[ Photographs ] (Civil War) Andersonville Prison Archive relating to the Confederate death camp at Anderson, Georgia, featuring 7 rare tographs by A. J. Riddle, 3 of them showing the interior of the camp with prisoners's tents, another shot of the

[ Photographs ] (Civil War) Andersonville Prison Archive relating to the Confederate death camp at Anderson, Georgia, featuring 7 rare tographs by A. J. Riddle, 3 of them showing the interior of the camp with prisoners's tents, another shot of the Stockade and Dead Line, a view from the Main Gate with prisoners awaiting rations, the prison graveyard, and a grim image titled "How They Buried Them"; 3 photographs by Alexander Gardner of the Washington, D. C. hanging of Major Henry Wirz, the commander of Andersonville, comprising a print showing reporters gathered to witness the execution, another of Wirz being fitted with the noose, and, last, the trap being released beneath him. Albumen prints, the Andersonville images, 3 x 4.75 inches or the reverse, 5 with highlighting, all on the original mounts with Riddle's credit, the date, copyright and title printed on mount recto and an ex-collection handstamp on mount verso; the Gardner's, 8.5 x 6. 5 inches and the reverse, one mounted, and with later penciled, notations on verso or mount verso. 1864-65 E12000-18000 The Site Of 13 000 Union Prisoners's Deaths, the infamous Andersonville had the dubious distinction of being the largest and most inhumane of the Civil War's prisons. By early 1864, the Confederates had become eager to remove their prisons from the capital of Richmond, and chose the site of Anderson, Georgia as the site for their new stockade. The sixteen-acre corral, originally designed for 10,000 inmates, held close to 33,000 men by the end of six months time. In addition, under the direction of Captain Henry Wirz, an "Ill-tempered and profane" German (who was also resentful of having never been made a General), conditions at Andersonville rapidly deteriorated Scurvy, starvation, and cruelty (Confederate guards were known to occasionally shoot prisoners who crossed the "Deadline") were only a few of Andersonville's horrors. While Wirz was relieved of his post in June of 1864, it is telling that he was the only Confederate officer brought to trial for war crimes at the end of the Civil War. The photographic archive is from the descendant of a Union army prisoner who was held at Andersonville from December 1864 to May 1865 It also contains: I. Two hand-drawn period maps of Andersonville by Warren Lee Goss, a prisoner at Andersonville for nine months, and author of the book The Soldier's Story Of his Captivity At Andersonville, Belle Isle and Other Rebel Prisons (Boston, 1867); 18 x 12 and 12 x 11.5 inches, in pencil and ink. Late 1860s. II. Warren Lee Goss's book. 8vo, cloth, shaken and worn. III. Typed transcript of Goss's notes on Riddle's Andersonville photographs. IV Drawing, possibly from Andersonville, of a Confederate flag with a skull and vulture resting on its surface. Watercolor on paper, 5.75 inches square. V Group of nineteen photographs of Civil War prisons, most copy prints of Riddle's images, as well as photographs of "Castle Thunder," and one of Belle Plain, Virginia. Albumen prints, various sizes, many with handwritten or typewritten caption labels affixed to verso or mount verso, 1860s-1900 VI. Scott & O'Shaughnessy Photographs auction catalog, dated September 24, 1915 8vo, printed wrappers. New York, 1915 (The Andersonville archive was purchased at this sale.) VII. Contemporary notarized statement of the archive's provenance.