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Memoir 3, Page 18, P.O.W. Camps

"The treatment of prisoners there was scarcely better than at Libby, Castle Thunder, or Andersonville."

These prisoner-of-war camps were three of the most notorious Confederate prisons, all with reputations for brutality, overcrowding, disease, and starvation. Despite only being erected in the last year of the war, Andersonville had a staggering mortality rate, serving as the prison for a total of 45,000 Union prisoners, 13,000 of whom died while imprisoned. Following the war, its commander, Captain Henry Wirz, was tried and executed for war crimes. Libby Prison had a death rate second only to Andersonville, with sick and wounded prisoners starved, neglected, and even beaten. While the mortality rates of Castle Thunder were not nearly as horrific as those at Andersonville, this prison was known for the brutality of the guards and for its high rate of executions. By 1863, the commander, George W. Alexander’s, behavior was so violent that was brought in for investigation by the Confederate Congress; however, the legislators cleared him of the charges and allowed him to continue running the prison until he was finally replaced in February 1864.