Andersonville Trivia Quiz

Answer: Camp Sumter

Built in 1864, this prison, located near the city of Andersonville, was the largest Condederate military prison during the Civil War. It was a prison for enlisted men; however, Union officers that led United States Colored Troops were sent to this prison, too. South Georgia was selected because it was considered more secure than Richmond, Virginia. And, in 1864 there was still an abundance of food in the area.

Answer: 13,000

It's estimated that most of Andersonville's POWs died from smallpox, dysentery, poor sanitation, malnutrition, and exposure to the elements. Because of deteriorating econmic conditions in the South, and the need to concentrate its resources on the army, the Confederate government was not able to provide proper housing, food, medical care, and clothing for its POWs at Andersonville. Thus, the mortality rate climbed to 29%, the highest at any prison during the Civil War.

Answer: Private Dorence Atwater

His records proved very valuable to Clara Barton, a lady who was authorized by President Abraham Lincoln to travel to Andersonville to identify and mark the graves of the dead. Camp Sumter's Chief Surgeon, Isaiah H. White, appointed Atwater to keep a register of the name, burial place, date and cause of death of every inmate who died at Camp Sumter.

This document compiled by Atwater later became known as the "Atwater Death List".

Answer: True

The high accuracy rate was due to the list that Private Dorence Atwater made and the records the Union Army confiscated from the Confederates. Private Atwater kept one copy with him upon being released and later returned to help Clara Barton. See Kirkland (1867), pp. 19-20.

Answer: Captain Henry A. Wirz

A native of Zürich, Switzerland, he held this position from March 1864 until the end of the war, when he was arrested and tried as a war criminal. He was found guilty by a military tribunal. Wirz was offered a pardon the night before his scheduled execution; however, he rejected it and was hanged in Washington, DC on November 10, 1865.

He was buried a few miles away at Mount Olive Cemetery.

Answer: 226

Death didn't discriminate at Andersonville, as it claimed the lives of 226 of the over 1,200 guards. Of these men, 117 were buried in the prison grounds, while the others, many of whom lived within 5-10 miles of the prison, were buried by their families in private cemeteries.

Answer: True

Several women gained entry into Andersonville, including Mrs. H. Hunt. Mrs. Hunt, the wife of a prisoner, gained entry by dressing as a man, and stayed with her husband while in confinement. However, once she gave birth to their child on April 6, 1864, she and her infant were removed from the prison and boarded with a local family.

In another incident, it was discovered, while stripping clothes off dead POWs, that one of the deceased was a woman. She had disguised herself as a man so she could fight with the Union Army. See Richard Hall, "Patriots In Disguise: Women Warriors of the Civil War", New York: Marlowe & Co., 1993.

Answer: 338

Union POWs joined the Confederate Army as a way of simply avoiding hardship and possible death within the stockade. This was viewed as treason by fellow Union POWs.

Answer: A stone dove sits on top

The headstone number is 12,196, located in section H. It's the grave of Corporal L.S. Tuttle, who died on November 30, 1864, from diarrhea. The National Park Service has never been able to solve the mystery of how or why the stone dove was placed on this grave.

Answer: True

The six graves, set off from the Union POWs honored dead, are the graves of men who were members of a prison gang known as "The Raiders." They abused, stole from and even killed fellow POWs. To combat this group, a police force, called the "Regulators" were organized under Sergeant Leroy S. Key. On June 29th, 1864, about 240 Regulators fought about 150 Raiders with clubs and bare knuckles.

When it was over, 125 of the Raiders were imprisoned within a small area of the camp. The six leaders of the gangs, Patrick Delaney, Charles F. Curtis, William Collins, James Sarsfield, John Sullivan, and A. Munn, were found guilty of murder in the first degree, dishonorably discharged and hanged.

The military records of the six leaders list their cause of death as "asphyxia."