Hello Bruce, yes I would concur that the sham battle was for Confederates only and was probably put on by the camp as entertainment for their guests. Although more than one letter was written that day by a prisoner wondering if help had finally arrived after hearing the guns from inside the walls.

What I failed to mention Bruce was that according to newspaper accounts and some dairies this was NOT the last time this event would take place ie food stuffs brought in by train from surrounding town folks. While it does seem to be the last sham battle these weekend trips to Andersonville by train continued for several weeks well into June and occured on Saturday's. I would tend to think that Wirz welcomed such visits.

So far the people of towns I see visiting Andersonville were from Americus,Dawson,Albany and Cuthbert. However I'm sure there were more. Some of Cuthbert's soldiers both young and old were guards at Andersonville, another reason to perhaps visit the prison if you were a relative.

This particular section of Georgia never saw the War up front, on their doorsteps, if you will as did other towns in Georgia and throughout the Southland. Just to the south Tallahassee would remain the only state capital NOT to be taken during the War due in large part of the heroics of the Southern soldier and because the North did NOT place a lot of military strategy on this section of the country.

It would also appear that the majority of slaves did NOT run off in this section of Georgia (perhaps they had NO place to run to) but rather stayed with their owners during the War. In Dawson a large monument was erected by the UDC at the turn of the century for the graves of the slaves who had died after and during the War and thanked them for their firece and devoted loyalty.

For the above two reasons in my opinion Southwest Georgia may NOT have had ample food but had more than their fair share compared to the rest of the Confederacy at that time. However I must point out that this was civilan food stuffs and NOT the governments. Things would quickly change in August and September when some displaced citizens of Atlanta would be in an exile camp in Dawson, Georgia, needing all the help they could gather.

I too Bruce at one time held the opinion that there was NOT much money in prison camps held by the prisoners. Since I live close to Andersonville I visit it as often as I can which is a lot sometimes. Part of the twenty-six acres had streets much like a small town and at least one of the sutler's stores was located well within the walls of the prison and can be seen on some photo's by A.J. Riddle who took those infamous photo's of Andersonville in August of 1864. Even before some of the raiders were hung in July of 64' personal money was still available to many prisoners and the sutler's knew it and took advantage of the situation. As you so stated they were NOT in the charity business. Although I have NO facts to base it on I would estimate total monies of all prisoners would exceed ten thousand dollars by August.

Wirz was in a tough position as commander at Andersonville. For the most part his troops ate the same food as the prisoners. Many guards also died at Andersonville and died of many of the same disease that claimed the life of the prisoners.

I think we have to remember that many of the prisoners who entered Andersonville were sick to begin with. Generally speaking there was a reason why a stragler was stragling when taken prisoner. A prisoner who entered Andersonville being sick sure did NOT stand a very good chance of living too long and the same is true with all WBTS prisons.

It is still hard to believe that more soldiers died at Andersonville alone than all of the American soldiers during the Mexican War which lasted for two years.

Bruce, for the most part I thought your comments were right on target. Thx for posting and your feedback.