Andersonville Diary

John Ransom was a 20-year-old Union soldier when he became a prisoner of war in 1863. In his unforgettable diary, Ransom reveals the true story of his day-to-day struggle in the worst of Confederate prison camps--where hundreds of prisoners died daily. Ransom's story of survival is, according to Publishers Weekly, a great adventure . . . observant, eloquent, and moving.

One of the most starkly vivid and detailed accounts of survival in Georgia's notorious Andersonville prison during the American Civil War. John Ransom was only 20 years old at the time of his capture. He kept a nearly daily diary during his year of misery at the Confederate prison. He and his fellow Union prisoners endured lice, starvation, freezing cold, killing heat, theft from other inmates...and Captain Wirtz. "Capt. Wirtz very domineering and abusive. Is afraid to come into camp any more. There are a thousand men in here who would willingly die if they could kill him first." Death was a daily occurrence. Yet Ransom knew if he gave up hope, he would die. He somehow kept his humor and kept on writing. Through two escapes, time in a Rebel hospital, and eventual freedom, you'll read a POW account like none you've ever read before.

In this carefully researched and compelling revisionist account, William Marvel provides a comprehensive history of Andersonville Prison and conditions within it.

Acclaimed as the greatest novel ever written about the War Between the States, this searing Pulitzer Prize-winning book captures all the glory and shame of America's most tragic conflict in the vivid, crowded world of Andersonville, and the people who lived outside its barricades. Based on the author's extensive research and nearly twenty-five years in the making, MacKinlay Kantor's bestselling masterwork tells the heartbreaking story of the notorious Georgia prison where 50,000 Northern soldiers suffered - and 14,000 died - and of the people whose lives were changed by the grim camp where the best and the worst of the Civil War came together. Here is the savagery of the camp commandant, the deep compassion of a nearby planter and his gentle daughter, the merging of valor and viciousness within the stockade itself, and the day-to-day fight for survival among the cowards, cutthroats, innocents, and idealists thrown together by the brutal struggle between North and South. A moving portrait of the bravery of people faced with hopeless tragedy, this is the inspiring American classic of an unforgettable period in American history.

John Ransom was a twenty-year-old Union soldier when he wascaptured in 1863 and became a prisoner of war. Held in the infamousAndersonville prison until he was near death, Ransom never gave up his loveof life. He hated the conditions of his captivity, but not his captors--men likehimself who were caught in the whirlwind of forces beyond their control.With a rate honesty simplicity, and insight, Ransom unfolds a tale of struggleand survival in the worst of the confederate prison camps. His diary,enhanced by his own drawings, is a testament to the indomitable humanspirit and provides a unique viewpoint of the most wrenching of America'swars.

In February 1864, five hundred Union prisoners of war arrived at the Confederate stockade at Anderson Station, Georgia. Andersonville, as it was later known, would become legendary for its brutality and mistreatment, with the highest mortality rate--over 30 percent--of any Civil War prison. Fourteen months later, 32,000 men were imprisoned there. Most of the prisoners suffered greatly because of poor organization, meager supplies, the Federal government’s refusal to exchange prisoners, and the cruelty of men supporting a government engaged in a losing battle for survival. Who was responsible for allowing so much squalor, mismanagement, and waste at Andersonville? Looking for an answer, Ovid Futch cuts through charges and countercharges that have made the camp a subject of bitter controversy. He examines diaries and firsthand accounts of prisoners, guards, and officers, and both Confederate and Federal government records (including the transcript of the trial of Capt. Henry Wirz, the alleged "fiend of Andersonville"). First published in 1968, this groundbreaking volume has never gone out of print.