The Illinois Andersonville Monument-- Part 1: Dorence Atwater

From the July 8, 2014, meeting of the McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table.

Noah Niver, a student at Rock Valley College has come across documents relating to the Illinois monument at Andersonville Prison in Georgia and put together the story of it.  He also volunteers at the Midway Village in Rockford.

He came across 628 documents on its construction.

From early 1864 to May 1865, some 45,000 Union soldiers were imprisoned at Andersonville and 12,900 died.  Sometimes as many as 120 a day died and 839 were from Illinois.

Dorence Atwater, a captured prisoner who was also clerk of the prison, kept a Record of Death book for the Confederates and wrote a secret copy of it.  After he was released, he took the secret copy with him and with the help of the founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton, he got the list published and was court-martialed by the U.S. government for doing it.

This man is a big reason there are records of where the burials took place and how many died.

--Old Secesh