Andersonville Raiders The Andersonville Raiders were a band of rogue soldiers incarcerated at the Confederate Andersonville Prison during the American Civil War . Led by their chieftains – Charles Curtis , John Sarsfield , Patrick Delaney , Teri Sullivan ( aka " WR Rickson " , according to other sources ) , William Collins , and A . Munn – these soldiers terrorized their fellow prisoners , robbing their possessions and sometimes even committing murder . An internal force of soldiers with a policing role , called the " Regulators " , was eventually formed to counter the Raiders ' theft and violence . In the early summer of 1864 , leading members were finally brought to trial . On July 11 , 1864 , six of the Raiders ' leaders were hanged , concluding the group ' s control of the Confederate prison . Historical context . Formally called " Camp Sumter " , Andersonville ( as it was later named by prisoners ) was established in February 1864 in the small town of Andersonville , Georgia . The camp was established in response to a surplus in prisoners - of - war ( POWs ) that was the result of a breakdown in POW exchanges in 1863 . The surplus had led to overcrowding in Confederate - run POW camp s across the northern part of the Confederacy , particularly in the Richmond camps . As a result , the Confederacy needed to create a large Southern prison that could handle a considerable population of inmates . Andersonville , Georgia , was chosen as a strategic location for the Confederacy ' s new prison due to its small location and close proximity to fresh water and railroad . Originally about , the camp would later be expanded to . The entire camp was surrounded by a high stockade , with large guard towers known as " pigeon roosts " located every 30 yards . Located about from the stockade was a smaller fence called the " dead line " ( so termed because any prisoner who crossed this fence would be shot ) . Its creators built Andersonville not for quality but with the dual priorities of preventing escape and enabling as many prisoners as possible to be housed within the new camp . No wooden barracks were built ; prisoners were required to live in self - built tents . At its height in August 1864 , the camp housed over 30 , 000 Union prisoners of war . Prison conditions . Conditions at Andersonville were among the worst of all Civil War prison camps ; the camp was extremely overcrowded and starvation was a common cause of death . The overcrowding , coupled with unsanitary conditions , caused illnesses to flourish within the camp . When food was available , prisoners would often suffer from diseases caused by contaminated food and water . Dysentery , scurvy , and gangrene became prolific as a result of the harsh conditions and poor quality of food . In addition to the severe health issues , records indicate that guards often behaved sadistically , sometimes killing prisoners regardless of whether they were breaking camp rules or crossing over the " dead line " . Contributing to the fearsome conditions were the Andersonville Raiders , who used theft , murder , and terror to obtain goods and power within the prison . Organization and methods . " The Raiders " , as they were called within the camp , were known throughout Andersonville for their harsh tactics and vicious behavior towards their fellow inmates . According to John McElroy , the Raiders used various methods to get what they wanted , ranging from " sneak thievery to highway robbery " . The group ' s most common method of stealing food and goods involved looking out for " promising subjects " in crowds of new prisoners ; tricking their targets by pretending to help them find a good place to sleep ; and then beating and robbing them . Another of the Raiders ' favored techniques involved sending out teams of spies to track down prisoners suspected of having valuables which could be traded to camp guards . After determining that a prisoner had something of value , the Raiders would wait for him to fall asleep and would then raid his tent . If the prisoner awoke during the robbery , the raiders would threaten him with death if he tried to resist . The Raiders were well organized and had many members who performed a variety of tasks . It is unclear exactly how many members the group had ; some sources put membership at 50 , while others propose numbers as high as 500 . The best estimate is that the Raiders consisted of at least 100 regular members , as well as a number of others who would do favors for the group or provide assistance in exchange for compensation . The group was centrally organized around its six most important members , known as the " chieftains " : Charles Curtis , John Sarsfield , Patrick Delaney , Teri Sullivan ( or W . R . Rickson , according to other sources ) , William Collins , and A . Munn . According to Futch , each of the leaders had henchmen who were organized into groups named after the leaders , such as " Collins ' Raiders " and " Curtis ' Raiders " . As a result of their widespread thievery , the Raiders were well stocked and enjoyed considerably better living conditions than their fellow prisoners . They possessed a variety of weapons , ranging from axes to bowie knives . They were also well fed , which gave them a major advantage when it came to fighting ; many of their victims were suffering from malnutrition , and consequently were considerably weaker and less able to defend themselves . In addition , for living quarters , the Raiders were able to build a tent that was large enough to fit over one hundred men , constructed mostly with stolen materials . Given the harsh conditions , overcrowding , and scarcity of basic items needed for survival within Andersonville , the Raiders ' actions often resulted in dire consequences for their victims . When the Raiders stole from a person , they would put that person at risk of dying as an indirect or direct result of the robbery . For example , according to former prisoner Warren Goss , in an autobiography of his time spent at Andersonville , the indirect effect of the Raiders " [ s ] tealing blankets from boys unaccustomed to hardships was downright murder " , because the victim would then be exposed to the " chill dews of evening and the frequent rains . . . and was sure to sicken and die " . Death could also result more directly from the Raiders ' actions , as when a prisoner attempted to resist being robbed by the Raiders , and was murdered in the process . Another account of life at Andersonville describes one such occurrence : " one poor fellow came to an untimely death at their [ the Raiders ' ] hands . . . because he showed resistance to their inhuman attempts " . While resistance to the Raiders ' actions could prove deadly , it also was sometimes effective . Victims – particularly new inmates – would often be awoken in the middle of the night with a knife to their throat , with their attackers threatening to cut their throat if they moved . Nevertheless , some victims succeeded in defending themselves from these attacks and escaping . John McElroy describes one such event , in which a young man was attacked by eleven Raiders but managed to escape by hitting one of his attackers in the head with a spade ; the attacker was knocked down and his fellow Raiders retreated . It was common for the Raiders to retreat as soon as they realized a form of significant resistance was at hand . While resistance had the potential to be successful , the camp ' s prisoners needed the motivation to fight the Raiders , and this proved to be a major barrier . The prisoners were suffering from widespread disease , starvation , and the effects of the other harsh conditions within the camp . In contrast to the well - fed , well - stocked , and well - organized Raiders , the prisoners ' physical capabilities for resistance , and their abilities to sustain a motivated , organized resistance effort , were significantly weakened . However , by mid - June 1864 , the prisoners decided that they could no longer tolerate the Raiders ' terrorization and control over Andersonville in addition to the constant threats they also experienced from the camp ' s guards and the constant risk of death due to the conditions within the camp . They organized to bring their complaints to Confederate authorities , and they also formed an inner prison police force to defend against and capture the Raiders . Defense against the Raiders . The first organized resistance efforts within Andersonville involved small groups of prisoners - usually members of the same platoon or squadron – forming together in defense against the Raiders . The groups would agree that if one of their members were attacked , he would scream out an agreed - upon code word ; the other members of the group would then come to the victim ' s defense and would scare away the attackers . For example , members of the Plymouth Squad would yell " Plymouth ! " when being attacked , and all of the other members of the squad would come to their rescue . McElroy also describes a similar situation in which a victim would scream " Raiders ! " and the prisoners around him would attack the robbers . However , in order to defeat the Raiders , the prisoners would have to become more organized , and would also need some sort of backing from the Confederate authorities . On June 29 , 1864 , a prisoner named Dowd was beaten severely by two Raiders , and had some of his valuables ( including a watch and money ) stolen . After his attack , Dowd went immediately to the front gate of the prison in order to confront the Confederate guards and demand justice . His complaints caught the interest of Andersonville ' s head official , Captain Henry Wirz . After hearing Dowd ' s story , Wirz announced that he would cut off all rations until the Raiders were turned in . As a result of Wirz ' s actions , an internal police force , commonly known as " the Regulators " , was quickly organized within the camp . The Regulators were not new to the camp , but they became significantly more powerful after Dowd ' s case was brought to Captain Wirz . According to McElroy , a small band of soldiers calling themselves the Regulators had previously existed within the camp ; prior to Wirz ' s involvement , their actions were limited to beating Raiders who attacked other prisoners . However , after Wirz became involved , permission to organize a police force was given the inmates , and the Regulators began to make arrests and hold the individuals they arrested until they were given a fair trial . The Regulators were also given additional powers beyond the ability to arrest and hold suspects . According to the diary of a prisoner named John Ransom , Captain Wirz gave the internal police force permission to set up a court and put offenders on trial . Wirz also gave the Regulators full permission to administer any punishments they deemed necessary , from more minor penalties such as lashings or public humiliation , to death by hanging . Arrest and punishment . Most of the Regulators ' arrests of suspected Raiders took place between June 29 and July 10 , 1864 , when the main offenders were tried and hanged . The Regulators were able to round up most of the Raiders by attacking them at their headquarters ; while the Raiders put up considerable resistance , they were overthrown by the Regulators . In his diary , Ransom notes that the first night of arrests were successful because , " thirty or forty of the worst characters in camp had been taken outside " . Ransom also notes that it was very difficult to protect the captured Raiders from being lynched , rather than being given a fair trial as promised . Estimates of how many Raiders were arrested vary from source to source , but the number is likely to be somewhere between 75 ( according to what Ransom believed ) and 150 ( as estimated by McElroy ) . After the Raiders ' arrests , as promised by Captain Wirz , the offenders were put on trial for their crimes against their fellow prisoners . The court was set up much like a typical court , including a judge and jury of the offenders ' peers . Of those who were convicted by the court , many were given relatively light sentences , such as " setting in the stocks , strung up by the thumbs , thumb screws , head hanging , etc . " Another of the lesser punishments was the running of the gauntlet . Those sentenced to this punishment were forced to run through a gauntlet of inmates who were given clubs and allowed to hit the offenders as they ran by . In some cases , the Raiders running the gauntlet were able to escape with just a few blows to the head , but a few were beaten so badly that they died as a result of their injuries . While most of the convicted Raiders received non - lethal punishments , six members , who were considered the group ' s leaders , were given the most severe punishment : death by hanging . The six leaders – Sarsfield , Collins , Curtis , Delaney , Munn , and Sullivan – were executed on July 11 , 1864 , on a set of gallows that was built that day . On the way to the gallows , Curtis escaped from his rope ties and fled , but was caught by the police and returned to the gallows . Each man was given time to say some last words before he was hanged . Munn expressed great remorse for his acts and hoped that God would show him mercy ; Collins pleaded for mercy from the crowd and claimed that he was innocent ; and Sarsfield gave a long speech in which he , too , expressed some regret . Delaney and Curtis , however , showed no contrition ; Delaney went so far as to say that he would " rather be hanged than live here [ in Andersonville ] " . All six were buried separately from the rest of those who died at the camp . Their execution marked the end of the Raiders ' reign over Andersonville .