Source:  National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

Andersonville Prison:

Andersonville, or Camp Sumter as it was officially known, was one of the
largest of many Confederate military prisons established during the Civil
War. It was built early in 1864 after Confederate officials decided to move
the large number of Federal prisoners kept in and around Richmond, Virginia,
to a place of greater security and a more abundant food supply . During the
14 months the prison existed, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined
here. Of these, almost 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation,
malnutrition, overcrowding, or exposure to the elements.

In November 1863, Confederate Captain W. Sidney Winder was sent to the
village of Andersonville in Sumter County, in south-central Georgia, near
the present-day towns of Americus and Plains, to assess the potential of
building a prison for captured Union soldiers.

The Deep South location, the availability of fresh water, and its proximity
to the Southwestern Railroad, made Andersonville a favorable prison
location. Andersonville thus became the site for a prison that was soon to
become infamous in the North for prison conditions and the thousands of
prisoners that would die there before war's end.

Conditions:

A prison for enlisted soldiers, it was designed to hold 10,000, but by
August 1864, due to deteriorating resources and the breakdown of the
prisoner exchage system, the prison population had swelled to over 32,000.

This atrocious overcrowding quickly led to health and nutritional conditions
that resulted in 12, 912 deaths by war's end in May 1865. The prison guards,
composed mostly of older men and boys, watched from sentry boxes (called
"pigeon roosts" by the prisoners) perched atop the stockade and shot any
prisoner who crossed a wooden railing, called the "deadline."

Handicapped by deteriorating economic conditions, the Confederates lacked
the necessary materials and amounts of food for 10,000 prisoners, not to
mention the 26,000 that were confined there by June 1864. Available shelter
was deduced to crude shelters huts of made scrap wood, tent fragments, or
simple holes dug in the ground. Many had no shelter of any kind against the
elements of rain, heat, and cold. No clothing was provided, and many
prisoners were left with rags or nothing at all.

Casualties:

With these unspeakably miserable conditons, almost 30 percent of the
prisoners confined to Andersonville died at the camp during its 14-month
existence. Diseases such as dysentery, gangrene, diarrhea, and scurvy took
many. The Confederates lacked adequate facilities, personnel, and medical
supplies to combat the diseases.

Today:

Today, Andersonville National Historic Site is the only park in the National
Park System to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war
throughout the nation's history. The law that created the National Historic
Site specified that the park is preserved to tell the Andersonville story,
the story of all Civil War POW camps (north and south) and the story of all
POWs in American History.

Andersonville Taft Prisoners:

Taft, Bazaleel W.
Side: Union
Unit Name: 18 Connecticut Infantry
Regiment: 18
State: Connecticut
Function: Infantry
Company: E
Rank: Private
Type: Held at Andersonville and survived
Capture Date: 05/15/1864
Capture Site: New Market, Va
Alternate Name: None
Remarks: None

Taft, John
Side: Union
Unit Name: 152 New York Infantry
Regiment: 152
State: New York
Function: Infantry
Company: I
Rank: Private
Type: Held at Andersonville and survived
Capture Date: 06/22/1864
Capture Site: Weldon R.R., Va
Alternate Name: Tafft
Alternate Name: Taff
Remarks: Released 02/27/1865

Taft, Seth
Side: Union
Unit Name: 3 New York Cavalry
Regiment: 3
State: New York
Function: Cavalry
Company: C
Rank: Saddler
Type: Held at Andersonville and survived
Capture Date: 06/29/1864
Capture Site: Reams Station, Va
Alternate Name: None
Remarks: None