The True Story Of Andersonville Prison

During the Civil War, James Madison Page was a prisoner in different places in the South. Seven months of that time was spent at Andersonville. While there he became well acquainted with Major Wirz, or Captain Wirz, his rank during Page’s confinement. Page takes the stand that Captain Wirz was unjustly held responsible for the hardship and mortality of Andersonville. It is his belief that the Federal authorities must share the blame for these things with Confederate authorities, since they were well aware of the inability of the Confederacy to meet the reasonable wants of their prisoners of war, as they lacked supplies for their own needs and since the Federal authorities failed to exercise a humane policy in the exchange of those captured in battle.

"The True Story of Andersonville Prison" represents an important narrative of Andersonville prison in Georgia. The author brings his defense of the prison commander Henry Wirz, who was charged by the U.S. Government and executed after the Civil War. The author's description of the trial, conviction, and execution of Wirz is extremely sympathetic and provides an alternative view of the Confederacy in the Civil War.

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.

During the Civil War, James Madison Page was a prisoner in different places in the South. Seven months of that time was spent at Andersonville. While there he became well acquainted with Major Wirz, or Captain Wirz, as he then ranked. Page takes the stand that Captain Wirz was unjustly held responsible for the hardship and mortality of Andersonville. It was his belief that the Federal authorities must share the blame for these things with the Confederates, since they well knew the inability of the Confederates to meet the reasonable wants of their prisoners of war, as they lacked a supply for their own needs, and since the Federal authorities failed to exercise a humane policy in the exchange of those captured in battle.The writer, "with malice toward none and charity for all," denies conscious prejudice, and makes the sincere endeavor to put himself in the other fellow's place and make such a statement of the matter in hand as will satisfy all lovers of truth and justice.

Written in 1908, this book provides a detailed and controversial account of the Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia during the Civil War. The author, who was a prisoner at Andersonville, defends the camp's commandant, Major Henry Wirz, against charges of war crimes. While some of Page's claims have been disputed, the book remains an important historical document that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the war. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Author's Preface:DURING the past forty years I have read a number of stories of Andersonville Prison and of Major Henry Wirz, who had subordinate charge of the prisoners there. Nearly all these histories were written by comrades who were confined there as prisoners of war. I do not propose in this work to question the accuracy of their portrayal of the great suffering, privations, and of the mortality of prisoners of war in Andersonville, for these are matters of fact that anyone who was confined there can readily corroborate and can never forget. But it has been painful to me since the day I marched from that dismal prison pen, September 20, 1864, to the present time, that my comrades who suffered there and who have written their experiences are to a man wild in their charges that Major Wirz was responsible and that he was the sole cause of the suffering and mortality endured at Andersonville.I write about my experiences in Southern prisons during the Civil War, not in a spirit of controversy, but in the interest of truth and fair play. The main purpose of this book is to reduce the friction between the two sections and especially that caused by the exaggerated and often unjust reports of Major Wirz's cruelty and inhumanity to the Union prisoners, reports throughout the North at least, which have been represented to be gratuitous and willful.I am writing not for the purpose of contradicting any comrade who has written before me, but to take a like liberty and to tell the story again from the standpoint of my own personal experience.Taps will soon sound for us all who passed through those experiences, and I am sure that I shall feel better satisfied, as I pass down to the valley of death, if I say what I can truthfully say in defense of the man who befriended me when I was in the greatest extremity, and when there was no other recourse.At the close of the war, the feeling was so intense in the North because of the suffering and mortality among the prisoners of war at Andersonville that something had to be done to satisfy the popular demand for the punishment of those supposed to be responsible for that suffering and the loss of life among the prisoners, and Major Wirz was doomed before he was tried as the party responsible for these results.In my prison life of seven months at Andersonville, I became well-acquainted with Major Wirz, or Captain Wirz, as he then ranked, and as he will be designated hereafter. The knowledge I gained of his character during this personal acquaintance leads me to disagree with the conclusions reached by other writers as to the true character of this unfortunate man. During all these years, it has been a matter of surprise to me that writers like Richardson, Spencer, Urban, and others failed to take into consideration the fact that Captain Wirz was but a subordinate under General John H. Winder, who was the prison commander. Captain Wirz had charge only of the interior of the stockade, and in every way, he was subject to the orders of his superior officer.Nearly all these writers were soldiers and should have known that obedience to superiors was imperative, and hence if there were fault or error in orders or in their execution it was to be charged against the superior and not the subordinate.In this work, I shall take the stand not only that Captain Wirz was unjustly held responsible for the hardship and mortality of Andersonville, but that the Federal authorities must share the blame for these things with the Confederate, since they well-knew the inability of the Confederates to meet the reasonable wants of their prisoners of war, as they lacked a supply of their own needs, and since the Federal authorities failed to exercise a humane policy in exchange of those captured in battle.

Here is an important prison narrative, written by a Northern soldier who was captured in September 1863 along the Rapidan and imprisoned at Andersonville prison in Georgia. His account of the conditions he encountered there is of interest, but more important is his defense of the prison commander Henry Wirz, who was charged by the U.S. Government and executed after the war for "barbarous crimes against humanity." He not only contends that the unfortunate officer was unjustly lynched, but shows that "the Federal authorities must share the blame" for Andersonville because of their refusal to exchange prisoners. The author's description of the trial, conviction, and execution of Wirz is extremely sympathetic and provides a welcome alternative to the one-sided and distorted picture painted by Yankee historians.

Excerpt from The True Story of Andersonville Prison: A Defense of Major Henry Wirz During the past forty years I have read a number of stories of Andersonville Prison and of Major Wirz, who had subordinate charge of the prisoners there. Nearly all these histories were written by comrades who were confined there as prisoners of war. I do not propose in this work to question the accuracy of their portrayal of the great suffering, privations, and of the mortality of prisoners of war in Andersonville, for these are matters of fact that any one who was confined there can readily corroborate and can never forget. But it has been painful to me since the day I marched from that dismal prison pen, September 20, 1864, to the present time, that my comrades who suffered there and who have written their experiences are to a man wild in their charges that Major Wirz was responsible and that he was the sole cause of the suffering and mortality endured at Andersonville. I have finally concluded to write something of my experiences in Southern prisons during the Civil War, not in a spirit of controversy, but in the interest of truth and fair play. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.