PROVIDENCE SPRING STILL
FLOWING
May 4, 1978
PIX #1 - Graves
of 13,669 soldiers
PIX #2 - Original
Andersonville site
PIX #3 - Closeup
of Providence Spring which is still flowing
PIX #4 - Two Ohioans
graves
PIX #5 - Building
housing spring
Most readers know
something about the terrible Civil War in this country that set the
North against the South...having studied it in school history courses
or having heard certain stories of it passed on by parents or grandparents.
One such story
was mentioned to me by Fostorian Blake Myers sometime ago... it concerned
Providence Spring...the flowing spring of water that turned the tide
when Northern soldiers were dying by the scores every day because of
sickness caused in part because of impure water.
Myers' story set
me researching, and I finally visited the site of Providence Spring
at Andersonville, Ga., where Northern prisoners were held during that
tragic war.
Let's start at
the beginning.
Andersonville,
the largest and best known of Southern military prisons was located
in Sumpter County, Ga., at Station on the Southwestern Railroad (now
Central of Georgia) nine miles northeast of Americus.
It was selected
as a prison site because Confederate officials foresaw the need to move
Northern prisoners from Richmond and other prisons farther north in
the event of a breakthrough by Northern forces. They felt it would be
easier to guard them in a remote area. The new prison site was also
selected because of the close proximity of the railroad, the presence
of plenty of pure water and warmer climate.
Confederate soldiers
and slaves from nearby plantations began clearing the land and constructing
the camp January 1864. In February, before the prison was near completion
500 Northern troops arrived. Soon more prisoners were arriving at the
rate of 400 per day. By August, 32,000 Northern soldiers were incarcerated
in the 26 acre camp that was meant to hold 10,000.
In addition to
overcrowding, there was inadequate shelter, food, doctors and means
for treating the sick and injured. Mostly, the prisoners had to construct
theor own shelters from whatever scrap materials they could find. Many
prisoners had clothing that was in tatters, and often they were naked.
Food was rationed
meagerly and left to the prisoners to cook. Those who had money could
buy food from the prison sutler and other merchants who had setup shops
inside the stockade.
The stream of
water that supplied the camp soon became polluted by human wastes and
other pollutants. Diarrhea and dysentery spread throughout the camp.
Deaths from those ailments, as well as from gangrene and other diseases,
occurred by the scores...the greatest toll being 90 on August 23; 1864.
A group of Christian
prisoners finally decided they would pray to God for pure water and
would not stop until their prayers were answered. They prayed for hours...and
then finally a deafening noise like thunder or an earthquake shook the
earth, and where they were kneeling a stream of water burst forth from
the ground. They considered this phenomena a providential act of God...
and so the stream of water was called Providence Spring.
Blake Myers' grandfather
was one of those in the prayer group and that is the story he told Blake
when he was a boy, anxious to hear his grandfather's stories.
One of the historical
accounts reports that the spring was originally there, but had been
covered over when the camp construction work was in progress. Nevertheless,
those who prayed for water believed God's providential act provided
an answer to their prayers.
Providence Spring
has continued to flow all these years since 1864 and was flowing the
day I saw it in March of this year.
A powerful Union
force under General James H. Wilson, captured Columbus, Ga. April 17,
1865, and shortly thereafter all Northern prisoners at Andersonville
were freed.
The prison grounds
reverted to private ownership, but after the war was purchased by the
Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in 1890. The GAR and its auxiliary
the Women's Relief Corps, made many improvements to the old prison site.
Clara Bartoh, a famous Civil War nurse helped to identify and mark the
graves of those who died at Andersonville. Additional interments, including
the remains of Union soldiers originally buried in other Southern prison
camps, were later moved to Andersonville, and today there are 13,669
marked graves at the National Cemetery.
This cemetery,
now comprising 84 acres, was administered by the U.S. Department of
the Army until 1970, at which time it was turned over to the National
Park Service. Department of Interior. It is well maintained and worth
visiting.
The Women's Relief
Corps in 1901 donated the pavillion that houses Providence Spring, in
memory of those who died at Andersonville. A plaque insdie the building
reads: "This pavillon was erected by The Women's Relief Corp, Auxiliary
to the Grand Army of the Republic in grateful memory of the men who
suffered and died in the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia
from February 1864 to April 1865. The prisoners cry of thirst rang up
to Heaven, God heard, and with His thunder cleft the earth and poured
his sweetest waters gushing here".
The National Association
of Union Ex-Prisoners of War erected the fountain within the pavillion,
which is connected to the original spring of water.
1.065 Union soldiers
from Ohio are buried at Andersonville. Complete records at the headquarters
building are available for those who wish to locate the burial sites
of relatives.
The complete and
very interesting story about Andersonville Prison is told in literature
and booklets, as well as by photos, available there. Space here does
not permit a more complete story and pictorial presentation.
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