Question 6:\u00a0 <\/i>How many people survived the prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia?<\/i><\/p>\n
There were about 45,000 Union prisoners at Andersonville. Something like 13,000 of them died there, so there was about a 27% casualty rate. The biggest Union POW camp was in Elmira, NY. \u00a0There was less excuse for the approximate 25% casualty rate for Confederate prisoners there since the Union, in contrast to the South, was thriving throughout the war. \u00a0But those were very hard times and very hard people.<\/p>\n
Question 7:\u00a0\u00a0<\/i>Would you consider Robert E. Lee a traitor?<\/i><\/p>\n
Robert E. Lee was still in the U.S. Army in early 1861 and he received a promotion. When you receive a new rank, you take a new oath of allegiance.\u00a0 You swear to defend the United States of America against any enemy, foreign or domestic. \u00a0Within weeks of taking that oath, Robert E. Lee was a domestic enemy of the nation he had just sworn an oath to defend. \u00a0That pretty much makes him a traitor I\u2019m afraid.<\/p>\n
I think the Southern aristocracy\u2014which Lee was part of\u2014had such a high opinion of their personal \u201chonor\u201d that whatever they did had to be honorable because it was their honorable selves doing it. I also think that their absolute power over their black slaves, and the iron handed rule they had over their plantations and their society gave them a bad case of arrested development. Their actions and opinions were so unchallenged that they had been gradually lulled into simple-mindedness.<\/p>\n
Question 8:\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>What was your favorite map to make? Why?<\/i><\/p>\n
I really can\u2019t say which was my favorite map to make. \u00a0Each mapping project is really exciting, first because it\u2019s a new job and it means money and it means you\u2019re going to be profitably and happily employed for months and that\u2019s nice. And it\u2019s also wonderful to have a new subject to delve into, to dig around for resources and information. \u00a0So I like that. \u00a0It\u2019s also a lot of fun to do the drawing and I really enjoy, for example, doing the lettering of the map titles. \u00a0I usually meet some interesting people and get to travel to interesting places when I do the research\u2026And as I got better at doing the maps, the ones done with more expertise were more enjoyable than ones done early on that I look back on and wish I\u2019d done a better job. Long and short, I guess I\u2019d have to say my favorite map is the one I\u2019m working on or the next one I\u2019m about to do. I guess my Pearl Harbor map is right up there though.<\/p>\n
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Question 6:\u00a0 How many people survived the prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia? There were about 45,000 Union prisoners at Andersonville. Something like 13,000 of them died there, so there was about a 27% casualty rate. The biggest Union POW camp … Continue reading