history
Deadlier Than Gettysburg
How the cruelty of the Confederacy’s prison camps gave rise to the rules of war
TL;DR
- Civil War prison camps housed over 400,000 men, with at least 10% of the war's deaths occurring in prisons.
- The Emancipation Proclamation led to the South's refusal to exchange Black soldiers, escalating the prisoner crisis.
- Confederate prisoners were generally treated worse than Union prisoners, with officials failing to accept the obligation to provide for their welfare.
- Andersonville camp was particularly notorious for its lack of sanitation, housing, and medical care, leading to widespread disease and death.
- The Civil War's prison camp conditions spurred the codification of the rules of war, forming the basis for modern international humanitarian law.
- The trial of Henry Wirz, commander at Andersonville, marked the origin of modern prosecution of war crimes.