This is a really sorry state of affairs, for sure. But, when all was said and done, the mortality rates in Civil War prison camps were pretty close. It was slightly higher in the South, yes, but grotesque none the less on both sides.
While neither side covered itself in glory with regard to POW camps, death rates in Union prisons were below those of confederate prisons.
The average death rate in Union camps was 11.7% and the average death rate in confederate camps was 15.3%. [Michael Horigan,
Elmira: Death Camp of the North, p. 180]
Death rate at Elmira, NY: 24.3% [Michael Horigan,
Elmira: Death Camp of the North, p. 193]
Death rates in other major Union prison camps:
Alton, Illinois: 11.8%
Camp Chase, Ohio: 8.7%
Camp Douglas, Illinois: 12.4%
Camp Morton, Indiana: 10%
Fort Delaware, Delaware: 7.6%
Johnson's Island, Ohio: 2.7%
Point Lookout, Maryland: 5.6%
Rock Island, Illinois: 15.8%
[rates found in Michael Horigan, Elmira: Death Camp of the North, p. 222, note24]
As to the myth of deliberate starvation, "Until June 1864 Confederates in Northern prisons were to receive the standard Federal ration, which as has been pointed out, was quite generous if nutritionally sub-par. So generous were Federal rations that officials were getting reports that prisoners and soldiers were throwing significant portions of them away. To curb what seemed to Northern officials to be wasting money, money the government did not have to waste, rations were reduced
for Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners [Italics in original] in June 1864. Federal soldiers' cuts were not all that significant, declining from roughly 4,600 calories to a little over 4,400 calories, while the cuts were deeper for prisoners because they were nowhere near as active as combat soldiers. ... Modern prisoners, beneficiaries of a slew of protective legislation and who are larger than their Civil War-era counterparts, receive between 2,500 and 2,700 calories per day." [James M. Gillespie,
Andersonvilles of the North: The Myths and Realities of Northern Treatment of Civil War Confederate Prisoners, p. 99]
"According to
The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, between February 1864 and June 1865 there were 439 cases of scurvy reported at the prison. That number accounts for 3.26% of the 13,453 diseases reported at Rock Island during that span of time and the fourteen deaths attributed to scurvy were less than 1% of the 1,589 disease fatalities. Given scurvy's relatively low numbers it seems that prisoners were not being systematically starved." [James M. Gillespie,
Andersonvilles of the North: The Myths and Realities of Northern Treatment of Civil War Confederate Prisoners, p. 142]
"The
Official Records and
The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion both show that mortality among Southern prisoners clearly declined over time at Rock Island. Between February 1864 and June 1865, 1,589 prisoners died of some disease, many of them during the first months of the camp's existence. Between February and April 1864 the
Official Records show that 770 prisoners died at Rock Island, which constitutes 48.45% of the 1,589 deaths enumerated in
The Medical and Surgical History. From April 1864 through the end of the war disease mortality declined. It is significant to note that just at the time most writers argue that Union prison policies got significantly harsher, Confederate mortality at Rock Island declined. In fact, virtually the same number of prisoners died in the three-month period between February and April 1864 (before the retaliation program was officially discussed and implemented) as perished during the period between May 1864 and June 1865. The prison's population throughout its history remained fairly constant at between 6,000 and 8,000 prisoners until it dropped to just below 3,000 in April 1865 for obvious reasons. ... Most of the mortality occurring at the depot was recorded in the first five or six months of operation. A lot of the deaths were attributable directly and indirectly to smallpox problems that erupted almost as soon as the gates opened. Records from February 1864 indicate that prisoners were transferred from the military prison in Louisville, Kentucky, who had the dreaded disease. The surgeon there, J. C. Welch, and his commanding officer, Captain Charles B. Pratt denied that prisoners were sent to Rock Island carrying smallpox--at least they were not sent there deliberately. No doubt they were telling the truth when they said that all prisoners were examined by the doctor before leaving Kentucky. The problem is that victims in the first phases of the disease, though highly contagious, often do not appear to have the disease at all." [James M. Gillespie,
Andersonvilles of the North: The Myths and Realities of Northern Treatment of Civil War Confederate Prisoners, p. 145]