Abstract
This paper examines the lives and experiences of the men who survived the horrors of the Confederate prisoner of war camp, Libby Prison. Located inside the Confederacy’s capital city, the camp housed captured Union officers from its establishment in 1862 until the fall of Richmond in 1865. Under the command of the Major Thomas Turner and the dreaded Warden Richard Turner, Libby foreshadowed the horrors of concentration camps which would be run by other Germans eighty years later. Unlike a normal officer’s prison, the conditions faced by the officers at Libby were incredibly deplorable. By the war’s end, the camp became synonymous with the death, disease, and despair experienced by those who were held within its walls. Overall, this paper serves to recognize the legacy of the men who survived incarceration at Libby. Rather than being remembered solely for its harrowing conditions, Libby should also be recalled as a stirring example of the resiliency of American soldiers who are willing to fight for the defense of their country.
Recommended Citation
Davis, Blake
(2018)
"Living Through Rat Hell: The Lives and Escape Attempts of Soldiers at Libby Prison,"
Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship: Vol. 4, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/montview/vol4/iss1/4