So Far from Dixie: Confederates in Yankee Prisons

Rating:
Summary: Confederate POW's suffered in Yankee prisons
Review: My great-grandfather, Charles Slavens Cooper, was a confederate prisoner at Elmira in New York state, which explained my interest in this book. The book is well written and held my riveted attention for 2-3 days to complete reading it. Prison hardships, tales of escapes, and war experiences make this book a lively read. It is well documented with extensive endnotes and bibliography. There are 16 pages of photos. The first confederate soldiers arrived at this prison July 6, 1864 and the war ended less than one year later. During that time, almost 10,000 confederates were held there, in a place designed for about 1/3 that number. Conditions were horrible. Many died from the cold, lack of good nutrition, rat and mosquitoe born diseases, and poor hygienic conditions. The local cemetary contains about 3,000 grave markers for confederate prisoners. By the way, I also had a great-great-grandfather fight on the side of the North. Fortunately he avoided capture and did not have to spend any time at the notorious Andersonville prison in Georgia.