By Trinity, Josh, Jared and Drew

1. Civil War Prison
Camps
Trinity Lynn, Josh Zanelli, Jared Zanelli, and
Drew “Fog” Neydorff

2. Salisbury Prison
Salisbury Prison is located in North Carolina, it is the first and last camp in North Carolina. There were several camps
in the north and the south, but we chose to highlight some of the bigger ones. They are Salisbury Prison,
Andersonville/Camp Sumpter, Alton Federal Prison, Belle Isle, and

3. Salisbury Prison

4. Salisbury Prison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O27cbiAafQo - Please take a minute and listen to this
POW civil war song the POW’s sang when in the camps. This man has passed this song down, he
learned it from his father.
At first when the camp opened, before it was overcrowded, it wasn’t that bad. The POW’s got to
play recreational games, they ate well, and they all got sheltered.
"In 1861, while the population was quite low, the death rate hovered around 2%. In 1865, when
the number of prisoners ballooned to its peak, the death rate exceeded 28%."

5. Salisbury Prison
Overcrowding turned this prison camp upside down. Before overcrowding, the prisoners all ate
well and all were sheltered. When the war progressed more and more people started going to
the camp. There was decreased sanitation, shortages in food, and of course an increased death
rate. Overcrowding in these camps ruined them, just like all the other camps during the civil
war.

6. Andersonville/Camp Sumter (Georgia)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg0lpjQi9cI
This video covers prisoners of war camps during the Civil
War were often more dangerous than the battlefield. Watch
to learn more about the system of prisoner exchanges and
how circumstances deteriorated as the war dragged on.
Andersonville is particularly noted, as many Minnesota
soldiers spent time there.
http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/videos/andersonville_pri
son

7. Alton Federal Prison
-Alton Federal Prison had the same issue as many
prison camps, as it was horrifying and overcrowded.
-The inmates weren't protected by weather inside of
the prison, this led to weak immune systems.
-Diseases like smallpox and rubella thrived, leading to
the deaths of hundreds of prisoners. disease killed
upwards of 1,500 people within the walls of Alton
Federal Prison.
-" One smallpox outbreak claimed the lives over 300
men during the winter of 1862 alone."

8. Belle Isle
-Southern prison camp for people in the union.
-Brutal diseases common, such as chronic diarrhea, scurvy,
etc.
-suffered starvation like is many other camps, as well as
being neglected.
-upwards of 30,000 men lived in Belle Isle.
-people had to create their own shelter sometimes, they
were considered lucky to stay inside of a tent.
-lack of shelter led to increased death rates due to disease
and exposure.
-around 1,000 men passed away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2rC7VEptIY

9. Camp Douglas, Illinois
-disregard for human life developed at camp douglas
-18,000 confederates were incarcerated there by the end of the war
-the “…the amount of standing water, of unpoliced grounds, of foul sinks, of general disorder, of
soil reeking with miasmic accretions, of rotten bones and emptying of camp kettles.....was
enough to drive a sanitarian mad." The barracks were so filthy and infested that the commission
claimed, “nothing but fire can cleanse them." - U.S Sanitary Commision
-union camp leadership was to blame for the death toll
commandants cutting ration sizes and quality for personal profit led to starvation, scurvy, and
illness.

10. Camp Douglas, Illinois. A Closer Look!
Here are a few pictures of Camp Douglas:
Soldiers of the 48th Tennessee
Infantry at Camp Douglas IL
(1862)
Depiction of Camp Douglas, IL
A Day in the life in Camp Douglas, IL

11. Video: Camp Douglas/ Camp Douglas Back
round.
Here i provided a clip containing Camp Douglas’s Back round/History. Take a look to be
educated on Camp Douglas’s past!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnpbFTEpTjs

12. Bibliography
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Andersonville_birdseye_ransom.jpg
Flavion, Garry. “Civil War Prison Camps.” Civil War Trust, Civil War Trust, www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/civil-war-
prison-camps
.Julianna. “Julianna Exhibit.” Emaze Presentations, www.emaze.com/@ATFFWWWQ/julianna-exhibit.
“Video: Andersonville Prison.” Georgia Public Broadcasting, 2 Oct. 2008,
www.gpb.org/georgiastories/videos/andersonville_prison.
“Civil War Prison Camps.” Civil War Academy - American Civil War, www.civilwaracademy.com/civil-war-prison-
camps.
Brown, Louis a. “Confederate Prison (Salisbury).” Confederate Prison (Salisbury) | NCpedia, Louis A. Brown,
2006, www.ncpedia.org/confederate-prison-salisbury.
Hay, Brenda Smelser. “Salisbury Civil War Prison .” Salisbury Confederate Prison in the Civil War, Brenda Smelser
Hay, 2008, www.censusdiggins.com/prison_salisbury.html.