Alan J.Pitts
Re: Camp Douglas
Tue Jun 12 00:06:35 2001


The major difference between Northern and Southern prisons has to do with supply and ability to provide. Southern troops in the field were often starving and without adequate medical care; the same was true for Federal prisoners at Andersonville and elsewhere. Northern troops normally had more than enough to eat and were blessed with an abundance of clothing and 'creature comforts". However, Southern prisoners were treated with callous disregard when it came to providing simple necessities such as blankets to cover freezing men housed along the Great Lakes. Soldiers who had been through any number of trying experiences in the army often lasted just a few weeks once they fell into Federal hands.