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Title: Andersonvilles of the North

Subtitle: The Myths and Realities of Northern Treatment of Civil War Confederate Prisoners

Author: James M. Gillispie

Narrator: Randall R. Berner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-18-17

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

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 listener 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. In fact, likely the most significant single factor in Confederate (and all) prisoner mortality during the Civil War was the halting of the prisoner exchange cartel in the late spring of 1863. Though Northern officials have long been condemned for coldly calculating that doing so aided their war effort, the evidence convincingly suggests that the South's staunch refusal to exchange black Union prisoners was actually the key sticking point in negotiations to resume exchanges from mid-1863 to 1865.

History/Military Book Club Selection. The book is published by University of North Texas Press.

Critic Reviews:

"Andersonvilles of the North is an outstanding work of Civil War history." (Steven E. Woodworth, author of Jefferson Davis and His Generals)

"Will become a major work in the field of Civil War prisons for years to come." (Journal of Illinois History)

"An important addition to our understanding of the prisoner-of-war issue." (North Carolina Historical Review)

Members Reviews:

Solid Addition to the Literature

A well researched scholarly work. Yet I couldn't quite get past the notion that he was cherry picking some of his facts. Some of that is a matter of scale. An overview of all the northern prisons can't go into the detail of books about specific prisons, such as Elmira, Camp Chase and Camp Douglas, all of which I have read. That there were numerous instances of mistreatment and cruelty is indisputable. That it was official US government policy is very much disputable. Dr. Gillispie does a solid job of shooting down that southern myth. Yet that nagging cherry picking gut feeling persists. Anyone who is aware of the repressive and often draconian Union policies in captured and disputed areas of the south, as well as with northern dissenters, will likely have a hard time digesting the postulate of a fair-minded Union policy towards captured Confederates. Nevertheless, this is an excellent well researched and documented book, a solid addition to the literature and a solid five stars.

Perhaps the worst event in all of American history

Actually 4.5 stars.....we hear about Confederate camps (such as Andersonville), but what of Union camps? I do not believe that Confederate prisoners of war were deliberately mistreated, but conditions were harsh due to logistical limitations. The American Civil War was a bloody, brutal and ugly affair.