A while back after I first joined this list (about two weeks ago) I asked if there was a list of prisioners so I could find out if my relative was a prisioner there. Some wrote back that there was a list of those who died there but no one seemed to know if there existed a general list of internees. I sometimes employ a researcher in Washington who does lookups for me, so I asked him the same question. Today he sent in the mail the following pamplet. I do not think it is copywrited for it is a govenment publication. If anyone would like the name of this guy, (his costs are extremely reasonable and he is quick and thorough) I will be glad to give it anyone off list. I am sending this in pieces for when I tried to send it yesterday, it didn't get through, perhaps it was too big? There may be a few typos for I scanned and OCRed it: SELECTED RECORDS OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT COMMISSARY GENERAL OF PRISONERS RELATING TO FEDERAL PRISONERS OF WAR CONFINED AT ANDERSONVILLE, GEORGIA, 1864-65 On the six rolls of this microfilm publication, M1303, are reproduced registers, lists, returns, reports, and indexes relating to Federal prisoners of war confined by Confederate authorities in the prison at Camp Sumter, Andersonville, GA, February 1864-April 1865. More specifically, these records include a register of departures of Federal prisoners of war from Andersonville, two registers (original and copy) of admittances to the prison hospital, a register of Federal prisoners confined at the prison hospital, two registers (original and copy) of Federal prisoners' deaths and burials, six burial lists of Federal prisoners, and two lists of Federal prisoners claiming reimbursement for money taken from them by Confederate prison officials. The records also include two series of consolidated monthly strength reports (original and copy) of Federal prisoners held at Andersonville, a series of provision returns of the prison hospital, a name index to the original hospital register of admittances, and a partial name index to one of the burial lists. Except for those burial lists of Federal prisoners which were compiled by Union soldiers at Andersonville, the records were either created by Confederate authorities at Andersow,ille or after the Civil War by War Department clerks in Washington, DC. These records are part of the Records of the Commissary General of Prisoners, Record Group (RG) 249. Background Located a few miles northeast of Americus in south-central Georgia, Andersonville, the largest of the many Confederate military prisons established during the Civil War, was part of the cantonment at Camp Sumter, Georgia. The prison was built in early 1864 after Confederate officials decided to move the large number of Federal prisoners held in and around Richmond to a place of greater security and more abundant food. During the 14 months the prison existed, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined there. Of these, almost 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding, or exposure to the elements. The Andersonville prison pen initially covered about 16 1/2 acres of land enclosed by a 15-foot-high stockade of hewed pine logs. It was enlarged to 26 1/2 acres in June 1864. The prison proper was in the shape of a parallelogram 1,620 feet long and 779 feet wide. Sentry boxes, or "pigeon-roosts" as the prisoners called them, stood at 30-yard intervals along the top of the stockade. Inside, about 19 feet from the wall, was the "deadline," which the prisoners were forbidden to cross upon threat of death. Two entrances, the North Gate and the South Gate, were on the west side of the stockade. Eight small earthen forts located around the exterior of the prison were eguipped with artillery to put down disturbances within the compound and to defend against feared Union cavalry attacks. In late February 1864 the Confederate War Department selected Col. Alexander W. Persons to command Camp Sumter; Brig. Gen. John Winder succeeded Persons in June 1864 and held the position during the terrible summer months. In October Col. George C. Gibbs replaced General Winder and remained commanding officer of Camp Sumter until the spring of 1865. The difficult position of commandant of the prison itself, by far the most important component of Camp Sumter, fell to Capt. Henry Wirz, formerly of the 4th Louisiana Infantry, who arrived in late March 1864. To assist Wirz in maintaining order at the prison was a large guard made up of troops of the 55th, 56th, and 57th Georgia Infantry; lst-4th Georgia Reserve Regiments; 26th Alabama Infantry; and the Leon Florida Artillery. The size of this Confederate guard fluctuated; during August 1864 it had a mean strength of 3,755. The first prisoners were brought to Andersonville in February 1864. During the next few months approximately 400 more arrived each day until, by the end of June, some 26,000 men were confined in a prison area originally intended to hold 10,000. The largest number held at any one time (in August 1864) was more than 32,000. The Confederate authorities organized the Federal prisoners into squads of 270 and divided each squad into three messes of 90 men each for the purpose of receiving rations. The prisoners split themselves into smaller messes of 12, 16, or 20 to achieve a better distribution of rations. Handicapped by deteriorating economic conditions, an inadequate transportation system, and the need to concentrate all available resources on its army, the Confederate Government was unable to provide adequate housing, food, clothing, and medical care to their Federal captives. These conditions, along with a breakdown of the prisoner exchange system, created much suffering and a high mortality rate. When Gem. William T. Sherman's Union forces occupied Atlanta on September 2, 1864, bringing Federal cavalry columns within easy striking distance of Andersonville, Confederate authorities moved most of the prisoners to other camps in South Carolina and coastal Georgia. From October 1864 until April 1865, Andersonville was operated on a smaller basis. Andersonville prison ceased to exist in April-May 1865. When the war ended Captain Wirz was arrested and charged with conspiring with high Confederate officials to "impair and injure the health and destroy the lives . . . of Federal prisoners" and "murder, in violation of the laws of war." Although it is unlikely that such a conspiracy existed, public anger and indignation throughout the North over the conditions at Andersonville demanded appeasement. Tried and found guilty by a military tribunal, Wirz was hanged in Washington, DC, on November 10, 1865. end of part one