ANDERSONVILLE: the story of rebel military prisons. by John McElroy, Late of Col. L 16th Ills. Cav. 1879 first edition, red cover. Published by D.R. Locke, Toledo. From title page: "Fifteen months a guest of the so-called Southern Confederacy. A private soldier's experience in Richmond, Andersonville, Savannah, Millen, Blackshear, and Florence. The Andersonville prison for Federal soldiers was notorious for its harsh conditions; of 45,000 prisoners (4 times its capacity and a population greater than that of many U.S. cities at that time), nearly 13,000 died. There was little food, not much shelter, and poor water. The prison was established near the end of the Civil War and lasted less than 2 years, its warden being hanged for his offenses in 1865. The account details the grim life of the captives; their sometimes brutal, even fatal, treatment by their captors; their longing for escape and attempts to get out; and their failures. Included also are accounts of other rebel prisons. There are 655 +xxx pages, 154 illustrations (listed by page number) of prison features and conditions, inmates, and their captors. One shows an overview of the stockade interior. Size is 6 in. x 9 in. and 2 in. thick.The narrative is divided into 83 chapters as an important work of American history--or of any analysis of incarceration. The prison site is now included in the Andersonville National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service as is the nearby Andersonville National Cemetery where many of the former inmates are interred.
Condition: All pages are intact, with some foxing and smudging; there is a tear on page 33 with nothing missing. The book is rebound in a red cloth cover and the binding is tight, with a sticker on the inside back cover from Herman Bindery dated May, 1965. A curiosity is an inscription on the front of the first original page in the book (with the back of this page a scene showing a view of part of the camp and its occupants) that is dated April 13, 1876, which was before the book was copyrighted in 1878. There is another signature on a front page apparently added after the re-binding. This book has been in a private collection some 50 years.
ISBN: None. Lister's #: VINT3750 cloth.