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Résumé de Andersonville : Histoire des prisons militaires rebelles
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Captured in a snowbound Virginia valley, a young cavalryman faces fifteen months in Rebel prison pens.
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Andersonville : Histoire des prisons militaires rebelles in short
Andersonville follows one young cavalryman from a mountain valley in Virginia to a string of Confederate prisons and back to freedom. A raid and a defeat at Jonesville lead to Richmond, where hunger and false hopes of exchange take hold. At Andersonville disease, bad food, and cruel guards kill thousands.
What Andersonville : Histoire des prisons militaires rebelles is about
What would you do if a morning bugle gave way to a Rebel yell and a crashing volley from the woods? That is how John McElroy, a private in Company L of the Sixteenth Illinois Cavalry, begins the ordeal he tells in Andersonville. In January 1864 his battalion is trapped at Jonesville, Virginia, and forced to surrender after a day of fighting. Fifteen months in Confederate hands follow.
McElroy wrote the book in 1879, after newspaper sketches grew into a full account. He says it is one boy's story, and he vouches for every material fact. His purpose is to make the country remember the men who died in prison pens. You follow him from Cumberland Gap to Richmond, Andersonville, Savannah, Millen, and Florence, and at last to the Union lines.
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?. This book is for readers who love eyewitness history, Civil War stories told by those who lived them, and plain, vivid accounts of courage, friendship, and survival.
The 10 key ideas
Key idea 1 · free to read
A mountain valley becomes a battlefield
McElroy opens at Cumberland Gap, where Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee meet. He describes granite walls, hidden caves, and rattlesnakes in every crevice. The region has always known conflict, he says, and armies on both sides seized the Gap again and again.
In autumn 1863 the Union army there runs short of supplies, which must be hauled one hundred and eighty miles over ruined roads. Nearby Powell's Valley has food, so a raid is planned. Major Beer takes three hundred cavalrymen into a cold rain. At Chestnut Ridge they meet the Sixty-fourth Virginia, a regiment of local young men, and its line breaks within about fifteen minutes.
The Union men take one hundred and fifteen prisoners and spend weeks eating better than they have in months. McElroy jokes about nervous teamsters and odd campfire stews. He is funny, proud of his comrades, and quick to judge his enemies. A cheerful campaign makes the later suffering stand out.
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A frozen dawn ends in surrender
The night before the attack is the coldest in years.
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The march to Richmond shows both sides
The prisoners set out on foot toward Bristol.
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Richmond teaches hunger and false hope
In Richmond the prisoners reach Libby Prison.
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Andersonville opens as a pen in the pines
Andersonville sits in the pine country of southwest Georgia.
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Crowding, filth, and hunger kill thousands
Rations shrink week by week.
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The Regulators defeat the Raiders
The New York gangs grow bolder as summer deepens.
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Escape and the hospital offer little hope
The wish to go home splits into two roads, exchange and escape.
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Prison moves bring new cruelties and hope
One September night a guard calls out that Atlanta has fallen, and cheers ring through the stockade.
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Freedom comes, and the reckoning begins
McElroy and Andrews hang back at Florence this time and are taken by rail.
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Questions sur Andersonville : Histoire des prisons militaires rebelles
What is Andersonville by John McElroy about?
It is a first-hand account of a Union cavalryman's capture in Virginia in 1864 and his fifteen months in Confederate prisons, including Richmond, Andersonville, Savannah, Millen, and Florence, until his release near Wilmington in 1865.
Is Andersonville by John McElroy a true story?
Yes. McElroy was a real soldier of the Sixteenth Illinois Cavalry who lived through the events. He wrote in 1879 and says every material fact is true, adding that thousands of fellow survivors wrote to endorse his account.
Who were the Raiders and Regulators at Andersonville?
Raiders were gangs of New York toughs who robbed fellow prisoners. Regulators were a group led by Sergeant Leroy Key from McElroy's battalion, who arrested the Raiders, tried them before a court of sergeants, and carried out sentences.
Who was Captain Wirz and why is he in the book?
Henri Wirz was the Confederate officer who commanded inside the Andersonville stockade. McElroy paints him as petty and cruel, and recounts his trial and hanging before closing with an examination of responsibility for the prisoners' suffering.
Is Andersonville easy to follow?
Yes, in that McElroy writes in a lively, direct voice, with short scenes, humor, and clear chapter headings. He names real people, explains places and terms as he goes, and keeps the narrative moving from capture to release.
Cite this edition
McElroy, John. Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/andersonville-a-story-of-rebel-military-prisons.
McElroy, J. (2026). Andersonville: A story of rebel military prisons. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/andersonville-a-story-of-rebel-military-prisons (Original work published 1879)
McElroy, John. Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/andersonville-a-story-of-rebel-military-prisons.
@book{mcelroy2026andersonville,
author = {McElroy, John},
title = {Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/andersonville-a-story-of-rebel-military-prisons},
note = {First published 1879}
}
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