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Andersonvilles of the North : the myths and realities of Northern treatment of Civil War Confederate prisoners / James M. Gillispie.

By: Gillispie, James Massie, 1969-Material type: TextTextPublisher: Denton, Tex. : University of North Texas Press, [2008]Copyright date: ©2008Description: vii, 278 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9781574413113 (paper : alk. paper); 1574413112 (paper : alk. paper); 9781574412550 (cloth : alk. paper); 1574412558 (cloth : alk. paper)Subject(s): United States. Army -- Prisons -- History -- 19th century | United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Prisoners and prisons | Military prisons -- United States -- History -- 19th century | Military prisons -- Northeastern States -- History -- 19th century | Military prisons -- Middle West -- History -- 19th century | Prisoners of war -- Mortality -- United States -- History -- 19th century | Prisoners of war -- Confederate States of America -- History -- 19th century | Prisoners of war -- United States -- History -- 19th century | Military prisons Middle West History 19th century | Military prisons Northeastern States History 19th century | Military prisons United States History 19th century | Prisoners of war Confederate States of America History 19th century | Prisoners of war United States History 19th century | Prisoners of war United States Mortality History 19th century | United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 | United States // Army Prisons History 19th centuryAdditional physical formats: Online version:: Andersonvilles of the North.DDC classification: 973.7/71 LOC classification: E615 | .G55 2008Other classification: 15.87 | 7,26
Contents:
Servants of the devil and Jeff Davis : the Northern version of the POW experiences, 1865-1920 -- The lost cause and the Southern side of the POW debate, 1865-1920 -- Continuity and change : modern writers and the issues of Federal treatment of Confederate prisoners -- Union policies, 1861-1865 -- Federal policies at the four major prisons in Illinois and Indiana -- Federal policies at the major Ohio prisons -- Point Lookout, Fort Delaware, and Elmira -- The omnipresent specter of disease.
Review: "Andersonvilles of the North, by James M. Gillispie, represents the first broad study to argue that the image of Union prison officials as negligent and cruel to Confederate prisoners is severely flawed. This study is not an attempt to "whitewash" Union prison policies or make light of Confederate prisoner mortality. But once the careful reader disregards unreliable postwar polemics, and focuses exclusively on the more reliable wartime records and documents from both Northern and Southern sources, then a much different, less negative, picture of Northern prison life emerges. While life in Northern prisons was difficult and potentially deadly, no evidence exists of a conspiracy to neglect or mistreat Southern captives. Confederate prisoners' suffering and death were due to a number of factors, but it would seem that Yankee apathy and malice were rarely among them."--Jacket.
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Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-271) and index.

Servants of the devil and Jeff Davis : the Northern version of the POW experiences, 1865-1920 -- The lost cause and the Southern side of the POW debate, 1865-1920 -- Continuity and change : modern writers and the issues of Federal treatment of Confederate prisoners -- Union policies, 1861-1865 -- Federal policies at the four major prisons in Illinois and Indiana -- Federal policies at the major Ohio prisons -- Point Lookout, Fort Delaware, and Elmira -- The omnipresent specter of disease.

"Andersonvilles of the North, by James M. Gillispie, represents the first broad study to argue that the image of Union prison officials as negligent and cruel to Confederate prisoners is severely flawed. This study is not an attempt to "whitewash" Union prison policies or make light of Confederate prisoner mortality. But once the careful reader disregards unreliable postwar polemics, and focuses exclusively on the more reliable wartime records and documents from both Northern and Southern sources, then a much different, less negative, picture of Northern prison life emerges. While life in Northern prisons was difficult and potentially deadly, no evidence exists of a conspiracy to neglect or mistreat Southern captives. Confederate prisoners' suffering and death were due to a number of factors, but it would seem that Yankee apathy and malice were rarely among them."--Jacket.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

The notorious Confederate camp at Andersonville, Georgia, became the symbol of harsh conditions suffered by prisoners of war (POWs) in the US Civil War. Pro-Southern memoirists, publicists, and historians have long insisted that many federal POW camps were at least as miserable and deadly as Andersonville. These included prisons at Alton, Fort Douglas, and Rock Island in Illinois; Johnson's Island and Camp Chase in Ohio; Point Lookout in Maryland; Fort Delaware in Delaware; and Elmira in New York. Gillispie (Sampson Community College, NC) examines literature devoted to each of these camps, especially so-called "Lost Cause" lamentations that federal authorities intentionally inflicted suffering and death on inmates by neglecting or denying proper shelter, food, and medical services. He acknowledges that POW life was unpleasant and that cases of maladministration occurred in specific camps, particularly regarding sanitation. However, the author uses official records to demonstrate that in each camp, federal authorities made good-faith efforts to sustain and protect their captives. Gillispie's sub-thesis denies that federal authorities ended the Dix-Cameron exchange cartel for military advantage. He shows that exchange negotiations ceased when Confederates refused to release black POWs. See also George Levy, To Die in Chicago (CH, Dec'94, 32-2346). Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. G. H. Davis emeritus, Georgia State University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

James M. Gillispie earned a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Mississippi. He has published articles and numerous reviews on Civil War prison scholarship and has spoken at the Museum of the Confederacy on the era's military prisons. Gillispie is Dean of Humanities & Social Sciences and Professor of History at Lord Fairfax Community College. He lives in Stephen's City, Virginia.

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