Andersonville, or Camp Sumter as it was officially known, was one of the largest of many Confederate military prisons established during the Civil War. It was built early in 1864 after Confederate officials decided to move the large number of Federal prisoners kept in and around Richmond, Virginia, to a place of greater security and a more abundant food supply. Although the prison was meant to hold a maximum of 10,000 Federal prisoners, it held 33,000 in August 1864.

The camp commandant, Henry Wirz, forbade prisoners from building shelters. Most lived in holes scratched in the ground, covered by a blanket. Any man caught closer than fifteen feet to the stockade walls was shot. This was called the "dead line". Cross it, and you would be shot.

Each inmate's daily ration was a teaspoon of salt, three tablespoons of beans, and half a pint of unsifted cornmeal. A foul trickle called Sweet Water Branch served as both drinking water and sewer.

During the 14 months the prison existed, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined here. Of these, almost 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding, or exposure to the elements. They were buried in mass graves. On one day, they died at the rate of a man every eleven minutes.

In the words of a Southern woman who was allowed to climb a guard tower and overlook Andersonville ...

After the war ended, Henry Wirz was hanged for war crimes on November 10, 1865. He pleaded that he had only followed orders.