Posted 13 years ago
scottvez
(977 items)
I recently acquired a large identified grouping of ribbons, medals, photographs and paperwork that was all identified to a Civil War soldier who survived the infamous Andersonville Prison.
Andersonville was in southern Georgia and was established as a Confederate Prison in 1864. During the course of the War it housed about 45,000 Union soldiers on 26.5 acers of land. The prison was only meant to house 10,000 at any given time, but at its height about 32,000 Union prisoners were held there. The overcrowding and poor conditions led to the deaths of about 13,000 of those prisoners.
Post War Captain Henry Wirz, the Commander of the prison, was tried and hanged for war crimes.
Today Andersonville is part of the NPS and houses the National Prisoner of War Museum.
Shown here are several reunion ribbons from the Union Ex- Prisoners of War Association. The Association was founded in 1879.
I will add other items.
Scott
Thanks walksoftly and tlmbaran.
Scott
Thanks thriftygypsy.
Scott
Hey if a civil war reunion ribbon has an Andersonville death before dishonor logo on it, is it safe to assume it was from a reunion of POWs in Andersonville or simply POWs in general?