October’s Dinner and Meeting began with a change of dinner venue as we enjoyed our buffet in the hotel restaurant. Moving across the hall we then were captivated by a presentation from Derek Maxfield on the Elmira NY Union prison camp.
Long called by some the “Andersonville of the North”, the camp is remembered as the most notorious of all Union-run POW camps. Confederate prisoners called it “Hellmira”.
Because many thought the war would be quickly over, there was little thought to these POW camps until there was no quick victory.
In his book Hellmira: The Union’s Most Infamous Civil War Prison Camp - Elmira, NY, Maxfield describes the conditions of lack of shelter, bitter cold, and poor rations. He spoke of the region’s “burial” of its existence until recently, when the site has been recognized and buildings recreated (one was kept in storage and erected again.)
Maxfield, a former journalist and university professor, among many others interests, is currently writing a follow up book on the POW camp at Andersonville.
As always we held of Preservation book raffles, with winner pictured below.
