Andersonville Prison

Andersonville National Historic Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
U.S. National Historic Site
Reconstruction of a section of the stockade wall
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Location	Macon / Sumter counties, Georgia, United States
Nearest city	Andersonville, Georgia, Americus, Georgia
Coordinates	32°11′41″N 84°07′44″W / 32.19472°N 84.12889°W / 32.19472; -84.12889
Area	514 acres (208 ha)[3]
Visitation	1,436,759 (2011)[4]
Website	Andersonville National Historic Site
NRHP reference No.	70000070[1][2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 16, 1970
Designated NHS	October 16, 1970

The Andersonville National Historic Site, located near Andersonville, Georgia, preserves the former Andersonville Prison (also known as Camp Sumter), a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp during the final fourteen months of the American Civil War. Most of the site lies in southwestern Macon County, adjacent to the east side of the town of Andersonville. The site also contains the Andersonville National Cemetery and the National Prisoner of War Museum. The prison was created in February 1864 and served until April 1865.

The site was commanded by Captain Henry Wirz, who was tried and executed after the war for war crimes. The prison was overcrowded to four times its capacity, and had an inadequate water supply, inadequate food, and unsanitary conditions. Of the approximately 45,000 Union prisoners held at Camp Sumter during the war, nearly 13,000 (28%) died. The chief causes of death were scurvy, diarrhea and dysentery.