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Andersonville (novel)
Encyclopedia
Andersonville is a novel
by MacKinlay Kantor
concerning the Confederate
prisoner of war
camp, Andersonville prison
, during the American Civil War
(1861–1865). The novel was originally published in 1955, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
the following year.
, the camp commandant, who was later executed. It also features William Collins, a Union
soldier and one of the leaders of the "Raiders". The "Raiders" are a gang of thugs, mainly bounty jumpers who steal from their fellow prisoners and lead comfortable lives while other prisoners die of starvation and disease. Other characters include numerous ordinary prisoners of war, the camp physician/doctor, a nearby plantation owner, guards and Confederate civilians in the area near the prison.
Andersonville is clearly based on prisoner memoirs, most notably Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons by John McElroy. Henry Wirz, who received an injury earlier in the war and never recovered properly, is portrayed not as an inhuman fiend but as a sick man struggling with a job beyond his capacities.
Kantor's novel was not the basis for a 1996 television mini-series entitled Andersonville. Although Kantor did sell the motion picture rights of his novel to one of the major Hollywood studios in the 1950s, it was never produced. Kantor's novel and the television movie of the same name are two separate properties.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by MacKinlay Kantor
MacKinlay Kantor
MacKinlay Kantor , born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several based on the American Civil War, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel Andersonville, about the Confederate prisoner of war camp...
concerning the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp, Andersonville prison
Andersonville prison
The Andersonville prison, officially known as Camp Sumter, served as a Confederate Prisoner-of-war camp during the American Civil War. The site of the prison is now Andersonville National Historic Site in Andersonville, Georgia. Most of the site actually lies in extreme southwestern Macon County,...
, during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(1861–1865). The novel was originally published in 1955, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
the following year.
Plot summary
The novel interweaves the stories of real and fictional characters. It is told from many points of view, including that of Henry WirzHenry Wirz
Heinrich Hartmann Wirz better known as Henry Wirz was a Confederate officer in the American Civil War...
, the camp commandant, who was later executed. It also features William Collins, a Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
soldier and one of the leaders of the "Raiders". The "Raiders" are a gang of thugs, mainly bounty jumpers who steal from their fellow prisoners and lead comfortable lives while other prisoners die of starvation and disease. Other characters include numerous ordinary prisoners of war, the camp physician/doctor, a nearby plantation owner, guards and Confederate civilians in the area near the prison.
Andersonville is clearly based on prisoner memoirs, most notably Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons by John McElroy. Henry Wirz, who received an injury earlier in the war and never recovered properly, is portrayed not as an inhuman fiend but as a sick man struggling with a job beyond his capacities.
Kantor's novel was not the basis for a 1996 television mini-series entitled Andersonville. Although Kantor did sell the motion picture rights of his novel to one of the major Hollywood studios in the 1950s, it was never produced. Kantor's novel and the television movie of the same name are two separate properties.
Characters in Andersonville
Historical figures who appear as characters in the novel include:- Henry WirzHenry WirzHeinrich Hartmann Wirz better known as Henry Wirz was a Confederate officer in the American Civil War...
(Confederate, camp commandant)
- John McElroyJohn McElroyJohn McElroy was an American printer, soldier, journalist and author, most known for writing the novel The Red Acorn and the four-volume Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons, based upon his lengthy confinement in the Confederate Andersonville prison camp during the American Civil...
(Union prisoner, future memoir writer)
- William Collins (Union prisoner, "Raider" leader executed by fellow prisoners)
- Boston CorbettBoston CorbettThomas P. "Boston" Corbett was the Union Army soldier who shot and killed Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. He disappeared after 1888, but circumstantial evidence suggests that he died in the Great Hinckley Fire in 1894, although this remains impossible to substantiate.-Early...
(Union prisoner, future killer of John Wilkes BoothJohn Wilkes BoothJohn Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
)
- John WinderJohn H. WinderJohn Henry Winder was a career United States Army officer who served with distinction during the Mexican War...
(Confederate general in charge of prisoners-of-war)
- John L. Ransom (1843-1919) (Union prisoner), a printer from Jackson, MichiganJackson, MichiganJackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor and south of Lansing. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534...
, who kept a detailed diary of his capture, imprisonment, and escape. This was published as Andersonville Diary.
- Robert Hall Chilton (Confederate Inspector General in Richmond who received reports from Field Surgeons, and consequently wondered, in print, about the judgment of history if the abominations at Andersonville remained uncorrected.