Life in camps
There were minor differences between each prisoner-of-war camp during the Civil War, but major differences between how Union camps and Confederate camps were conducted. For the most part, Southern camps were considered worse than Northern camps. Regardless of the camp, prisoners were at risk of leaving wounds untreated, attracting life-threatening diseases, and being tortured. In July of 1862, the Dix-Hill Cartel was established, which regulated prisoner exchange on a nationwide basis. This document was specific in which prisoners can be traded and the locations where the trades would take place. However, this document failed about a year after it was created because the Union was pushing for the emancipation of slaves.
Southern prison camps for Union soldiers were not planned well. They were extremely unsanitary, poorly run, and weakly supplied. There were inadequate amounts of food, clothing, shelter, and medical treatment. The South had a lack of resource, like money, for war to begin with, so their main priority was not maintaining the prisons well-kept and keeping prisoners healthy. When African American Union soldiers were kidnapped, some would be executed on the spot, while others were sent to prison camps. The most neglected prisoner-of-war camp during the Civil War was the Southern camp in Andersonville, Georgia. Many prisoners returned home looking very ill and as if he or she was a walking corpse, completely neglected during the time they were in the prisons.
Union General William Orme ran an inspection of twelve Northern prisons. At all Union prisons, Confederate prisoners were treated kindly and had a good supply of food. Some camps were overcrowded in barracks, but most prisoners lived in sanitary conditions. Orme suggested that there should be a "uniformity in the treatment of the prisoners at the different prisons, at some more privileges being allowed them than at others." The commanders of Northern prisons kept in mind that even though they were at war with the South, they still treated the prisoners different because they were still one nation.
Many soldiers on both sides wanted to avoid the prisons. When Confederate prisoners of war stated they would rather and agreed to serve on the western frontier fighting against Native Americans instead to staying in the camps, they were called Galvanized Confederates. Galvanized Yankees were Union soldiers who agreed to fight for the South during the war.
Southern prison camps for Union soldiers were not planned well. They were extremely unsanitary, poorly run, and weakly supplied. There were inadequate amounts of food, clothing, shelter, and medical treatment. The South had a lack of resource, like money, for war to begin with, so their main priority was not maintaining the prisons well-kept and keeping prisoners healthy. When African American Union soldiers were kidnapped, some would be executed on the spot, while others were sent to prison camps. The most neglected prisoner-of-war camp during the Civil War was the Southern camp in Andersonville, Georgia. Many prisoners returned home looking very ill and as if he or she was a walking corpse, completely neglected during the time they were in the prisons.
Union General William Orme ran an inspection of twelve Northern prisons. At all Union prisons, Confederate prisoners were treated kindly and had a good supply of food. Some camps were overcrowded in barracks, but most prisoners lived in sanitary conditions. Orme suggested that there should be a "uniformity in the treatment of the prisoners at the different prisons, at some more privileges being allowed them than at others." The commanders of Northern prisons kept in mind that even though they were at war with the South, they still treated the prisoners different because they were still one nation.
Many soldiers on both sides wanted to avoid the prisons. When Confederate prisoners of war stated they would rather and agreed to serve on the western frontier fighting against Native Americans instead to staying in the camps, they were called Galvanized Confederates. Galvanized Yankees were Union soldiers who agreed to fight for the South during the war.