Andersonville

Andersonville was the Confederate prison camp where they help captured Union soldiers.  It was one of the largest and worst prison camps during the Civil war.  The Confederate army was suffering from lack of supplies already, so the prisoners suffered to the extreme.  There was a limited amount of food for the soldiers, so the rations of food and water for the prisoners was very small until a miracle happened.  There was one small creek running through the middle of the camp that was used for just about everything; during a big thunderstorm, lightning struck the creek and it seemed like there was a fountain with endless, clean water.  Many died everyday but the clean water saved many lives.  As prisoners entered the camp they were told they had to build their own shelter with whatever they could find, as well as a couple of guidelines/ rules.  Most important of the rules was to not pass the dead line, if you crossed if with even a finger, a guard would shoot you, therefore giving it the name dead line.  Many guards would torture the starving Union soldiers by placing food right outside the dead line to taunt as if they were animals.  Andersonville was a very cruel place that created controversy throughout even the southern states.  

The Dead Line in the Andersonville prison camp.
Dead Line in Andersonville. N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. 3 Feb 2014. <http://www.civilwar.org/education/assets/images/prisoners_web.jpg>.