Q: What is a "Shebang?"
A: In this instance, it is an inadequate construction for protection against the elements.
Lauren Miller is the daughter of Charles and Norma Lea Miller of Caruthersville, Mo. She is the granddaughter of lifetime residents of Southeast Missouri, Robert and Norma Cantrell. Robert and Norma now live in Hayti, Mo., and enjoy the recognition and popularity of several Bootheel communities.
Lauren received her B.S. Degree from Mississippi State where she majored in History, with an emphasis on Historic Preservation. She then attended the University of South Carolina for one semester to pursue her Masters Degree, and then transferred to Southeast Missouri State. Southeast Missouri State is one of the few schools in the United States that has a course of studies on Historic Preservation.
Lauren has just completed a summer of work and study in Historic Preservation at Andersonville Historic Site, Andersonville, Ga. Andersonville is part of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior. It serves as a monument and national cemetery to all Americans ever held as prisoners of war.
Civil War POW camps were notoriously inadequate to handle the growing number of soldiers who were captured in action. Neither side anticipated a long war, so as the months drug on plans had to be made for more, and larger, facilities. It was far too little, and far too late. Due to overcrowding, poor sanitation, and improper diet, the confined prisoners suffered terribly.
Coming into existence in February of 1864, the actual name of the prison at Andersonville was Ft. Sumter. But as more and more captured Union soldiers came by train into the tiny village, the name of the town and the prison became synonymous. It acquired a reputation both famous and infamous.
Andersonville POW camp was in full operation for 14 months. During that time approximately 45,000 prisoners spent some time there. Almost 13,000 -- a death rate of 29% -- were to die there. The death rate was the highest of any Civil War POW camp.
Andersonville had two features that subjected soldiers to undue suffering and contributed to the high number of fatalities:
First of all was a lack of clean water. The prison site was originally chosen because a branch of the Sweetwater Creek ran right through the middle of the camp. But the original plan called for 10,000 prisoners, and as the maximum number grew to 33,000, the creek became polluted by an ambiance of filth. Further exacerbating the problem was a Confederate guard camp located a few miles upstream that dumped their garbage and human waste into the stream.
The prisoners had little choice but to brush aside the scum and feces, and drink the water. This, more than anything else was the main culprit for disease and death.
A second unique feature of Andersonville was the absence of shelter for the prisoners. The POW's had no barracks, no tents, no cover of any kind to protect themselves from the elements, other than what they could devise.
A stockade fence had been built around Andersonville. This gave early arrivals the advantage of using debris from the fence to build a shabby lean-to. Soldiers coming later had nothing but their blankets, their clothes, or whatever detritus they could find, for a pitifully inadequate construction the prisoners called a "shebang."
Andersonville prison was cut out of a pine forest. Prisoners constantly petitioned for the right to send work parties into the trees to obtain lumber for construction. Prison commandant, Captain Henry Wirtz, was so paranoid about escape he refused to honor these requests.
Another example of Wirtz and his fear of escape, was his filling in the wells the prisoners dug trying to find clean water. They did have some success in finding a dark, dank water that was better than Sweetwater Creek. A visitor to Andersonville can still see the remainder of those wells today.
One phenomenon of Andersonville was an act of God that created "Providence Spring." A spring broke loose one night during a heavy rainstorm. This helped to alleviate some of the suffering. The prisoners considered this an act of Devine Providence.
Added to the misery and woes of the POWs was a large group of thieves, murderers, and thugs who periodically raided their fellow prisoners. They called themselves the "Raiders," and proudly carried on a reign of terror. One of their favorite tricks was to meet new arrivals at the gate, where they would club them and strip them of all they had, leaving them naked in the dirt. All this was in sight of Confederate guards, who mainly consisted of old men and round shouldered boys.
Retaliating against this seemingly inhuman band was a group of ordinary soldiers who called themselves "The Regulators." Convincing Wirtz that squelching these hoodlums would eliminate some of the violence, "The Regulators" gathered a formidable army and prepared to attack.
One bold strike against the "Raiders" was enough to end their terrorism, and resulted in the arrest of six key leaders, foremost of whom was a New York street gang thug named Willie Collins. These men were tried on prison grounds, and sentenced to death.
The six "Raider" leaders were hung on prison grounds, with the approval of Confederate guards. Their graves can be seen today, buried separate from honored dead.
When the South lost the Civil War, Northerners were enraged at the stories of atrocities committed at Andersonville. Southerners argued that Confederate forces in the field fared little better than the prisoners. This has some validity because toward the end of war Confederate forces were dismally short of men, food, and supplies. It can not be dismissed, however, that Confederates who fought so valiantly in the last year of the war at The Wilderness, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg, did so in the near skeletal condition of the men emerging from Andersonville.
Captain Henry Wirtz was the only Confederate tried and executed after the Civil War.
Plains, Ga. is a small town about 20 miles from Andersonville. It is the hometown of former president of the U.S., Jimmy Carter. People interested in history might consider a visit to Plains, and then journey to Andersonville. An excellent book about this tragedy is MacKinlay Kantor's "Andersonville." He won the Pulitzer Prize for this true masterpiece
Finishing on a happy note: Lauren Miller had occasion to visit Plains, Ga. where she met, and was photographed with President Carter and his wife, Rosalynn.
The best of wishes to Lauren Miller, to her career, and the limitless potential of her life.