Andersonville Prison Camp...?

Question

Did the prisoners of the Andersonville Prison Camp get a chance to write to their families? What exactly is the Deadline also...I kno it was basically like suicide...but can someone else explain it to me better?

Answer 1

As prisoners of war they might have had an opportunity to write to their families but the conditions were so poor that they might not received them or the strength to write them. There was little food and they were drinking their own urine to get something to drink. The Deadline was a artificial boundary made by the Confederates because there were no bars nor gates and if a prisoner would step over the Deadline they would be shot and killed. It was like hell on earth. The Confederate warden would be found guilty of war crimes and be executed by hanging.(Henry Wurz)