North prison camps like Elmira Prison in New York starved Confederate prisoners, leading to thousands of deaths, even when food was available. Andersonville prison camp in the South was overcrowded with over 45,000 Union prisoners, far more than its capacity. Food shortages in the South caused prisoners in all camps to go weeks without food, spiking the death rate. Prison conditions in both the North and South were terrible due to overcrowding, disease, lack of supplies and medicine, and little food or clothing for prisoners. Harsh punishments for escape attempts or serious crimes included hanging, being chained to heavy balls or carriage wheels, and bucking and gagging prisoners.

1. Punishments for soldiers
south and north
By: Addison Gilchrist, Zeyad Abdullah

2. North Prison Camps
Elmira Prison was considered one of the worst prison camps in the civil
war. The confederates that were captured would starve to death even
though supplies were available. At Elmira's height there was over 12,000
confederate soldiers incarcerated there. The warden was trying to starve
them so that they would pay for betraying their country. When the war
was at its height rats became a major problem so the guards got a black
dog and sold the dead rats to prisoners for 5 cents a piece. Two prisoners
killed the dog, cooked it and ate it.

3. South Prison Camps
Andersonville prison camp was intended to be a nice Prison Camp even
had a small stream going through the yard for the Union prisoners to
drink from. But In the height of the war it held over 45,000 prisoners, far
above its prisoner capacity. Then when the food shortage hit the south the
prisoners weren’t fed for weeks, this shortage affected all of the prisoner
camps and spiked the death rate.

4. Conditions
*Conditions in the prisons (south and north)
were very terrible. The prisons had very little
space. That brought out diseases to all the
prisoners. Medicine was not given to the
prisoners at all. Meals were made by the
prisoners and there was no cloths at all.

5. Punishments
Some of the punishments were given when the prisoners tried
to escape. If they had committed a very serious crime they
would be hung. They would sometimes tie them up to a chain
and would have a heavy ball and couldn’t move at all. Some would also be
tied to a carrige wheel. They would also be bucked and
gagged. They would then tie his hands to his shins and
shove a rod over his hands but under his knees.