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Civil War Prison Camps

The current special selection features books about the prisons of the Civil War and the men who occupied or ran them. The most famous (or infamous) was the Confederate prison near Andersonville, Georgia. There were of course many others, maintained by both the Union and the Confederacy. Some of the books below provide the first hand accounts of men who were in the prisons, while others provide a look at the Civil War prisons from a historical perspective. We hope you find something of interest.


Revised May 3, 2008

Captain Henry Wirz and Andersonville Prison: A Reappraisal.

R. Fred Ruhlman

The University of Tennessee Press, 2006. Dust jacket. $34.95

An analysis that will aid readers in reaching their own conclusions about the infamous prison warden and his his time at the most motorious Confederate Prison. Ruhlman goes beyond merely examining the trial of Wirz - which resulted in Wirz's execution - and presents his story and that of Andersonville in an engaging and thoughtful treatment.

  1. Adamson, Augustus Pitt. Sojourns of a Patriot: The Field and Prison Papers of an Unreconstructed Confederate. Edited with commentary by Richard Bender Abell and Fay Adamson Gecik. Adamson served in Company E, 30th Georgia Volunteer Infantry, seeing action at the siege of Savannah, campaigning in the Carolinas and Florida, wounded at Chickamauga, before his capture at Calhoun and imprisonment at Rock Island. Southern Heritage Press, 1998. Dust jacket. $26.95

  2. Blakey, Arch Fredric. General John H. Winder, C.S.A. Winder commanded Richmond and then was known as the "beast" of Andersonville Prison. University of Florida Press, 1990. Dust jacket. $29.95

  3. SOLD Boaz, Thomas M. Libby Prison and Beyond: A Union Staff Officer in the East, 1862-1865. A vivid picture of nine months of life in that converted warehouse - from diary and letters of a man who was there. Burd Street Press, 1999. Dust jacket. $24.95

  4. SOLD Boggs, S.S. - Eighteen Months a Prisoner under the Rebel Flag -A condensed pen picture of Belle Island , Danville, Andersonville, Charleston, Florence and Libby Prisons from Actual Experience.1887. Illus. 96 pages. Wrps, covers torn, in clamshell box. $50.00

  5. Booth, Benjamin F. and Steve Meyer. Dark Days of the Rebellion: Life in Southern Military Prisons. Meyer Pub. (1995). 261p. $24.95.

  6. Browne, Junius Henri. Four Years in Secessia: Adventures Within and Beyond the Union Lines: Embracing a Great Variety of Facts, Incidents, and Romance of the War. Including the Author's capture at Vicksburg, May 3, 1863, while running the Rebel Batteries . . . The author later escaped and made his way to the Union lines. Illustrated. Previous owner's name on title page. 1st edition. O. D. Case and Co., 1865. Brown cloth with gilt lettering, worn on edges. $60.00

  7. Bryant, William O. Cahaba Prison and the Sultana Disaster. The story of the little-known prisoner-of-war camp on the banks of the Alabama River near Selma where 5,000 Union soldiers were interned. After surviving imprisonment and a forced march overland to the Mississippi River, they were to die in the worst accident of its type in U.S. history. 1st paperbound printing. University of Alabama Press, 2001. Soft cover. $19.95

  8. Burnham, Philip. So Far From Dixie: Confederates in Yankee Prisons. The gripping tale of five men who were sent to New York's infamous POW camp, Elmira, and survived to document their stories. Taylor Trade Publishing, 2003. Dust jacket. $25.00

  9. Casstevens, Frances H. "Out of the Mouth of Hell" : Civil War Prisons and Escapes. Twenty-seven histories of men held in prisons - captured on the battlefield as well as political prisoners - rich in detail of the escapes and conditions inside the prisons. McFarland & Co., 2005. Pictorial casebound. $55.00

  10. Cheairs, Major N. F. I'll Sting if I Can: The Life and Prison Leters of Major N. F. Cheairs C.S.A. Edited by Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes, Jr. A member of the 3rd Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, Cheairs spent two years at Fort Warren and Camp Chase. Mountain Press, 1998. Casebound. $24.95

  11. SOLD Christian, Geo. L. Official Report of the History Committee of the Grand Camp, C. V., on the Treatment and Exchange of Prisoners. Wrps, cover loose. 1902. $35.00.

  12. Clark, Reuben, G. Valleys of the Shadow: The Memoir Confederate Captain Reuben G. Clark. Edited by Willene B. Clark. Recollections of a soldier who fought in the Vicksburg campaign, but later spent time in the Knoxville prison. 1st edition. University of Tennessee Press, 1994. Dust jacket. $26.00

  13. Connecticut. Dedication of the Monument at Andersonville Georgia, October 23, 1907, In Memory of the Men of Connecticut who Suffered in Southern Military Prisons. 1st ed., 1908, 73p. $50.00

  14. Cooper, Alonzo. In and Out of Rebel Prisons.Reprint. Time Life Books, 1981. Blue embossed leatherette. $26.50.

  15. Denney, Robert E. Civil War Prisons and Escapes - A Day-by-Day Chronicle New York (1993) First Edition $24.95

  16. Domschcke, Bernhard. Twenty Months in Captivity: Memoirs of a Union Officer in Confederate Prisons.Ed. and translated by Frederic Trautmann. Fairleigh Dickenson University Press (1987), 175 p. Dust jacket. $29.50

  17. SOLD Dufur, S. M. Co. B 1st Vermont Cavalry Over the Deadline or Tracked by Blood-Hounds (Burlington, Vt. : 1902) First Edition 283 pps. 200.00 Author's personal experience during eleven months that he was confined in Pemberton, Libby, Belle Island, Andersonville, Ga., and Florence S.C., as a prisoner of war. Describing plans of escape, arrival of prisoners, his escape and recapture

  18. SOLD Estabrooks, Henry L. Adrift in Dixie: or A Yankee Officer Among the Rebels. Introduction by Edmund Kirke. Story of a lieutenant in the 26th Massachusetts Infantry regiment who was captured by Berryville and sent to Libby Prison and later escaped. Previous owner's signature with 1866 date. Missing back loose endsheet and minor staining. 1st edition. Carleton, Publisher, 1866. Dark embossed cloth with minor wear. $75.00

  19. SOLD Fetzer, Dale & Bruce Mowday. Unlikely Allies: Fort Delaware's Prison Community in the Civil War. 1st edition.Stackpole Books, 2000. Dust jacket. $24.95

  20. Unlikely Allies Fetzer, Dale & Bruce Mowday. Unlikely Allies: Fort Delaware's Prison Community in the Civil War. Certain there was suffering, injustice, and death at Fort Delaware. But a thorough examination of the facts simply cannot corroborate the tales of horror that have become the prison's legacy. Making use of the rolls, death rates, and other newly discovered primary sources at Fort Delaware, authors Dale Fetzer and Bruce Mowday paint a markedly different picutre of the prison: that a group of men and women determined to carve out a community, not only to survive, but to thrive in spite of the harsh conditions. It is a story of people whose lives were forever altered by war and, in an ironic twist of fate, were forced to live on an island with the enemy and remain at peace. 1st edition.Stackpole Books, 2000. Soft cover. $17.95

  21. Forbes, Eugene. Death Before Dishonor: The Andersonville Diary of Eugene Forbes, 4th New Jersey Infantry. Ed. by William B. Styple. Belle Grove Pub. (1995). 206p. Dust jacket.$25.00

  22. SOLD Frost, Griffin. Camp and Prison Journal. Camp Pope Bookshop, 1994. 315p. Dust jacket. $35.00

  23. Futch, Ovid L. History of Andersonville Prison (1988) Reprint, Paperback. $14.98

  24. SOLD Futch, Ovid L. History of Andersonville Prison (1974) Reprint 30.00

  25. SOLD Geer, Captain J.J. Beyond the Lines - A Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie (1864) 285 pgs $115.00 Captured at Shiloh, tried before Bragg and Beauregard "on the most frivilous of charges" chained with negro chains and cast into military prisons and common jails, escaped, lived in swamps, aides by slaves, recaputred, imprisoned and later exchanged. (from preface)

  26. SOLD Genoways, Ted and Hugh H. Genoways. A Perfect Picture of Hell: Eyewitness Accounts by Civil War Prisoners from the 12th Iowa. A collection of harrowing narratives by soliders from the 12th Iowa Infantry who survived imprisonment in the South during the Civil War. The editors have collected the soldiers' accounts from diaries, letters, speeches, newspaper articles and rememberances. University of Iowa Press, 2001. Dust jacket. $42.95

  27. Genoways, Ted and Hugh H. Genoways. A Perfect Picture of Hell: Eyewitness Accounts by Civil War Prisoners from the 12th Iowa. A collection of harrowing narratives by soliders from the 12th Iowa Infantry who survived imprisonment in the South during the Civil War. The editors have collected the soldiers' accounts from diaries, letters, speeches, newspaper articles and rememberances. University of Iowa Press, 2001. Soft cover. $19.95

  28. Gindlesperger, James. Escape From Libby Prison. Burd Street Press (1996). 254p. Dust jacket. $24.95

  29. Gray, Michael P. The Business of Captivity: Elmira and its Civil War Prison. A valuable and important study on a controversial issue - the treatment of prisoners of war. Kent State University Press, 2001. Dust jacket. $35.00

  30. Hall, James R. Den of Misery: Indiana's Civil War Prison. Story of Camp Morton Pelican Publishing, 2006. Dust jacket. $25.00

  31. Hanaford, Mrs. P. A. Field, Gunboat, Hospital, and Prison; or, Thrilling Records of the Heroism, Endurance, and Patriotism, displayed in the Union Army and Navy during the Great Rebellion. C. M. Dinsmoor & Co., 1866. $75.00

  32. SOLD Hesseltine, William B., ed. Civil War Prisons. Essays written by noted Civil War historians on different prisons, such as Andersonville, Fort Warren, Rock Island, Elmira and Johnson's Island. 1st printing. Kent State University Press, 1962. Tan soft cover. $15.00

  33. SOLD Hesseltine, William B. Civil War Prisons. Reprint. 1992. Soft cover. $10.00

  34. SOLD Hesseltine, William B. Civil War Prisons: A Study in War Psychology. Reprint. Ohio State University Press (1998), 290p. Dust jacket. $29.95

  35. Hitchcock, George A. From Ashby to Andersonville: The Civil War Diary and Reminiscences of Private George A. Hitchcock, 21st Massachusetts Infantry. Ed. by Ronald Watson. 1st edition. Savas Pub. Co., 1997. Dust jacket. $24.95

  36. SOLD Hopkins, Charles. The Andersonville Diary & Memoirs of Charles Hopkins, 1st New Jersey Infantry. Edited by William B. Styple and John J. Fitzpatrick. Foreword by Roger Long. Records the horror of Andersonville by one of its lucky survivors - recounted in a colorful writing style. 1st edition. Belle Grove Publishing, 1988. Dust jacket. $45.00

  37. Horigan, Michael. Elmira: Death Camp of the North. Following ten years of reseach, this book follows the gross oversights and unconscionable inactivity of the Union prison's staff. 1st edition. Stackpole Books, 2002. Dust jacket. $26.95

  38. Jervey, Edward D. Prison Life among the Rebels - Recollections of a Union Chaplin (1990) First Edition $26.00

  39. SOLD Joslyn, Mauriel Phillips Immortal Captives - The Story of Six Hundred Confederate Officers and the United States Prisoner of War Policy (1996) $29.95

  40. SOLD Joslyn, Maurial The Biographical Roster of the Immortal 600. Compaion book to the Immortal Captives, includes histories of individual lives and military service records of the 600 Confederate officers who were placed in a stockade in Charleston Harbor and later Fort Pulaski. White Mane, 1992. Soft cover. $30.00

  41. Kantor, MacKinlay. Andersonville: A Novel. 1st edition. World Publishing Co., 1955. Cloth faded, spine loose. Dust jacket, chipped, missing pieces along folds, spine. $35.00

  42. Kantor, MacKinlay. Andersonville. World Pub. Co. $25.00.

  43. Kirkland, Randolph W., Jr. Dark Hours: South Carolina Soldiers, Sailors and Citizens who were Held in Federal Prisons During the War for Southern Independence 1861-1865. After 15 years of research, Kirkland identified more than 11,200 South Carolinians held in captivity, drawing from more than 200 different sources. 1st edition. South Carolina Historical Society, 2002. Dust jacket. $45.00

  44. Knauss, William H. The Story of Camp Chase: A History of the Prison and Its Cemetery, Together with Other Cemeteries where Confederate Prisoners are Buried, etc. With a new introduction by David E. Roth. 1906 Reprint. Memorial edition. The General's Bookis, 1994. Dust jacket. $29.95

  45. Levy, George. To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65. Rev. ed. Pelican Pub. Co, 1999. Dust Jacket. $29.95

  46. Manakee, Harold R. Prison Camps in Maryland. Brief history of the various camps, including Fort McHenry and Camp Hoffman. With illustrations and drawings from actual prisoners of war. Wheeler Leaflet on Maryland History No. 21. Maryland Historical Society. Wraps. $5.00

  47. Marvel, William Andersonville: The Last Depot. Carefully researched and compelling revisionist account, a comprehensive history of the prison and conditions, based on reliable primary sources. University of North Carolina Press, 1994. Dust jacket. $37.50

  48. SOLD Mattern, Carolyn J. Soldiers When They Go - The Story of Camp Randall, 1861-1865 1981 First Edition 25.00

  49. McAdams, Benton. Rebels at Rock Island: The Story of a Civil War Prison. This volume separates truth from fiction in the story of the one of the Union's largest camps for Confederate prisoners. 1st edition. Northern Illinois University Press, 2000. Dust jacket. $32.00

  50. McElroy, John. Si Klegg: Si, Shorty and the Boys are Captured at Kenesaw and Taken to Andersonville. Book No. 7. 2nd edition revised and enlarged. National Tribune, 1916. Blue paper wraps with minor fading. $50.00

  51. McElroy, John. This was Andersonville. Edited with an introduction by Roy Meredith. The true story of Andersonville Military Prison as told in the personal recollections of John McElroy, sometime Private, Co. L. 16th Illinois Cavalry. Illustrated by Arthur Meredith, Jr. Fairfax Press, 1979. Dust jacket. $35.00

  52. Miller, E. Lynn. Fresh Fish: A Civil War Prisoner's Story. The story of a Confederate soldier, his capture and incarceration in a succession of Union prisons. McClain Printing Co., 2003. Soft cover. $12.95

  53. Oake, William Royal. On the Skirmish Line Behind a Friendly Tree: The Civil War Memoirs of William Royal Oake, 26th Iowa Volunteers. Edited by Stacy Dale Allen. The story of an eighteen year old who left the family farm to fight in over twenty major battles and was captured and became a prisoner of war. Farcountry Press, 2006. Dust jacket. $26.95

  54. O'Brien, John. Things Grew Beautifully Worse: The Wartime Experiences of Captain John O'Brien, 30th Arkansas Infantry, C.S.A. Edited by Brian K. Robertson. Includes his recollections while a prisoner in several Union prisons. The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, 2001. Soft cover. $12.50

  55. new Pickenpaugh, Roger. Camp Chase and the Evolution of Union Prison Policy. A careful, thorough, and objective examination of the history and administration of the camp will be of true significance in the literature on the Civil War. University of Alabama Press, 2007. Dust jacket. $35.00

  56. Powell, Ransom. The Civil War Memoirs of Little Red Cap: A Drummer Boy at Andersonville Prison. Edited by Harold L. Scott. 1997. Soft cover. $13.95

  57. SOLD Ransom, John L. Andersonville Diary, Escape and List of the Dead, with Name, Co., Regiment, Date of Death and No. of Grave in Cemetery. Author was with the Ninth Michigan Cavalry. 1st edition. Auburn, NY, 1881. $175.00

  58. SOLD Ransom, John. John Ransom's Andersonville Diary. With an introduction by Bruce Catton. Reprint. Paul S. Eriksson, 1986. Dust Jacket. 281 p. $35.00

  59. Richardson, Albert D. The Secret Service, the Field, the Dungeon and the Escape. Eye-witness account of a journalist's capture, life and escape from a Confederate prision. 1st edition. American Publishing Co., 1986. Leather bound, with rubbed spine. $55.00

  60. SOLD Ripple, Ezra Hoyt. Dancing Along the Deadline: The Andersonville Memoir of a Prisoner of the Confederacy. Presidio (1996), 168 p. Dust jacket. $19.95

  61. Roberts, Edward F. Andersonville Journey. Burd Street Press, (1998), 278p. Dust jacket. $29.95.

  62. Ruhlman, R. Fred. Captain Henry Wirz and Andersonville Prison: A Reappraisal. An analysis that will aid readers in reaching their own conclusions about the infamous prison warden. The University of Tennessee Press, 2006. Dust jacket. $34.95

  63. Sanders, Charles W., Jr. While in the Hands of the Enemy: Military Prisons of the Civil War. Provides a new view on the treatment of prisoners, demonstrating that leaders on both sides deliverately and systematically ordered the mistreatment of captives. 1st printing. Louisiana State University Press, 2005. Dust jacket. $44.95

  64. Segars, H. H. ed. Andersonville: The Southern Perspective. Southern Heritage Press, 1995. Wrps. Journal of Confederate History v. XIII, $16.95

  65. SOLD Smith, C. A. Recollections of Prison Life at Andersonville, Georgia and Florence, South Carolina. Ed. by Steven Fenton. Written by a member of Crocker's Iowa Brigade, Company G., 11th Iowa Volunteers. Marini Print, 1997. Soft cover. $10.00

  66. Speer, Lonnie R. Portals to Hell - Military Prisons of the Civil War Drawing on scores of previously unpublished firsthand accounts, this book presents the prisoners' experiences in great detail from an impartial perspective. T^he first comprehensive study of all major prisons, both North and South. Stackpole, 1997. Dust jacket. $34.95

  67. SOLD Speer, Lonnie R. Portals to Hell - Military Prisons of the Civil War. Drawing on scores of previously unpublished firsthand accounts, this book presents the prisoners' experiences in great detail from an impartial perspective. T^he first comprehensive study of all major prisons, both North and South. University of Nebraska Press, 2005. Soft cover. $21.95

  68. Speer, Lonnie R. War of Vengeance: Acts of Retaliation Against Civil War POWS. A study of the little-known practice of reciprocal wartime violence, focusing on the most notorious and well-documented cases of the war, illustrated his claims with the first-hand accounts of numerous prisoners. Stackpole Books, 2002. Dust jacket. $22.95

  69. SOLD State of New York Dedication of Monument erected by the State of New York at Andersonville, Georgia 1914 NY 1916 First Edition 75.00.


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