What Was Andersonville Prison?
Andersonville Prison was opened near Americus, Georgia on February 24, 1864. It was intended to be a model prison, spacious and with adequate water and abundant timber for firewood. However, the prison was built on the assumption that it would hold no more than 10,000 Union prisoners of war, and then only while they were awaiting exchange. Both of these assumptions provided impossible when the Federal Government ceased the prisoner exchange that had been agreed to by both sides early in the war.
