Elmira+Prison+Camp

=Elmira Prison Camp= ==Elmira was one of the worst prison camps. Ten thousand rebel prisoners lived on it's 40 acres. Elmira was started as a training camp and served 21,000 Yankees going to war. It became a prison in July 1864 and remained open for one year. Thrity five buildings stood inside a stockade wall 12 feet tall. Only about 5,000 men could go here. After the first month, more than 4,400 confederates were imprisoned there. By the second month, there were 9,600 prisoners. Eight hundred of them already had scurvy from poor diets. Teeth and hair were falling out of the prisoners. By September 1864, more than 1,870 prisoners suffered from scurvy. Citizens paid 10 cents to watch the sick prisoners die. The source of most of the diesease was from Fosters Pond, a 40 foot wide puddle in the camp. Human waste and garbage filled this gigantic puddle. By the end of October 1864, many prisoners were dying of disease. By December, smallpox came to the camp.==