Episode Details

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)
1865 RICHMOND