wirz, commandant of Andersonville Prison, downtown Andersonville.
Inscription reads: "In Memory of Captain Henry Wirz, C.S.A., Born: Zurich, Switzerland 1822, Sentanced to Death and Executed at Washington D.C. Nov. 10 1865" "To rescue his name from the stigma attached to it by embittered predjudice this shaft is erected by the Georgia Division United Daughters of the Confederacy."
Defending Capt. Wirtz...
Andersonville National Historic Site
Entering Andersonville National Historic Site...
The northwest corner of the stockade. The monument to the men of Wisconsin reads, "Let Us Have Peace."
Parallel lines of simple white posts mark the outline of the original prison camp. The outer post marks the actual stockade wall while the inner post marks the so-called "dead line." If a prisoner crossed this line he would be shot without warning.
This benchmark sits atop one of 32 impromptu wells dug by the prisoners at Andersonville, to little success...
Many of the trees located on the prison grounds mark wells or escape tunnels dug by the prisoners...
The Michigan Monument at Andersonville...
The Ohio Monument...Ohio lost 1055 men at Andersonville...
Prisoners entering Andersonville passed through this gate, the scene that greeted them must have been horrific...
The rebuilt North Gate, through which most prisoners entered the prison. The small railing in front of the stockade is the infamous dead-line."
After a torrential rainstorm the night of August 9, 1864 a spring burst from the ground on the west side of the prison camp. The prisoners believed it was an act of the Almighty and dubbed it Providence Spring.
Even though the presence of a spring inside the camp was a godsend it sprung up dangerously close to the dead line so prisoners had to take extra care when collecting water...
Right-hand Tablet at Providence Spring...
Left-hand Tablet at Providence Spring...
The wellhouse was erected in 1901 by the Womens Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic in memory of the 13,900 men who died at Andersonville...the plaque reads: "With charity to all and malice toward none."
A rather poignant and ironic little sign if you ask me...just downstream from Providence Spring.
The camps single water source was the inappropriately named Sweetwater Creek. In contrast to its name the creek served as bathroom, washroom, and drinking water for the prisoners...imagine 50,000+ men using this tiny creek for all these duties and you'll get a good mental picture of what it was like at Andersonville.
Northwest view of camp
