Andersonville

Here ya go. Taken 6/22/18:

I don't mean to give them more recognition than they deserve but this photo may help locate their position within this sprawling cemetery. I thought they were almost under a tree; you can see in @bdtex photo that they are close.

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Amazing and the National POW is there … I have photos but long ago 20 years maybe these are awesome
Did they have any of the replica walls built??
They have a section on the North side of the camp and the main gate on the West side.

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Was on a two week road trip and made a stop here for the first time. I'm surprised I didn't run into bdtex along the way since it looks like we hit some of the same spots.

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May one ask as to the reason that women are on the brick wall of this monument.Are that to depict civilians because I have not read of women prisoners at Andersonville. Are there any monuments to Southern soldiers who were at Union POW camps who endured the same treatment as these Union soldiers?
 
May one ask as to the reason that women are on the brick wall of this monument.Are that to depict civilians because I have not read of women prisoners at Andersonville. Are there any monuments to Southern soldiers who were at Union POW camps who endured the same treatment as these Union soldiers?
Good question. I guess I thought it represented loss of the loved ones.
 
I don't mean to give them more recognition than they deserve but this photo may help locate their position within this sprawling cemetery. I thought they were almost under a tree; you can see in @bdtex photo that they are close.

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Originally, the graves in the section to the right were not there. They were filled in as more and more prisoners died. The graves at the time the raiders were hanged were just past that monument on the far right.
 
Women POW's At Andersonville

Andersonville Prison in Georgia is famous for its brutal living conditions. Here are the abbreviated stories of three known women prisoners who were imprisoned in Andersonville.

One soldier, who was not discovered to be a woman until after her death, is buried in a grave marked with “Unknown”. I can’t help but wonder who this woman was. Did her family know she fought in the war? Was she missed?

The second, Florena Budwin, (it’s unknown if this is her real name) decided she didn’t want her husband to go to war alone. So, she dressed as a man and enlisted. It is believed that Florena’s husband was killed in battle, though there is speculation that he died in Andersonville by the hand of the guards. Regardless, Florena was captured and sent to Andersonville. She kept her identity hidden during her stay. It’s unknown why she decided to remain in disguise, had she told the truth she would’ve probably been released. Florena died after being transferred to Florence Stockade in Florence, SC. She was only twenty years old.

The third, Janie Hunt, married Captain Harry Hunt in the New England area. After their wedding the bride and groom, along with their wedding guests, boarded Captain Hunt’s boat for a short pleasure cruise. After a few hours, a Federal revenue cutter stopped the vessel and ordered Captain Hunt to pick up a load of corn in North Carolina. For whatever reason, all stayed aboard and sailed to North Carolina. While picking up the corn, Confederates seized the ship. The wedding guests were soon released but the new Mrs. Hunt chose to stay with her husband in hopes he’d soon be set free. Her hopes were dashed when she learned her new husband would be sent to the new prison, Andersonville. Janie Hunt was allowed, after much begging and bribing, to dress as a man and accompany her husband to prison. To help conceal her identity, the newlyweds made camp in a far corner of the open prison yard. upon their arrival to Andersonville, Janie was four months pregnant. After giving birth to a baby boy in the couple’s tent, the prison doctor heard the cry of the baby and the family was discovered. The doctor took pity on the young Hunt family and arranged for Janie and her son to stay at a local farmer’s home close to the prison. The doctor also made Captain Hunt his assistant and therefore kept him safe through the war.

Women POW's of the Civil War
 
May one ask as to the reason that women are on the brick wall of this monument.Are that to depict civilians because I have not read of women prisoners at Andersonville. Are there any monuments to Southern soldiers who were at Union POW camps who endured the same treatment as these Union soldiers?

My notes are kind of sketchy, but I think the unknown woman prisoner that Scone wrote about is in grave #101.

If you're talking about the brick wall up by the Museum, the National POW Museum is dedicated to American prisoners from all wars, and there have been female POWs in recent conflicts. Jessica Lynch is the first one to come to mind.
 
It would depend on when it went up I would say … Ask the park regardless what ever path it is its moving .. as the others … Its more part of the National POW Museum which attached to Andersonville … Visit wont be disappointed... Wish the 80 acres of hell at Camp Douglas could be viewed
 
My notes are kind of sketchy, but I think the unknown woman prisoner that Scone wrote about is in grave #101.

If you're talking about the brick wall up by the Museum, the National POW Museum is dedicated to American prisoners from all wars, and there have been female POWs in recent conflicts. Jessica Lynch is the first one to come to mind.
 
I hope y’all don’t mind if I share a couple of personal stories:

In the summer of 1961 (I was 7) my family took an epic road trip from our home in Utah through much of the country to the east of the Rockies. I was especially intrigued by the ACW sites that we visited, which we did primarily due to my mother’s love of history. One afternoon we raced to get to Andersonville before the park closed but we were too late. Undeterred, my mom took my older brother and me with her and we climbed a wall to enter the park, basically breaking into Andersonville Prison. We were punished with an intense thunderstorm and downpour that soaked us to the skin before we could get back to the car. Lesson learned: Don’t disrespect such a place.

I finally returned to Andersonville in 1998, this time while on a business trip that took me as far as Atlanta. I rented a car to make a day trip to see Kenessaw Mountain, where one ancestor saw battle, and to see Andersonville again. I had a particular interest at the time. My grandmother, who had passed away in 1995, had told me not long before she died that both of her grandfathers survived being held there. I had never heard that before.

I left my rental car at the visitor center and walked to the site of the stockade. (For those who are unfamiliar with the park, the entrance and visitor center are some distance from where the stockade was, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 mile away - someone can confirm.) I don’t recall if I was on a designated path or not but I remember ascending a small hill that rather suddenly opened onto a view of the entire little valley where the stockade occurred. I was very suddenly overcome with emotion and sat down and cried like a baby. Lesson learned: There really is something special about the place.

BTW, I never could confirm if any ancestor was held at Andersonville. I have yet to do more thorough research.
 
BTW, I never could confirm if any ancestor was held at Andersonville. I have yet to do more thorough research.

If you want to see if your ancestors were there, there is an online database of prisoners:


But bear in mind that because of bad penmanship, sketchy records, and misspellings, it is still possible that your ancestor was there, but does not appear in the database.

Good Luck!
 
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