County Offaly: US Civil War Servicemen
We are beginning to add our next batch of Soldiers to our site. We have researched, at last count, 37 men from Tullamore who fought in the US Civil War. Among those 37 names we have 5 soldiers from Tullamore who were imprisoned in the infamous Andersonville Prison in Macon, Georgia from February 1864 to April 1865.
Andersonville became a place notorious for its extremely harsh conditions. It is estimated that 13,000 soldiers died during the period it was open which was almost a third of its prisoner population. The testimonies of soldiers who survived Andersonville give vivid descriptions of the horrific conditions they were subjected to.
Today the site where Andersonville Prison stood is on the US National Register of Historic Places.
National Register of Historic Places – Wikipedia
A huge thanks to Damian Shiels for his assistance and research already done in this area and in connection with the Andersonville Irish Project.
Andersonville Irish Project – Irish in the American Civil War
Irish in the American Civil War – Exploring Irish Emigration in the 19th Century United States
From today we will also log all Offaly soldiers who were detained in Andersonville in a new section of our site beginning with the following 5 men from Tullamore.
A depiction of Andersonville Prison by John L. Ransom, former prisoner
Source Andersonville Prison – Andersonville Prison – Wikipedia
