Andersonville in Macon County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)
Shebangs
Prisoner Shelters
Photographed by Brandon Fletcher, November 8, 2008
1. Shebangs Marker
Prisoners at Andersonville had to provide their own shelters. With sticks and pieces of clothing, the prisoners improvised leaky tents and lean-tos. Many prisoners had no shelter at all.
Protection from rain, dew, and broiling sun became a matter of life or death. Exposure aggravated the many illnesses and infections, and contributed to the soaring mortality rate.
"To reach the spring we had to pick our way through a wilderness of low mud huts and tattered tents. The huts were made out of clay balls, and the tents of old army blankets, fragments of old clothing, oilcloths, etc."
W.B. Smith, 14th Illinois Infantry, October 11, 1864
(caption)
The August 1864 photograph of this hillside shows a rough sea of improvised shelters, which the prisoners called "shebangs." Overcrowding created a prison within a prison: the men were confined by other living bodies as well as by stockade walls.
Erected by National Park Service.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. A significant historical month for this entry is August 1864.
Location. 32° 11.768′ N, 84° 7.635′ W. Marker is in Andersonville, Georgia, in Macon County. It is on Prison Site Road 0.1 miles east of Cemetery Road, on the
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Georgia’s Piedmont. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Expanded Stockade (within shouting distance of this marker); Pigeon-Roosts (within shouting distance of this marker); Monuments and Memories (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Earthwork Defenses (about 400 feet away); This Was Andersonville (about 400 feet away); Memorial to POWs at Hiroshima, Japan (about 400 feet away); To the Vermonters who Perished at Andersonville (about 400 feet away); The Battling Bastards of Bataan (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Andersonville.
Also see . . . Andersonville National Historic Site. National Park Service (Submitted on October 2, 2015.)
Photographed by Brandon Fletcher, November 8, 2008
2. Shebangs Marker Illustration
Photographed by Brandon Fletcher, November 8, 2008
3. Shebangs Marker
Photographed by Brandon Fletcher, November 8, 2008
4. Shebangs
Photographed by Brandon Fletcher, November 8, 2008
5. Shebangs
Photographed by A.J. Riddle, August 17, 1864
6. Andersonville Prison, Ga., August 17, 1864. South view of stockade
Courtesy Library of Congress (LC-B816-8216)
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on October 2, 2015, by Brandon Fletcher of Chattanooga, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 605 times since then and 38 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on October 2, 2015, by Brandon Fletcher of Chattanooga, Tennessee. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
