What was the largest Confederate prisoner-of-war camp for Union soldiers?

Andersonville Prison was the largest Confederate prisoner-of-war camp for Union soldiers. Officially called Camp Sumter, it opened near Andersonville, Georgia, in February 1864 as the Confederacy struggled to house the growing number of captured Union troops.

The prison was designed for far fewer men than it eventually held. During its roughly fourteen months of operation, about 45,000 Union soldiers were confined there, with the population reaching roughly 33,000 at one time. Overcrowding, contaminated water, inadequate food, exposure, and disease produced catastrophic mortality; nearly 13,000 prisoners died.

Andersonville is often confused with Camp Douglas, which was a Union-run prison in Chicago that held Confederate prisoners. Belle Isle and Libby Prison were also Confederate facilities, but they were smaller and had different roles. After the war, the site became Andersonville National Cemetery and later the National Prisoner of War Museum. The camp’s commandant, Henry Wirz, was tried and executed in 1865, making Andersonville a lasting symbol of Civil War captivity and suffering.