Episode Details

SCHEDULE JBS, 7-3-2026.1880 LIMERICKFitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, discusses the capture of three black sailors from the Isaac Smithin 1863, which forced the Confederacy to decide if black men in uniform were POWs or runaway slaves. While white sailors were quickly exchanged, the Confederacy refused to trade black captives, viewing them as participants in a servile insurrection. A smuggled letter from the sailors eventually reached Washington, contributing to the halt of systematic prisoner exchanges by the spring of 1863. This shift compelled both sides to become long-term custodians of captives. (1)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, explains that prisoner exchanges were based on 18th-century European customs that sought to prevent the execution or enslavement of captured enemies. Armies used a calculus to trade soldiers, such as equating one colonel to twenty privates to ensure equity. When capture numbers were uneven, the parole system allowed surplus soldiers to return home on the condition they not fight until formally exchanged. This formalized process aimed to keep warfare humane and efficient for both sides until political tensions arose. (2)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, details how Confederate official John Winder, a West Pointerfrom Maryland, supervised the detention of Union prisoners in Richmond. He oversaw the conversion of industrial structures, like the Libby Prison tobacco warehouse, into overcrowded holding pens for Union officers. These facilities lacked basic amenities, including latrines and protection from the elements, leading to rapid physical deterioration for thousands. Winder, often viewed as a military martinet, prioritized bureaucracy over prisoner welfare as the captive population ballooned beyond Richmond's capacity. (3)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, describes how Union administrator William Hoffman managed Northern prisons with a focus on extreme cost-savings, even diverting ration funds into camp improvements. Meanwhile, the Lieber Code (General Order 100) was drafted to codify humane treatment for POWs and civilians. However, it included a "military necessity" loophole that allowed commanders to bypass these protections in dire situations. The Confederacy denounced this code as illegal window dressing for the Union's conduct during the ongoing conflict. (4)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, explains that following the Battle of Gettysburg, the breakdown of exchanges necessitated large-scale prisoner concentration. Andersonville was established in remote Georgia to alleviate the burden on Richmond's food supply and reduce guard requirements. Prisoners like N. Burch endured grueling train transports without hygiene or food to reach the stockade. Conversely, the Union created Point Lookout in Maryland as a retaliatory concentration camp, forcing thousands of Confederates to live in inadequate tents on a sand spit. (5)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, recounts how, following the Battle of the Crater, black Unionsoldiers like Isaac Gaskins faced extreme humiliation and the threat of enslavement. The Confederacy often refused to recognize black men in uniform as soldiers, instead treating them as rebellious property to be returned to owners or used for forced labor. By late 1864, the Confederate military became the South's largest enslaver. Gaskins survived his ordeal in Danville by being used as a laborer, a fate shared by many black captives. (6)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, describes how Andersonville became a death camp where 35,000 men were crammed into a space with no shelter and polluted water. Commander Henry Wirz oversaw a site where over 100 men died daily from starvation and disease. After the war, Wirz was prosecuted for war crimes, arguing unsuccessfully that he was only following orders from superiors like Winder. His execution set an internati