Elmira Civil War Prison Camp

[@monicamoore7597]

My great grandfather was a prisoner there after having been captured during the Spotsvania Battle. He spent a year there as a POW. He came home with multiple smallpox scars as he had been exposed to the disease while incarcerated. After having been shot twice on two different occasions during the war and having seen men die under horrific conditions, I don't know how he survived. But survived he did, and lived to an old age.

[@DennisMSulliva]

I am sorry that happened. I have an ancestor who died in Andersonville. We must NEVER fight each other again.

[@troydennis6291]

The bloody north did the poor southerners wrong mate. God bless the south

[@marksaucier]

The Yankees had food and water but a lot of hate. Deo Yindice to the South

[@cyndiebill6631]

Would have enjoyed it more without the back ground music. Otherwise it was good.

[@therealtgxt-6760]

Ratio + Music Is S Tier

[@BillyBobpeeps]

If captions were enabled, users could turn down the sound and yet still follow the documentary.

[@tonyjauncey2373]

Yes, it is rather distracting. Also, it has no reference to the era 😢and subject. It would be like having a documentary about the Tudors with background music by Black Sabbath

[@3CatBlack]

Thank you for this ... I am fascinated with these places. I have a relative lying in that graveyard. He died in the prison. Was from south Carolina. His ancestor fought in the revolutionary war and was awarded land in Canada which is why me and my family are in Canada now. I plan to travel down to USA this year to find his grave in Elmira. They must never be forgotten.

[@Gator-357]

Background music although excellent songs, detreacts from the video and sound quality and is a bit distracting. Otherwise, a very well done and respectful video getting out some truths and debunking some long standing myths.

[@RBDawg]

Well if they were so well treated why did 2970 soldiers of 12,000 in the last year of the war die?

[@christinagiagni3578]

because doug is gilding the lily==========hellmira was a very brutal place. many froze to death.

[@PastorDanWhite]

👍👍👍. Nothing like spinning history and history revisionism.

[@vivians9392]

Exactly what I wondered...

[@misipi39]

@@christinagiagni3578 as I hhought also. The victors wrte history.

[@armyvet]

Nothing like the Yankees covering up the truth of what really happened

[@georgeeverette3912]

If I'm ever up that way I will be sure to visit my ancestor who is buried there. He was very young and was captured at the battle of Ft. Fisher. The drummer boys were sent home because Col. Lamb knew what was coming, but our ancestor had aged since the war started and so fought at the West side of the land face with the 700 man garrison trying to stop the 21,000 Union assault after living through the largest bombardment the world had seen up to that point. He survived that but not Elmira. What a shame...

[@JohnnyReb]

"While we were standing in the snow, hearing the abuse of Major Beal, some poor ragged Confederate prisoners were marched by with what was designated as barrel shirts, with the word "thief" written in large letters pasted on the back of each barrel, and a squad of little drummer boys following beating the drums. The mode of wearing the barrel shirts was to take an ordinary flour barrel, cut a hole through the bottom large enough for the head to go through, with arm-holes on the right and left, through which the arms were to be placed. This was put on the poor fellow, resting on his shoulders, his head and arms coming through as indicated above; thus they were made to march around for so many hours and so many days. Now, what do you suppose they had stolen? Why, something to eat. Yes, they had stolen cabbage leaves and other things from slop barrels, which was a violation of the rules of the prison. One large, robust prisoner from Virginia was brought into the surgical ward where I was, having been seriously wounded by one of the guards. On inquiry, I learned that the poor fellow was caught fishing out scraps from a slop barrel and was shot for it. A small, very thin piece of light-bread with a tin pint cup full of what purported to be soup twice a day was the rations for the prisoners." Pvt. Miles Osborne Sherrill, 12th, North Carolina Infantry Regiment Company "A".

[@troydennis6291]

Piss on the bloody north mate.

[@garrettelliott2565]

My third great grandfather William Bright Stewart, a Private with the 64th Georgia Infantry Regiment died at Elmira POW camp. He even wrote a letter saying he wasn't going to make it back home.

[@brettjones4733]

Found myself listening to simple man more then the commentary 🤘

[@clayponder4423]

what about the thousands of people who starved here and were fed rat meat?

[@SunofYork]

Rat meat ? Luxury ! When I were a lad we got mouse meat IF we were lucky

[@travishendrix7026]

You are right My grandad left a journal from being there. Rat meat, soured corn and rotten potatoes.

[@patrickfairchild2330]

Remember this site - It's as important as any in that tragic war.

[@zacharyking900]

Yes, concessions were sold to civilians who came to gawk over the wall at starving Confederate prisoners. The South never did anything so cruel and inhumane.

[@therealtgxt-6760]

The confederacy took a FAT L during this war

[@JohnnyReb]

The prisoners were treated well? Honestly had I been there to hear that being said I'd have audibly laughed. If the prisoners here were treated so well then where did the nickname "Hellmira" come from? You two especially the "Historian" ought to be ashamed of yourselves for pushing historical revisionism. "By October it was just as intensely cold, with snow and ice all around us. My brother John , who was sick the day we were captured, grew steadily worse. Army food was bad for him, but prison fare was worse and so scant he literally starved to death, there being no milk or sick diet available and no attention of a medical kind. He was soon too weak to leave his pallet on the floor of the building they dignified by the name of hospital. I was not allowed to stay with him or relieve him in any way. They ordered me out when they caught me in there by his pallet. He was perfectly conscious the night before he died. I stole in and had a talk with him. He died before anyone found me or ordered me away. The next day, he and seven others were loaded into a wagon and carried outside of the camp and buried, I suppose. I wrote his name of a piece of board and tacked it on his box. That was the last thing I could do for him. We thought our rations were skimpy in the army. What we had in the army would have seemed like a feast in prison. We were issued rations at 9 A.M. consisting of one thin slice of bread and a thinner slice of fat meat. About 3 P. M. they gave us a cup of dirty looking water they called bean soup. When we found a bean in it, it was a great event. I’ve never been induced to eat beans since. If it was not bean soup, it was vegetable soup and, from the odor and taste, it was made of rotten vegetables. We could smell it in advance. I was so hungry I was forced to kill rats and cook and eat them for food. I ate so many of them that it has been impossible for me to ever relish squirrel or rabbit or anything that reminds me of a rat. One of the sergeants in the prison had a nice fat pet dog running around the camp. Two of our fellows caught this dog, killed and ate him." From: Reminiscence” Of A High Private In The Rear Rank Of The Confederate States Army by James H. Fleming, Company "F" 26th Virginia Infantry Regiment. Yeah sounds like a summer camp. You're both historical revisionists.

[@MoeWhiskey]

cut off the music

[@erikschultz7166]

Period music would be appropriate

[@thetf2man682]

music is GOATED

[@acousticshadow4032]

Why is Lynyrd Skynyrd playing in the background here?! Were they the Camp Band? C'mon, guys...period music, only. Most of this video was very informative, and well done - BUT - modern music is grossly out of place here. Also, those colored squares & circles, used during transition of sites, are too Sesame Street and thereby inappropriate for an historical presentation. I might suggest simply fading from the old scene into the new scene. Something else, but not those kiddie graphics.

[@therealtgxt-6760]

Ratio + Lynyrd Skynyrd IS THE GOATT + TRANSITIONS ARE GOAT

[@JohnnyReb]

The video overall is terrible. They said the prisoners were treated "with respect". Is that why they had to kill and eat rats!?

[@darrellenglish2704]

Camp Douglas was a Hell Hole

[@acousticshadow4032]

They were all "Hell Holes".

[@lisabuchanan9143]

If the prisoners were treated so well, why did so many die? Including my 3rd great uncle? From what I have read, over a quarter of the prisoners perished. That doesn’t sound like good conditions.

[@travisbayles870]

Never trust the enemy to tell you the truth about anything regarding their opponents including living conditions in prisons

[@thomasjamison2050]

It's no secret. When the most important people in Lincoln's cabinet learned about what was going on in Anderson, they got the impression that the South was gaining a significant military advantage by starving so many Union prisoners either to death or into severely poor health, they decided that what was going around should go around. Not wanting to look nearly as primitive at the game as the south, they got their effects simply by cutting off all fruits and vegetables from the prison diet. This soon caused a lot of disease that quickly starting taking southern lives in retribution of the crimes in Anderson prison.

[@waynecarwile7486]

The prisoners didn't call it "Hellmira" for nothing! My great grandfather was imprisoned there from Point Lookout, Maryland. The camp gained the reputation of Death Camp Of The North.

[@travisbayles870]

One of my Confederate ancestors Private D S McCracken of the 62nd North Carolina Infantry who was captured at Cumberland Gap October 1863 died as a POW at Camp Douglas Illinois The other Confederate prisoners called it 80 acres of Hell

[@thomasjamison2050]

@@travisbayles870 Well, to bad about that. My favorite comment about the nuking of Hiroshima is "if there had been no Pearl Harbor, there would have been no Hiroshima." If there had been no Andersonville, there would have been no 80 acres of hell. The North was not going to tolerate trading perfectly healthy southern prisoners of war for the ruined bodies created at Andersonville.

[@model-man7802]

What's with the annoying music in the Background?

[@zacharyking900]

That's better than what's being put over the radio now.

[@model-man7802]

@@zacharyking900 True

[@therealtgxt-6760]

Ratio + music adds to the atmosphere

[@jamesrichardson3322]

We do with the music in the background, it's annoying

[@jamesrichardson3322]

😲 Wow !! 5 thumps up 👍, thank you all.

[@therealtgxt-6760]

Ratio + the music is good

[@jamesrichardson3322]

@@therealtgxt-6760 That's your opinion on the music, you have your right to that opinion. Mine is different than yours!!

[@cpmiller1965]

Hard to comprehend 12000+ troops on 30 acres. I think your guys depictions and description of prison are a little generous. Probably much better than Andersonville, but still hell especially wintertime.

[@wayneegli8379]

Hellmira made Andersonville seem like a vacation spot.

[@cherimorgan7596]

And the town grew around it and in it after the war. Getting rid of history. My great great grandfather was there and I wanted to visit but not much to see

[@erikschultz7166]

@@wayneegli8379No Andersonville was not a vacation spot, however Elmira had no limitations of supply that Andersonville had. The south had severe shortages and transportation issues. These were not problems for the north.

[@DennisMSulliva]

This is very disturbing. Maybe I'll come back and watch the rest.

[@josephbrandt6778]

Originally they were buried on the grounds of where Elmira State Prison stands now...there were no fancy head stones or dress right dress formation thereof...

[@larryanderson7074]

I live in Missouri 2 miles from a major civil war battlefield that occurred in july, 1861. 2500 men were killed in this battle, both Union and Condeferate!! Tragic times for our nation!!

[@ericcole182]

I volunteer here with Doug now!

[@nunyabuziness8421]

Stop putting music in its annoying

[@therealtgxt-6760]

Ratio + Music Good

[@ColRAPR]

Outstanding !!

[@robertlyon8009]

Fascinating as I have a relative that was a guard there.

[@mrnobody5381]

OMG IT LOOKS LIKE A PRISON CAMP IN GERMANY!!!!!

[@billboyden9489]

I had a relative who was a crew member on one of the trains and he died in the crash.

[@Vejur9000]

Are the original quarters?

[@outdoorlife5396]

it is sad what one person will do to another.

[@rowanmcglynn1822]

love it, so cool!!!!

[@wayneorvis2794]

Nice video but the background music detracts from the message. Maybe some period music would be better.

[@chevinbarghest8453]

It would help if it said where Elmira is !!!! There are many in the US.... oh and get rid of the wailing crap music

[@christinagiagni3578]

upstate ny

[@danielkaczmarski5688]

Elmira, NY

[@vietnamvet4533]

If you have ever been to Elmira it is the pits got to feel sorry for the rebels stuck there.

[@lawandaclayton8888]

Back ground music is awful and not needed.

[@WonderfulEagle-mm1vj]

Yje teason he was yo use a model is ther is nothing left of the prison. But plagued wher the prison stood.

[@christopherfoster3744]

Hi ! I love Lynyrd Skynyrd but it really distracted from your great story !

[@PastorDanWhite]

If the Confederate prisoners were treated with respect, why did so many die? Geeze!

[@waynecarwile7486]

They haven't done their homework. That's why. They had the medicines to handle the situation BUT the yankee doctor deliberately withheld their use. Portend of the holocaust. Henry Wirtz didn't have medication at Camp Sumter, requested it from Union authorities but Grant refused to send it. Voila. The hate continues today.

[@JohnnyReb]

They didn't call it " Hellmira" for no reason!

[@georgeeverette3912]

Respect would have been to charge the people in charge of the camp as war criminals.

[@thomasmcsweeney1864]

What is the end game of grossly misleading people with inaccuracies? This is not an accurate story. Just as the CO of Andersonville was executed so should have been the CO of Elmira.

[@georgeeverette3912]

Some Southern families shipped food up the Elmira for their sons, fathers and husbands and officer in charge refused to give the food to the starving men in his camp.

[@michaelkaminsky9914]

Prisoners who survived incarceration at Elmira say otherwise of their treatment. Perhaps tour guides should do more research and read some of these accounts to educate rather than forget and cover up.

[@oliviat2021]

Susan ratio, I love the video

[@frankmoyer9337]

Are people allowed to metal detect anywhere near here or on-site somewhere?

[@waynecarwile7486]

Don't fall into the germ filled pond. Might still be polluted.

[@markosterman419]

Very interesting .. the music is an odd choice though.

[@user-zv7dg4xr4e]

Excellent video but wtf is up with the background music?

[@kimberleyannedemong5621]

Elmira is not in Western NY. It is in the Southern Tier. Perhaps you should do better homework.

[@magnmfc]

"The stories of this place being the worst prison camp isn't true" ....if you don't look at the death rates of Union vs Confederate... yeah, then it's true compared to Camp Douglas.

[@user-rg1tr2uu8h]

They should have tried some of these prison commanders as war criminals!!!

[@MissRailfan]

live history? i think you mean LoVe history

[@danielkaczmarski5688]

The music is wonderful. I'll bet that's what the Confederates were allowed to play and sing to lift their spirits.

[@AllNJesusFreak]

Seems a little slanted with a union bias. It seems the union wasn't malicious but unprepared and incompetent. I could be bias because a relative died there in September of '64.

[@christopherweber9464]

HELLmira.

[@fateagle4life]

Let's not put halos on the Union, lol. Camp Dougles was as bad if not worse as Andersonville.

[@kendallcalvert2423]

Guys, love what you did here. Content was great. I could not hear Doug most of the time. Please Mike him. Also the music was really really distracting. You do not need it. Or just fill in with more stories.

[@travishendrix7026]

I stopped this video at 20 minutes. You two are not telling the truth. My grandad was there for 13 months. Daniel Isaiah Hendrix. He left a detailed journal of his experience there. Yankees will always downplay,disregard or justify anything they do. Even till today. I'm a 5X Son of the Confederacy and grateful everyday of my legacy.

[@catw6998]

While the song playing in the background, it’s very distractive.

[@Deovindice1918]

“Confederates were treated well” tons of accounts say otherwise.

[@jaywinters2483]

Music ruined it. Exiting out.

[@LoLoLifeinFlorida]

The music is distracting fun the video :(

[@Hannahmloughran]

So cool !!!!

[@randylayhe4279]

Good god, stop playing music when people are talking. Ruined a good song & a good video

[@burdine26.120]

Distracting music.

[@TRINFSS]

Confederates didn’t have heat in the barracks until late in the winter. That means the confederates didn’t have heat for the majority of the winter. Nice BS spin you put on that.

[@thomasfort2051]

You ought to be ashamed of the prison and this presentation. Murder on an industrial scale. The whole thing should be demolished.

[@JohnnyReb]

No! It should be recrated to scale and the story of the suffering there told. Not the revisionism that these two presented.

[@huckstaunfiltered8200]

The younger guy looks like a cop, not in uniform, but with his snake like eyes. Which would explain, why this nonsense is inaccurate. Do better...

[@grovergodwin]

Simple kind of STUPID to play modern background music…..

[@jeffelzey]

Who knows if this vid is good. Unable to listen 👎