"Eighty Acres of Hell" on History Channel

[fastpat]

Beginning at 10 PM on January 15th, and again on January 21st at 6 PM is the little known story of Camp Douglas in Chicago, IL. Run by the Union Army, it contained Confederate POW's and Union civilians convicted in Military Tribunals. Most folks don't even know about the midnight raids staged by the Union Army against civilians by the tens of thousands.

The write-up on the History Channel:

"To the Victor, Belongs the Silence." Hidden until now, we uncover an important and shocking chapter of the American Civil War. Although our nation is well-versed about the atrocities committed against Union POWs at Andersonville, Georgia, few have heard of the wholesale annihilation of Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois (12,000 inmates were incarcerated, 6,000 never left). Unlike Andersonville, Camp Douglas had the resources necessary to house and care for its prisoners, but calculated cruelty, torture, and neglect by the US military conspired to exterminate Southern soldiers who entered this "80 Acres of Hell". But, Southern prisoners were not the only victims. Under martial law, prominent Chicago citizens were unjustly tried and imprisoned by a ruthless military tribunal. From 1862 to 1866, more than 6,000 Rebel prisoners and 14 civilians died at the hands of a corrupt and murderous system with tentacles to the White House.

[Moses]

The capacity for cruelty was no different in the North than in the South. Very little has changed since that time. In terms of respect for human life and dignity, we are an unevolved species.

Truth is, "the noble warrior" is pure myth. Some of the most kind and thoughtful people I know are capable of unimaginable cruelty in wartime.