John McElroy was captured by Confederate forces in early 1864 and spent more than a year in Rebel military prisons, including the notorious camp at Andersonville, Georgia, where approximately 13,000 Union prisoners died from disease, malnutrition, and exposure. His memoir, published in 1879, is one of the most detailed and emotionally powerful firsthand accounts of the worst conditions endured by American prisoners of war.
Andersonville became a symbol of Confederate cruelty in Northern memory, and McElroy’s account fueled postwar debates about accountability and justice. Download this free EPUB for a harrowing and historically essential survivor narrative of the Civil War’s darkest prison camp.