The
Confederate prison of war camp; Camp Sumter opened February 1864 near the town
of Andersonville, Georgia. It was built
on 16 acres, but would expand to 26 acres.
The land surrounded by a wooden stockade fence with a dead line located
15 feet inside of this fence. The
prisoners lived in self-made shelters and numbered over 30,000.
Among these
men were some who preyed on their fellow inmates and become known as The
Raiders. These men would find new
prisoners, promise them help finding sleeping room and other help, but instead would
beat the men and rob them. They also
used a team of spies to locate any prisoner who had anything of value, they
would then raid that prisoner’s tent and threaten them with death should they
resist. The Raiders were well organized
and numbered anywhere from 50 to around 100 men, but the six leaders were
William Collins, Charles Curtis, Patrick Delaney, A Munn, W R Riekson, and John Sarsfield. These men enjoyed a much better living
condition, with weapons, nice tents, and good food because of their thievery. Do to the lack of basic supplies available in
the camp, the thefts of The Raiders could mean death for their victims. For the most part there was so much disease,
exposure and starvation in the camp that the men The Raiders attacked couldn’t
fight back or even protect themselves. By
June of 1864 the prisoners decided enough was enough, and brought complaint
about The Raiders to Confederate authorities.
They also formed and policing unit called The Regulators to defend
themselves and capture The Raiders.
A prisoner
named Dowd was beaten and robbed on June 29th 1864. He complained of the attack to the
Confederate guards and got the attention of Confederate Captain Henry Wirz the
commander of Andersonville. Wirz
announced that all rations would be stopped until The Raiders were turned in. The Regulators rounded up men, and with
Wirz’s permission held Courts-martial trials and handed down punishments. Between June 29th and July 10th
1864 around 100 men who were part of The Raiders were rounded up and placed on
trial. Most of the men who were
convicted received punishments like running a gauntlet, setting in stock,
whippings, etc. But the six men who were
the leaders of The Raider were sentenced to death by hanging.
Collins,
Curtis, Delaney, Munn, Riekson and Sullivan were led to the gallows on July 11th
1864. Curtis slipped his ropes and tried
to run, but was quickly returned. Each
man was aloud a few last words. Collins, Munn, and Sarsfield asked for mercy
and claimed to be innocent. Curtis, Delaney
and Riekson showed no remorse; Delaney said he would “rather be hanged than
live here”. The six men were buried in
an area of camp away from all others who died there. When the graves of Andersonville are
decorated on Memorial Day with flags, the graves belonging to The Raiders are
left undecorated.
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Today he sat forlornly in the catnip bed, reminding me that next winter I will have to have some catnip indoors for him. metal fence panels
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