A Richmond prisoner US. General Hospital, Div. No. 1, Annapolis, Md., Private Jackson O. Broshears (Brashears), Co. D, Indiana Mounted Infantry. Age 20 years, height 6 feet 1 inch, weight when captured, 185 lbs., was in rebel hands three and one-quarter months, 2 months of which were passed on Belle Isle. Under treatment in U.S. Hospital 8 weeks, constantly improving, now, May 19th, 1864, weighs 108-1/2 lbs. American Civil War Prison Camps were operated by both the Union and the Confederacy to handle the soldiers captured. Out of some 3.8 million combatants over 409, 000 were taken prisoner. Approximately 56, 000 soldiers died in prisons during the war, accounting for almost 10% of all Civil War fatalities. The POWs died from wounds, from infectious diseases, or from illnesses related to substandard sanitary conditions, contaminated food and water, malnutrition, and from lack of proper clothing and shelter. |