Andersonvilles of the North
Subtitle: the myths and realities of Northern treatment of Civil War Confederate prisoners
By: James M. Gillispie.
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Denton, Tex
Language: eng
Number of pages: 278
ISBN-13: 9781574412550
Subjects: United States. -- Army -- Prisons -- History -- 19th century; Military prisons -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Military prisons -- Northeastern States -- History -- 19th century; Military prisons -- Middle West -- History -- 19th century; Prisoners of war -- United States -- Mortality -- History -- 19th century; Prisoners of war -- Confederate States of America -- History -- 19th century; Prisoners of war -- United States -- History -- 19th century; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Prisoners and prisons
Description: "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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.