Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois is said to be the Andersonville of the north and was every bit as bad as Andersonville. Both places being horrifying and responsible for much suffering, starvation and inhumane treatment of it`s prisoners of war. Sherman along with his 62,000 man army on his March from Atlanta to Savannah (March to the Sea) from 14 Nov 1864 - 10 Dec 1864 had expressed an interest in liberating Andersonville Prison on their way through Georgia to Savannah, but Wheeler was able to maneuver his forces, to include Brig. General Samuel Wragg Ferguson`s Cavalry Brigade, successfully attacking Sherman`s flanks and harassing his rear, enough so as to keep Sherman from turning his forces south and attempting to liberate Andersonville. While Sherman had Savannah under siege from 10 Dec 1864 - 21 Dec 1864, he may have considered again to liberate Andersonville.
Which provoked the following action from P.G.T. Beauregard and Wheeler. Not long after Savannah fell, being aware of Sherman`s possible intentions, Maj. General Joseph Wheeler ordered Brig. General Samuel Wragg Ferguson`s Cavalry Brigade, to include the 2nd Regiment Alabama Cavalry into Georgia to intercept any Federal Forces who might move on Andersonville, as well as to protect General Cobb at Macon.
The letter below from Maj. General Howell Cobb (Macon, Ga.) to General P.G.T. Beauregard on 25 Dec 1864, just 4 days after Savannah fell explains the move:
"... the fall of Savannah thus closing that portion of Sherman`s Campaign, leads to the inquiry of the enemy`s next movement. Of this you are far more able to judge than I am, but I venture to call your attention to the probabilities of a movement upon south-western Georgia. The removal of the prisoners back to Andersonville, which has been effected adds to the inducement for a demonstration in that quarter. Kilpatrick`s cavalry, being now relieved from Sherman`s army, can go in any direction, and already we have reports of its moving in that direction. You are aware that I have no force to meet even a cavalry raid if made in any force, and hence I call your attention to the subject."
It was not long after this letter was written that Ferguson was ordered into south-west Georgia by Maj. General Joseph Wheeler, in an effort to make preparations should Kilpatrick leave Savannah and head for Andersonville and then Macon to attack Cobb, which happened soon enough as part of Wilson`s raids though Alabama and into Georgia which culminated upon the taking of Macon in May 1865. Dublin and the Altamaha River where Ferguson was to cross was less than 100 miles from Macon. After Ferguson reached the Altamaha River and seeing no Federal threat he returned to South Carolina to oppose Sherman`s March up through the Carolinas until he was ordered by President Jefferson Davis in early April 1865 to meet him in Greensboro, N.C. to form part of his personal escort and body guard from North Carolina to Washington, Ga. towards the end of the war.
After Atlanta fell on 2 Sep 1864 and into November 1864 many of the Prisoners at Andersonville, those who were strong enough and able to be moved, were sent to POW Camps at Millen, Ga. and Florence, S.C. where they received much better care. This was due to the threat imposed by Sherman`s army to liberate Andersonville. When it was presumed that Sherman was not likely to send forces from Savannah to Andersonville then the Confederate government began to repopulate the Prison Camp during the siege of Savannah in Dec 1864, as referenced by Cobb above in the communique, and remained fully operational again until May 1865.