Life and Death in Civil War Prisons: The Parallel Torments of Corporal John Wesly Minnich, C.S.A. and Sergeant Warren Lee Goss, U.S.A.

by J. Michael Martinez

Book Overview

More than anything, Civil War soldiers feared becoming a prisoner of war. Among the deadliest prisons for Confederates was Rock Island Prison in Illinois. One of the most notorious for Northern prisoners was Georgia's Camp Sumter - better known as "Andersonville." Dysentery, starvation, exposure to harsh weather, and brutal mistreatment killed more men in prisons than were killed at Gettysburg, the war's deadliest battle. The gruesome reality of Civil...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401600948
• ISBN13: 9781401600945
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Rutledge Hill Press
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.6" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Dismal existance

I have read a number of books on the Civil War and its tragic battles with their loss of unbelievable numbers of men, some as young as 9, but probably no other book has captured the true hopelessness of war for the individual as this one does. Life and Death in Civil War Prisons by J. Michael Martinez describes in detail the terrible conditions of Civil War soldiers on both sides of the conflict who were captured and confined. Aside from the disease, starvation, filth and dehumanization which were common, the point that the author makes most clearly is that neither side was at all prepared for the confinement of prisoners of war. Both sides believed that the war would be over in a matter of weeks and both drew upon extant structures for their needs. Unfortunately everything that was done later to expand facilities was done on a similar ad hoc basis. Whereas every effort was made to fight the war as efficiently and as effectively as possible, the attention to the needs and well being of POWs were left almost to chance, with each attempt to rectify the situation as clumsy as a person stumbling over their own feet. It doesn't appear from the author's statements that there was any actual intention to subject the opposition's soldiers to unbelievable depravation. It was simply that, as the war progressed, the situation got out of hand for both sides, and they were never able to catch up with the need. That so many people died by virtue of this unpreparedness and clumsyness makes it almost worse. The book is written through the lives of two individual soldiers, one from each side, who left diaries and autobiographical accounts of their experiences in the hands of the enemy. Other soldiers accounts are used to illuminate the situation still further. The similarities between stories on both sides suggests that neither party was guiltless, though the North, with more resources and ways of mobilizing them, was certainly more culpable. It could have done more than the South but didn't. What is surprising is the fact that one of the soldiers, the Union soldier, having gone through the terrible conditions of imprisonment, actually reenlisted for another term in field after his discharge. Just as with his first term, he was captured and imprisoned. That takes guts. Or a very strong conviction. Interesting too was the character of survivors. Honesty and trustworthiness actually became salable commodities that permitted the possessor to survive. The simple capacity to write and record events also lead to survival. Just being aware of opportunities allowed the individual to live. In a dreadful world, some people make it and some people don't, and it isn't necessarily the person one might expect. I read a book some time ago on battle fatigue among Civil War soldiers Shook over Hell: Post-Traumatic Stress, Vietnam, and the Civil War and one can see why some didn't live long post war. Fascinating book.

Fair and Balanced

It is difficult to find a book on the War Between the States which is objective and not Yankee propaganda. It is even more rare to find one which is objective to both sides of the conflict. "Life and Death" is one of those rare works where the author sifts through material, discards the chaff, and bakes a fine loaf from the wheat. This is one of the finest books on the predicament of prisoners of war during the War Between the States. Neither side was prepared for a protracted conflict, and initially exchanged prisoners based on a protocol established during the War of 1812. The Dix-Hill Cartel for exchange worked well enough until the North effectively stopped it, ensuring Southern soldiers would not be exchanged to fight again. The resulting burden upon the Confederacy, which could not feed its own army sufficiently, resulted in privations of necessity in their prison camps. The Union, with ample foodstuffs, made an administrative decision not to care for their prisoners properly. No one remembers that part of the story, for, as Napoleon said, "The victors write the history". Instead, we are told only of the trial of Wirtz, commandant of Andersonville, who was the sole Confederate hung after the war. This is an excellent book, fair and balanced, based on the experiences of both a northern and southern soldier captured and imprisoned. The history of the period is very well researched and the over 34 pages of footnotes and citations underline it. Martinez is an top notch historian and a very good writer. This is one of the best books ever writ on the War Between the States.

Civil War Book

Got the book sooner than expected. It was in excellent condition. Sent it to the author for an autograph! It was a gift for someone who is a Civil War buff and he thought the book was awesome! Unlike any he's ever read before.

Black and reeking pits: two veterans' perspectives

Books on the American Civil War appear in a seemingly never-ending stream, and so it's inevitable that many good ones get lost in the cascade and never receive the attention they deserve. J. Michael Martinez's Life and Death in Civil War Prisons is one of these. It's really an excellent study, well written, nicely illustrated, and painstakingly researched (as its 40-odd pages of closely-printed endnotes and bibliography attest). Much has been written about the "black and reeking pits" that Civil War prisons generally were. Neither side was prepared for prisoners of war when the conflict began. After the parole system broke down, already bad prison conditions got significantly worse as prisoners on both sides began to pile up. Horrible privations were experienced by Federal prisoners in southern camps, largely because the south simply didn't have the wherewithal to take better care of them. In the north, Secretary of War Stanton bulldoggishly made the decision to retaliate against southern prisoners, ordering that their food allowances be decreased. Things went from bad to worse. The merits of Martinez's approach to telling the story is that he uses the experiences of two prisoners, Cpl. John Wesley Minnich from the south (a displaced Pennsylvanian who relocated to Louisiana) and Sgt. Warren Lee Goss from the north (a Bostonian). Minnich was sent to Rock Island Prison, a piece of rock in the Mississippi River on the Iowa border. Goss, captured more than once, became something of a reluctant expert on southern prisons, being held at different times in Libby, Belle Isle, and the notorious Andersonville and Florence stockades. In recounting the prison experiences of Minnich and Goss, Martinez not only provides an excellent account of Civil War prisons in general. He also tells a fascinating story of two men who lived through horrible conditions. But Martinez does something else as well. In his careful and persuasive account of Civil War prisons (one of his merits is that he never exaggerates; for example, he shows that although Rock Island was bad, its mortality rate was about half that of Andersonville), he reminds us that the American Civil War was a most uncivil war in many respects. This is an ugly fact which needs to be remembered, but which is too often forgotten in our romanticization of the conflict.

A look at two sides

I originally bought this book in a bargain section and didn't have high expectations although I got quite a lot for my money. Author J Michael Martinez has written an interesting book that tries to fairly focus on differing sides or accounts of life inside Civil War prisons. The book follows a firsthand account from a Confederate soldier (Minnich) that was captured and sent to Rock Island Prison outside of Davenport, IA. The second account features a Union soldier (Goss) account that covers his story that has him captured earlier in the war and sent to Libby Prison and Belle Island in Richmond. Goss is released and captured a second time and ends up visiting Andersonville and Florence prisons later in the war. The author has successfully told each soldier's story from beginning to end and explained how they were captured, the daily life inside of the hellish prisons and also their outcomes. The book is not divided into two. Both accounts are told as they unfold. When you read about how Minnich was captured, you will read about how Goss was captured. The book also covers views from the supply side of both armies and some of the political issues that arose in running the prisons for prisoners of war. There are many accounts that tell of the complete horrors faced by the prisoners in each prison. I liked reading about Rock Island and how it developed as a prison, was run and eventually was phased out after the war. These kinds of details are in the book. This book tries to be fair to both sides. It points out that stories told from the Union or Confederate side after the war were sometimes tainted or cast far too much unfair blame or opinion versus fact. I liked how the book wasn't long winded and stuck to the point without getting too political or off topic. There are many graphical accounts too that truly define the horrors of prison life north or south.