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There's a lot of myth in your post, but there are a lot of myths concerning the Confederate treatment of prisoners. There is no excuse for the treatment of Confederate prisoners by the North, but both the Union and the Confederacy had the resources to care for POWs so there is no excuse for Southern treatment of Union prisoners either. Starvation was not widespread in the Confederacy, certainly not in Georgia. The Confederacy had the means to get the prisoners to the camps, they had the means to get food to them as well. The camp guards were not starved to death at Andersonville, unlike their prisoners. Sherman did not 'bypass' Andersonville; his campaign was nowhere near the camp at any point on the march to the sea.

The POW question during the rebellion does not reflect well on either side. One of the reasons why so many myths have cropped up surrounding it.

Not myth, FRiend. Family history, as in ‘were there’ in GA. You massage facts of deprivation with “excuses”, which is not the case. In 1864 there was continual deprivations, and the administration of prisoners suffered in this reality, as much from greed, corruption and disdain, as in desperation.

Glad if you would acknowledge that the prisoner exchange, initiated by Wirz in July 1864 (not under any orders, and caught hell for it) sending 5 prisoners with a prisoner signed petition to the Union to reinstate the prisoner exchange (and empty Camp Sumter), was absolutely refused by Union (specifically Sec. Stanton- think of that!).

After the fall of Atlanta, all Sumter prisoners who were well enough to be moved were sent to Millen, GA, and Florence, SC, as a good will gesture and humanity. Once Sherman began the March to the Sea, having refused these survivors for exchange- they were all returned to the horrors of Camp Sumter. All of this gets overlooked, and virtually no history of the Union abuses which the Sanitary Commission tried to abate, to no avail.

Lincoln issued General Orders 252 suspendeding the Dix–Hill Cartel of prisoner exchange until the Confederate forces agreed to treat black prisoners the same as white prisoners- a particularly cruel and highly manipulative Political calculation by the oft used name of Peace (see:Lincoln Brigade- the Communists in the Spanish Civil War- always fascinated at the abuse of Lincolns name by commies- even today).

The problem with Andersonville wasn’t to much discipline and cruel treatment by the guards. It was the opposite. Wirz let the inmates run the asylum. The guards had 1 rule. If a POW crossed the dead line they got shot. Otherwise the internal activities of the camp was left up to the inmates. It got ugly. Gangs formed and viscous fighting was a daily occurrence.