Pics Charge!

Don't know if this will help, but that's never stopped me before:

Jabber,

Have you seen this before:

http://images.google.com/advanced_image_search?hl=en

Jabber, I am wondering if you have ever visited Andersonville, GA.?

Who was Henry Wirz?

I knew Rick could come up with some appropriate pics! Rick, I added that Google Image Search to my Fav. links. You posted some interesting line drawings that may work better than what I had in mind. Thanks!

Mrs.M, never was at Anderson, GA. Was at a few Gettysburg, PA reenactments! I helped out on the special effects crew. We were the only guys NOT shooting blanks! One of the guys on the crew said he thinks most reenactors fall into 3 general groups: 1) Those that want to have fun! 2) Those that want to be historically accurate. and 3) Those that want to use LIVE AMMUNITION!!

Thanks for your input!

Jabbergah                                                    

Rick, Apparently this guy was in charge of a prisoner of war prison in Andersonville, GA. After the war, he was convicted of mistreatment of the union prisoners and was hanged.

Jabbergah                                                    

Correct jabber. Only person, I think, convicted of war crimes in the Civil War.

Yes, that is correct. I have visited Andersonville a couple of time. Very interesting and sad history.

The last Civil War veteran died in 1959. After Ft. Pillow, Grant stopped the exchange of prisoners. Andersonville was the result.

I'm dead (pardon pun) certain of the 1st sentence, but it's late and the rest should be researched before acceptance.

Andersonville, I think, was the 5th largest "city" in the South.

quote:

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Originally posted by Jabbergah:
I helped out on the special effects crew. We were the only guys NOT shooting blanks!

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You have a muzzle loader?

I like that one the best

Lexie

Lexie - chat?

It was so bad at Andersonville that many soldiers crossed an invisable line so they would be shot.

Sheesh, I can't even spell tonight!

There is a small creek there. It was their only water source. Because there were so many prisoners in such a small area, they poluted the creek, causing many deaths. The death squad worked 24/7.

Rick - Chat?

Lexie

Rick,

No, I don't have a muzzleloader. What we did was to answer the canons with explosions in the field and in the air. The canon guys were of course firing powder charges with no projectiles -- we'd trigger a charge so it would LOOK like they actually fired something. We weren't able to answer ALL the canon firings, just some of them. Interesting gig, though!

Jabbergah                                                    

I'll bet it was interesting, Jabber. How did you get involved?

Mrs.M,

It was a friend of a friend type deal! A friend of mine has a friend that collects civil war canons (he has over 100 I believe!). The canon guy knew a guy involved in organizing the Gettysburg reenactments. When the Gettysburg people were looking for pyro effects, the canon guy referred my friend who has experience with explosives and fireworks. I have some experience with fireworks, too. Oddly enough, most of the effects we did were actually modified fireworks devices fired differently than normally fired for displays.

So far so good! This crew has worked the gig for 4 years and hasn't blown up anybody! -- YET!

Jabbergah                                                    

quote:

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Originally posted by Bartelby:
Rick - Chat?

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Damn sleep!

quote:

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Originally posted by Jabbergah:
that collects civil war canons (he has over 100 I believe!).

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A ways back some of us were talking about buying some Civil War cannons. We did some searching on internet, but could only find little models. We came to the conclusion that they were illegal for the public. Were we mistaken?

quote:

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Originally posted by Mrs.M:
There is a small creek there. It was their only water source. Because there were so many prisoners in such a small area, they poluted the creek, causing many deaths.

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I think the prisoners called it Sweet Water Creek.

quote:

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A ways back some of us were talking about buying some Civil War cannons. We did some searching on internet, but could only find little models. We came to the conclusion that they were illegal for the public. Were we mistaken?

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Hmm...never really looked into it. I would imagine some specialized permits may be required. I'm pretty sure some deep pockets ARE required! That rules me out!

I would say it probably is quite an exclusive hobby -- not too many people are involved in it. Not like stamp or coin collecting!

Jabbergah                                                    

Rick, it is such a sad place. If you stand in the compound where they held the prisoners, you have an overwhelming feeling of their terrible suffering and grief..as if their souls were still there.

Jabber, that is very interesting. I have been to a few over the years, but not there. ....Where in the world dose he store that many cannons??

The survivors look like the Auschwitz survivors. There's pictures on internet, but not appropriate for posting.

Jabber,

We thought it might be illegal to have the cannons because the cannon balls and gun power are so readily available. Might be a little unsettling for the ATF.

In all the acreage, they were only kept on a couple. Yes, I took a lot of photos and looked at them and decided not to post them. There are actually places still there where they used a spoon to try to get to water and to tunnel out. ..You mentioned the town of Andersonville was one of the largest at the time...it is very tiny now!

The prison made Andersonville the 5th largest "city" in the South.

Oh, because they counted the prisoners! Yes, that probably would have. I was there this summer. The museum has just been completely renovated. It now includes sections on every war and conflict in the US from the Civil war forward.

The South wasn't noted for it's large cities (agricultural versus industrial), but even at that, the fact that the prison would have caused such a large population, and in a confined area, is significant.

Mrs.M,

I'm not sure, but I think I heard my friend say the canon guy stores his canons in multiple locations in the south central PA area. He's a successful business man, so he owns/rents several properties. He doesn't keep all the canons at one place. Apparently he's concerned that a castastrophic event (such as property fire) could wipe out his entire collection were he to consolidate! Not a bad strategy in my thinking!

Your description of the Andersonville prison is chilling, especially when you consider it was Americans vs. Americans. It is amazing it has been about 140 years and the Civil War history still looms large for so many people.

Jabbergah                                                    

Jabber, because it was brother against brother. And it was the most catastropic war we have fought.

Yes, that is a good idea not to keep all of them in one place.

Mrs. M is right - it was a catastropic war, at least to American standards.

2% of the total population died in the Civil War.

There were 21 million in the North, and 9 million in the South of whom 4 million were slaves.

More Americans died in the Civil War then in all the other wars combined.

That is exactly right, Rick. How terrible and cruel we can be to each other!

But we also can be very compassionate and kind. I'm always encouraged when I see so many people volunteer when some disaster takes place. I think that behavior is more typical of people, then war and violence.

I certainly hope so.