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(PIECE OF ANDERSONVILLE DEAD LINE)

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 USD
(PIECE OF ANDERSONVILLE DEAD LINE)
A great Civil War prison relic from Andersonville, 8" x 1" piece of oak with a period ink inscribed label reading, in full: "Piece of dead line from Andersonville Prison, Ga. cut by Col. H. A. Royce [Bvt. Col. Harrison A. Royce] compliments of Major John S. T[?]". In early 1864, General U. S. Grant stopped all prisoner exchanges as a way of bringing "total war" to the South. As a result, the Confederacy was forced to establish the deadly prison camp known as Andersonville. Conditions were horrendous and life expectancy was low for the those incarcerated there. To make matters worse, the prison officials erected a "dead line" separating the prison population from the stockade. Any prisoners caught crossing the "dead line" were mercilessly shot by the guards. Sherman's March to the Sea forced Andersonville to be abandoned and relic hunting officers and soldiers occupied the prison camp in search of souvenirs. Further research will only add to the relic's great history. Very good.