Smoky Mtns Trip Day 7 - Andersonville

Day 7 - not a day we were necessarily looking forward to, well most of us at least. We had a total of 5 hours of driving with one stop in the middle. This stop wasn't going to be a fun stop, or a beautiful one. It would be a hard stop - one that would be hard to understand in our minds, one that would be considered boring by a few of the kids. However, it was a stop that we needed to make. The one stop for the day would be Andersonville National Historic Site. Andersonville was a Confederate Prisoner-of-War Prison/Camp during the Civil War. During the 14 months of war, Andersonville held 45,000 prisoners - nearly 13,000 of those died while at the prison. Many died from Dysentery, Scurvy and Diarrhea.

The living conditions at this prison were deplorable. Inadequate water supply, inadequate food rations and unsanitary living conditions. It was so bad that Captain Wirz, who ran the prison, was tried and executed for War Crimes (after the war). The prison was also overcrowded - taking in 4x the population it was meant to hold. Matt & I both had direct ancestors who were captured and placed in Andersonville. My ancestor, William Henry Harrison Huff, was fortunate enough to have escaped. Matt's, unfortunately, didn't survive the horrible conditions.

Matt is a lover of history, especially the Civil War. Andersonville has a special place in his heart though, as one of his relatives died while there. He recounts the story of Philip Cash (his 3rd Great Grandfather):

"My first recollection about family history/genealogy centers on Philip Cash. Though my knowledge of my family history has grown a hundredfold, Philip Cash is the name that continues to rise to the center of my thoughts.

He enlisted with the 1st Kentucky Calvary (US) and supplied his own horse. On November 13, 1863 he was captured near Rockford, Tennessee (a place I've visited).

He was first sent to Belle Isle Prison Camp in Richmond, Virginia (our family stopped there in 2017), and on February 14, 1864, he was on one of the first trains to Andersonville - arriving before the stockade fence was completely up.

Starvation set in, Philip gnawed his hands and shoulders, then pneumonia laid claim to his lungs. He joined the many thousands of his comrades who had already found freedom beneath the red Georgia soil on May 21, 1864.

I visited Andersonville with my Mom back in 1995. Today, I made a return pilgrimage with my wife and kids (Philip's 4th great-grandchildren)."

We arrived at Andersonville and went in to the POW Museum. We used the restrooms and looked at a few of the displays. The kids and I also watched the mini-series "Andersonville" which was on TV quite a few years ago. While the movie is historically based and fairly accurate, there is some creative writing to it as well. In the end, I am certain that it helped the kids to understand a general idea of how bad the conditions were.

We left the museum and started the driving tour. Here is one corner of the stockade (where it would've stood)

Providence Spring:
"here was a trickling creek (foreground) that became so filthy with human waste and the run off from the confederate kitchen, the water became putrid.

Prisoners cried out to God for fresh water, and the Lord answered. Within the walls of the memorial pictured here is the fresh spring water that the Lord provided the prisoners."

"After visiting Providence Spring, we drove around the loop. Here we had a great perspective of the entire prison. The stone/brick pillar with a pointed top in the foreground is the corner of the stockade. Behind that and a click to the left, you can see the tall wooden replica of the stockade wall in the opposite corner.

Andersonville is centered on two down-sloped hills, with the trickling creek running down the middle. Providence Spring can be seen in the middle near the creek.

The two sets of white posts - the outer ones signify where the stockade wall was. The inner one was the kill line - more on that in a minute."

Here are some examples of what prisoners may have built their tents to look like - essentially using whatever they could find to provide a bit of shelter from the Georgia sun, rain, and flies.

"The dead line. Any prisoner who cross this line was to be shot on site.

Some prisoners crossed purposely to end the torturous living conditions.

Today was near 90 degrees out. The gnats and flies were bad. The kids kept swatting at them. Becki & I swatted too...I had the kids imagine what life would be like with over 40,000 other prisoners. All sick & coughing, or soiling themselves, with hardly anything to cover up with or protect themselves from the elements or insects.

Life was awful for those within the stockade"

We next visited the National Cemetery. While there are nearly 13,000 buried there from the Civil War, there are actually close to 20,000 buried there today. It is still an active cemetery for burials.

We brought a laminated picture of Philip Cash to leave beside his headstone. Unfortunately, we didn't think to bring a flag to plant as well.

"Not forgetting where Philip was buried. Leaving a token of remembrance.

Sharing Philip's story with my children, passing on family history. Today was really meaningful to me on so many levels.

I'm thankful that God's allowed me to return here, to these hallowed grounds one more time. Thank you, Lord and thank you, Philip."

Matt & I pray that this is a stop that the kids will remember as they grown older. As they come across hard times, as they realize the many freedoms we have in America. Those freedoms weren't free - they were fought for. Fought and paid for by many of our relatives.

We left Andersonville and headed to our hotel in Columbus, GA. We enjoyed dinner and then swam at the hotel while Matt & Kaitee went out to find a few letterboxes.  They came back that night and said they had visited the grave of the man who invented Coca~Cola. Matt said it was perfect timing since he happened to have worn his Coca~Cola shirt that day!

Day 7 comes to a close. We would start our trek home in the morning. Hard to believe our trip was coming to an end.