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Andersonville Prison There existed an era in American history after the United States had gained independence, but before the west was won, when the country was at war within itself. More U.S. soldiers were lost in the Civil War than in any other American Conflict, both foreign and domestic. Over 620,000 Americans died in the war, with disease killing twice as many as those lost in battle. Roughly 50,000 survivors returned home as amputees. States rights and political territorialism fueled a separation of the colonies, dividing them into the Union and the Confederacy. During this time, many young men were forced into a battle for reasons unknown to them, and those defeated who were not killed were placed in prison camps. Although both the North and the South had these institutions, the Confederate prisons of the South were notorious for their barbaric cruelty and inhumane conditions. The most infamous of the Confederate prisons was Andersonville Prison in Andersonville, Ga. In a testimony given by Dr. Isaiah White, a surgeon for the Confederate Army, as stated in the Southern Historical Society Papers, he stated, "According to the report of Secretary of War Stanton, the number of Federal prisoners who died in Confederat