While in the hands of the enemy: military prisons of the Civil War

A people unprepared

"The crisis is fast approaching": the initial prisoners

"They had not been expected in such numbers": the Confederate prisoner-of-war system, July-December 1861

"A state of perpetual twilight": the Union prisoner-of-war system, June-December 1861

"Our government must change its policy": the move to the exchange cartel of 1862

The period of exchange under the cartel: July 1862-December 1863

Prelude to catastrophe: Union and Confederate prisons, July-December 1863

"Disgraceful to all concerned": the Union and Confederate prisoner-of-war systems, 1864

"Too sad to be patiently considered": the end and afterlife of the prison systems

"The real cause of the suffering": testimony, evidence, and verdict.