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The Death Of Johnson 's Island Essay

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Johnson’s Island was one of 32 main facilities that Confederates prisoners were confined at. In terms of disease and death, Johnson’s Island Military Prison was not the worst prison but through archaeological research and historical records, the treatment of POWs during this time showed the changing policies that the Federal Government decided upon. In April 1862 Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton ordered that Johnson’s Island Prison would thereafter be held as a prison for officers alone.
The island had over one hundred buildings on it. Everything within the prison walls was called the Bull Pen. In the center were two rolls of six buildings with one building on the end. Twelve of these were the barracks. They were two stories high with the first floor divided into multiple rooms and two kitchens. Later the kitchens and mess rooms were removed to another building. Men would be assigned two to a bunk and bunks would be three tiered. These buildings were not sealed but weather-boarded. It did not give much protection against cold or snow. Due to poor ventilation, the men would cut small holes in the walls, normally by their heads, to get some air.One stove was provided to heat the room but was inadequate. Very little wood was given to the prisoners a day. Many times the stove would not be burned during the night due to not enough wood. Every available chair or box and even parts of the bunks were burn. Prisoners would even form a circle around the stove and

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