The camp was built by slave labor on 16 acres, later expanded to 26 acres, and was formally called “Camp Sumter” by the Confederacy. Andersonville was designed to imprison up to 10,000 “overflow” prisoners from elsewhere, but its inmate population climbed to 3 times that amount leave to about 33,000 prisoners by the end of the summer of 1864. Furthermore, its physical design was fatally flawed to begin with. In addition to the absence of any system for waste disposal within the camp, a creek flowing through the camp delivered upstream waste from the military camp where Andersonville guards were stationed. By the end of the war, 13,000 Andersonville prisoners (30 percent of the camp’s population) had died from a variety of diseases such as
The first shipment of prisoners to reach Andersonville came from Libby Prison in Virginia on February 24, 1864 (Hackmann 1). From that day on, 400 men showed up each day. At the end of June, 26,000 men were held captive, and by August, the total had risen to 33,000, making that the largest population of men held at one time. Originally meant to detain only 10,000 men, a solution needed to be found. (2 “Andersonville” 1) The Confederates made the decision to expand the stockade to twenty-six acres, but that did not help the declining conditions (Hackmann 1). Henry Devillez remembers arriving on June 18, 1864, and states, “. . . we [Naviaux, Devillez, and both Rogier brothers] beheld misery on all sides. Sickness and death by hundreds was the program every day.” Over time the creek banks gave way and resulted in the whole compound becoming a swamp infested with maggots and lice. The pests would
The Battle of Bentonville was fought in Bentonville, North Carolina, near the town of Four Oaks, as part of the Carolinas Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the last battle between the armies of Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston (Barrett). It was fought on March 19th through the 21st in 1865. The battle was the last full-scale measure of the Civil War in which a Confederate army was able to mount a tactical offensive. This major battle, the largest ever fought in North Carolina, was the only significant attempt to defeat the large Union army of Gen. William T. Sherman during its march through the Carolinas in the spring of 1865 (Moore).
The Civil War split our nation, Americans fighting Americans, brother against brother. The war lasted four long years, a key battle fought westward was the turning point in the war: the Battle of Vicksburg.
Fort Sumter was named after General Thomas Sumter, a Revolutionary War hero. Fort Sumter was built following the War of 1812, as one of the fortifications on the southern U.S. coast to protect its’ harbors. Construction began in 1829, and the structure was still being completed in 1861, when the civil war began. Seventy thousands tons of granite were brought in from New England in order to build a sand bar to the entrance of the Charleston Harbor. The fort was a five-sided brick structure, one hundred seventy to one hundred ninety feet long, with walls five feet thick, standing fifty feet over the low tide mark. It was originally designated to hold six hundred fifty men and one hundred thirty-five guns; unfortunately the fort was never filled to this capacity.
The Battle of Antietam Creek was a very bloody and important battle in the Civil war. The battle was fought by two different armies within the Union and the Confederacy, The Army of the Potomac (Union) and The Army of Northern Virginia (Confederate).
Before the battle started Vicksburg was geographically protected by the Mississippi. The river created a wet, wide, swampy valley with clear edges. Gen. Grant’s objective was to capture Vicksburg, but was facing a major challenge getting his army to dry ground. He tried to bypass Vicksburg, but ended up failing several times. Grant’s reputation in the North was in serious danger by the spring of 1863. He had to act sooner rather than later. In 1863, Vicksburg was celebrating the lifting of the union threat when the roar of gunfire erupted, coming from the river. This was an advantage for Grant in his quest.
The Battle of Fredericksburg was one of the largest and deadliest battles of the Civil War with about 18,000 casualties in total
Though South Carolina was well-supported by the Confederate militia as they flooded Charleston with aid for its cause, Fort Sumter did not deliver the expected defensibility. More than three thousand militia members arrived ready to defend the secession and rid Fort Sumter of its Union occupation. Major Anderson was staffed with about 80 Union soldiers to defend Fort Sumter. However, the fort’s construction was never completed following its inception in 1820, and it was not equipped with a full armament of weapons, either. It was intended to maintain an armament of 135 canons, but only 15 canons were in usable conditions, including mounting. The five foot thick walls were intended to be the defensive requirement from a land based attack from
Who remembers the very first battle of the Civil War? Maybe, it wasn't as eventful as the others, but that doesn't mean it wasn't as important. This fort had been the source of tension between the Confederacy and the Union, for months.
In a dispute over the use of the forces defending the Harpers Ferry garrison, Hooker offered his resignation, and Abraham Lincoln and General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck, who were looking for an excuse to get rid of him, immediately accepted. They replaced Hooker early on the morning of June 28 with Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade, then commander of the V Corps.
Did you know that Fort Sumter was the first battle in the civil war? There were no casualties and the war started with one fire from the cannon. How long was the battle? The battle lasted only a day and started at 2:30 pm.
The Siege of Fort Watson was an American Revolutionary War confrontation in South Carolina that began on April 15, 1781 and lasted until April 23, 1781. ... Fort Watson was once again attacked by the Americans on April 23, with the British forces unable to control the walls due to musket fire from the
The Battle of Fort Charlotte or the Siege of Fort Charlotte was a two-week battle ran by Spain's General Brenardo de Galvez against the british guarding the port of Mobile.Fort Charlotte was the last remaining British frontier post capable of threatening New Orleans. Gálvez's army sailed from New Orleans aboard a small fleet of transports on a ship.The outnumbered British garrison resisted. In the end the british had to
The battle of Kettle Creek they say was one of the most important battles for the Colonists. Colonists were lead by Colonel Andrew Pickens and the British were lead by Colonel James Boyd. Also, the colonists had 340 people fighting and the British had 700. The battle of Kettle Creek was a little later after the battle of Savannah. To start the war, the colonists snuck up on the British Camp and attacked them. Plus, the battle went on for a little more than 90 minutes.
Fort Sumter is a historical fort on the mouth of a harbor in Charleston South Carolina. Fort Sumter was the location of the first shots fired that started the American Civil War in 1861-1865 (Borat, 2016). South Carolina from the north also called the union on Dec. 20th, 1860. Major Robert Anderson took his 85 soldiers to fort Moultrie near the Charleston harbor (“Fort Sumter,” 2016).