different. it is a valor and honor. those concepts take a different form here. and many respects, in a standard guess, they are prisoners of war, and then you move right back to the battles. often, and addressing the story, there is an and knowledge of that, and then no detail, and you move on. andersonville has a name brand recognition. the public often doesn t know any of the details beyond the name and that something unusual took place there. host: let s start with the basics. when was it built? what was its purpose? mr. leonard: in the fall of 1863 as the exchange system of the previous two years falls apart, due to the presence of black soldiers in the field, and the question over how to treat like soldiers black soldiers. with afederacy is faced problem. there holding the mostly in the richmond area. thousands, 10,000 prisoners in richmond it has a drag effect on the community. resources are going in to maintain the prisoners. if you are in the confederate army, or
conversation202-748-8900. that is for eastern and central time zones. if in the pacific or mountain 8-8901.nes, 202-74 you can also post questions and comments on our facebook page. facebook.com/cspanhistory. mr. leonard, thank you for joining us this afternoon. mr. leonard: it is my pleasure to be here. host: let s start with where is andersonville? for someone who is not aware of andersonville s significance, where does it fall? mr. leonard: it is important to start with this idea that military prisoners and prisoners of war are often left out of the mainstream telling of the war. quite frankly, there are no winners in this story. this is not a battlefield. it is something entirely different. it is a valor and honor. those concepts take a different form here. in many respects, in a standard telling of war, there is a knowledge meant there is an acknowledgment yes, they are prisoners of war, and then you move right back to the battles. often, and addressing the story, th
he will be with us for the next hour to talk about the history of andersonville and why does consider the most notorious site of the civil war. we are opening our phone line so you can join the conversation. if you want to join the conversation, 202-748-8900. that is for eastern and central time zones. if you live in the pacific or mountain time zones, 202-748-8901. you can also post questions and comments on our facebook page. facebook.com/cspanhistory. mr. leonard, thank you for joining us this afternoon. . page mr. leonard, thank you for joining us this afternoon. mr. leonard: it is my pleasure to be here. let s start with where is andersonville? it is important to start with this idea that military prisoners and prisoners of war are often left out of the mainstream telling of the war. quite friendly, there are no winners in the story. this is not a battlefield. it is something entirely different. it is a valor and honor. those concepts take a different form here. and many
adjacent to the cemetery location is eric leonard, the chief of the historical site. he will be with us for the next hour to talk about the history of andersonville and why does consider the most notorious site of the civil war. we are joining our phone line so you can join the conversation. if you want to join the conversation, 202-748-8900. that is for eastern and central time zones. if in the pacific or mountain time zones, 202-748-8901. you can also post questions and comments on our facebook page. facebook.com/cspanhistory. mr. leonard, thank you for him joining us this afternoon. mr. leonard: it is my pleasure to be here. host: let s start with where is andersonville? for someone who is not aware of andersonville s significance, where does it fall? mr. leonard: it is important to it is important to start with this idea that military prisoners and prisoners of war are often left out of the mainstream telling of the war. quite friendly, there are no winners in the story.
from the disaster at andersonville is the human treatment of p.o.w.s defines our natural identity and reit rates our army values by ensuring dignity and respect is paid to every enemy combatant. we ve also learned how precious freedom is and that freedom always, always has a cost. the cost is paid by men and women, men and women who are willing to endure torture, mall nutrition, loneliness, despair and even death in the pursuit of freedom s cause. history tends to remember the dates. it remembers the battles and the victories. it lauds the winners and it favors grand action or man mental failure. but there are some places on the battlefield where dates and battles, winners and losers are matters of inconsequence. in these places survival is the only thing of magnitude. the men of andersonville have survived. they survived the 150 years of an indelible part of what makes our nation great, the american people. as i conclude time with you today, my hope is for the 13,000 souls l