More History

Andersonville, Georgia was the largest prisoner of war camp in the South and at its peak held about 45,000 Union Soldiers. 13,000 of them died. We spent the day there watching a documentary movie and touring the camp and grave sites. It was fascinating but very sad. It reminded me of the German POW Camps of World War II. The conditions were horrible for the prisoners but it seemed to me that the Captain in charge could do nothing about it and probably should not have been executed for war crimes after the conflict. He too was a victim of the times.

See http://www.nps.gov/ande/index.htm for more information.

The veterans graveyard was so large and had so many grave markers, many labeled Unknown, that it is hard to imagine a country in such conflict that they would inflict this kind of injury upon itself. War is horrible, but civil war even more so.

We ate our lunch in the beautiful park, serenaded by locusts.

Going to and from Andersonville we visited Plains, Georgia, the home of our 39th President, Jimmy Carter. We tasted peanut brittle, fried peanuts, and peanut ice cream. It seemed like a very nice, quiet, neighborhood. Perhaps it was improved by the Secret Service vehicles. One of the small shops had enough jam and jelly to last for years. Empty Billy Carter Beer cans were $5 each, and every political button imaginable was available. I think the stock in Carter memorabilia is in decline, no doubt displaced by interest in younger, flashier presidents.

We also found an antique shop with more unidentified antlers. Could they be... jackalope?